Judge Kevin Emas Sues Governor Ron DeSantis for Failing to Fill His Vacant Seat

MIAMI, FL (June 30, 2025) — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida has filed a lawsuit on behalf of recently retired Judge Kevin Emas to compel Governor Ron DeSantis to fulfill his constitutional duty to fill Judge Emas’s seat on the Third District Court of Appeal.

The Constitution requires the governor to fill a judicial vacancy within 60 days after the Judicial Nominating Commission sends him its list of nominees. That deadline passed over six weeks ago, in mid-May. The lawsuit, filed in the Florida Supreme Court, seeks to compel Governor DeSantis to fill the vacancy.

“This court cannot serve the people of Florida without a full bench,” said Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida. “The governor’s refusal to act isn’t just an administrative failure — it’s a constitutional violation that leaves Floridians without the justice system they deserve. It’s unacceptable that we must sue him yet again to make him do the job he was elected to do.”

This is not the first time Governor DeSantis has failed to fill a judicial vacancy by the Constitution’s deadline. Last year, the ACLU of Florida filed a similar lawsuit when Governor DeSantis failed to appoint a judge to a Tallahassee-based court. The governor only made the appointment after the Supreme Court ordered him to explain his inaction. In 2023, Governor DeSantis waited months to start the nomination process after another Tallahassee judge passed away.

“A deadline is a deadline,” said Nicholas Warren, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Florida. “Governor DeSantis doesn’t just get to ignore our Constitution if he feels like it. His repeated refusal to follow such a simple law is both troubling and illegal.”

Based in Miami, the Third District Court of Appeal hears appeals from courts in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. The petition in Emas v. DeSantis can be viewed here.