* “The greatest living justice.” That was part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ predictably immodest introduction of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the recent Federalist Society conference in Orlando. Few other legal venues would have been forums for such Thomas hyperbole.
* Who else but this Florida Supreme Court could make the Republican Legislature seem so deliberative and fair-minded. That’s an upshot of the major Court ruling that it wasn’t mandatory for a jury to be unanimous for a death-penalty verdict. To its credit, the Legislature seems adamant that a unanimous jury should remain a requirement to sentence someone to death. But, no, the Supreme Court did not weigh in on bringing back “Old Sparky.”