Miami-born Judge Barbara Lagoa didn’t make the cut to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump instead named 48-year-old Judge Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, a favorite of the president’s conservative base.
“She is a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials and unyielding loyalty to the Constitution,” Trump said during his announcement Saturday.
Lagoa’s supporters touted her advantages over Barrett during the run-up to Saturday’s announcement. As a Cuban American, Lagoa was seen as boosting the president’s re-election effort in Florida, a crucial swing state that Trump needs to win.
She also had just been vetted by U.S. senators in November when she was appointed to the federal appeals court based in Atlanta, sailing through in an 80-15 bipartisan vote. She lacked controversial opinions on hot-button issues, such as abortion, that could have been used against her during the confirmation process.
Still, top Florida Republicans vowed to back Trump’s pick. They rallied behind Barrett on social media Saturday.
“I don’t think by not picking the justice from Florida that the president’s going to lose anything in Florida,” said Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, who represents Southwest Florida in Congress. “He obviously has big support.”
Florida U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, who supported Lagoa, defended Barrett’s strong religious views as Trump prepared to make his announcement. Barrett is a committed Roman Catholic.
“Pray for this beautiful family,” Rubio wrote on Twitter. “She hasn’t even been formally nominated & they are already being targeted with vicious lies & vile attacks.”
Religious conservatives favored Barrett, seeing her as a sure bet to uphold restrictions on abortions. Barrett is seen as the intellectual successor to Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative icon who died in 2016.
Lagoa, 52, enjoyed a fast rise to Trump’s short list of Supreme Court contenders.
Her resume lacks many of the credentials associated with Supreme Court hopefuls. She has limited experience on the federal bench, and she spent much of her legal career as a mid-level state judge in South Florida.
But her supporters say her quick rise to the national spotlight illustrates the American Dream.
“I do think it’s a great thing for the state of Florida to have a justice who’s being considered, not only a justice from Florida but a justice who is a female and who is of Hispanic descent,” Steube said before Trump’s announcement.
Born to parents who fled Communist Cuba, Lagoa grew up in Hialeah. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Florida International University and her law degree from Columbia University.
The Elián González saga in 2000 shaped her formative years as a lawyer. She took on a pro bono case representing one of the Miami relatives of the boy, who was found clutching an inner tube off Fort Lauderdale’s coast after his mother drowned fleeing Cuba.
The international custody dispute ended with González being returned to his father and taken back to Cuba.
Lagoa then worked as a federal prosecutor. In 2006, former Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her to Florida’s 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal in Miami. Gov. Ron DeSantis elevated her to the state Supreme Court when he took office in January 2019.
As a state Supreme Court justice, Lagoa authored a ruling upholding the constitutionality of DeSantis’ suspension of former Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who was ousted in the wake of the 2018 Parkland school shooting that left 17 students and staff dead.
She served just months on the state’s high court before Trump appointed her to the federal appeals court based in Atlanta. As a federal appeals judge, she sided with DeSantis that felons should repay all fines and fees before they can vote.
Lagoa is a member of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group that has immense influence over the judicial system. Her husband, Paul Huck Jr., an attorney, has been described as the “godfather of the Federalist Society in Miami.”
South Florida Democrats were quick to react Saturday to Trump’s selection of Barrett. Fred Guttenberg, a gun control advocate whose daughter was killed in the Parkland school shooting, wrote on Twitter he thinks Barrett’s record on gun issues is worse than Justice Brett Kavanuagh’s.
Guttenberg made headlines in September 2018 when he attempted to shake Kavanaugh’s hand during a break in his confirmation hearing. Kavanuagh said he didn’t recognize Guttenberg and didn’t intend to slight him.
“Fight this nomination as if your life depends on it,” Guttenberg tweeted. “It does.”
South Florida Democratic members of Congress said the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice should happen after the presidential election.
Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said the most important trait desired by voters is a commitment to “following the Constitution.”
“We don’t want any type of Supreme Court justice that’s going to legislate from the bench,” he said. “This is about following the Constitution, putting somebody on that will follow that.”
Staff writer Anthony Man contributed to this report.
Skyler Swisher can be reached at sswisher@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher
