On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis named four new judges–and noted that half of his judicial appointments have been women.
DeSantis named William Altfield, Gina Beovides, Laura Shearon Cruz and Marlene Fernandez-Karavetsos to the Eleventh Circuit Court.
“With today’s announcement, 50 percent of Governor DeSantis’ appointments to the bench since taking office have been women,” the governor’s office noted.
That was a theme DeSantis played up in his announcement on Thursday.
“I’m pleased to announce the appointments of these outstanding judges to the Eleventh Circuit Court,” said DeSantis. “All four have distinguished legal careers and I have no doubt they will continue to uphold the rule of law in their new positions. I am proud that since taking office we have continued to appoint individuals diverse in gender, race, age and practice area.”
“Thank you Governor DeSantis for these diverse appointments,” said Kyleen Hinkle, the president of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. “It is encouraging that 50 percent of Governor DeSantis’ judicial appointments have been women. FAWL believes our legal system works better when Floridians of all backgrounds are represented on the bench.”
Altfield is currently a Miami-Dade County Court judge, a post he has held since 2011. Before that, he was in the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida and an assistant state attorney in the Eleventh Circuit State Attorney’s Office.
Beovides has been a Miami-Dade County judge since 2016. Before that, she was a senior staff attorney for Dade Legal Aid.
Cruz has been a Miami-Dade County Court judge since 2018. Before that, she was an assistant state attorney for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
Fernandez-Karavetsos is the special counsel and assistant attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
