He says Cantero will be pivotal

  BY JONI JAMES

  TALLAHASSEE - Taking a swipe at a judiciary he often deems too liberal, Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday hailed his appointment of Miami attorney Raoul G. Cantero III to the Florida Supreme Court as the first step toward building a bench that would be less likely to overrule the governor and Legislature.

  In a mid-morning announcement on the state Capitol plaza, the governor said he was proud to have appointed the court's first Hispanic justice because ``it proves that
  service on our state's highest court is open to men and women of excellence from all backgrounds.''

  Cantero, Bush's first pick for the high court and one of the youngest justices ever appointed to the job, stood beside Bush with his wife and three children. The
  41-year-old appellate lawyer and devout Catholic will join a Democratic-appointed bench of four white and two African-American justices whose rulings have often
  clashed with Bush and the Republican-led Legislature.

  Cantero's relatively young age makes an important decision all the more gratifying, Bush said. ''It is a decision I have made that will affect Florida for many years,'' he
  said.

  On Sept. 1, Cantero, the grandson of former Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, will replace retiring Justice Major Harding of Jacksonville, who authored an April 2000
  opinion that overturned Bush's plan for speeding up the state's death penalty process.

  The governor praised Harding's service, but much of his formal remarks Wednesday showed his hope to build a far more conservative court, starting with Cantero. If
  Bush wins reelection this fall he might eventually be able to appoint the majority of the seven-member bench.

  ''The increasing power of courts . . . should not come at the expense of institutions that have a more legitimate claim to govern our lives,'' Bush said. ``As the courts
  grow ever more powerful, there is an even greater need for judges who are humble about the judicial role. Humble in the sense that they know courts are not
  mini-legislatures or governors.''

  NO LITMUS TEST

  Bush said he never asked Cantero, the only nonjudge among the five nominees whose names were sent to him by a nominating panel, about views on hot-button issues
  like abortion, the death penalty or tort reform.

  ''There were no litmus questions,'' said Bush. ``My biggest concerns for these candidates was their character and their judicial philosophy.''

  Social conservatives and business groups lobbied the governor heavily to name someone sympathetic to their views to the court.

  Despite the governor's view of the court's political leaning, the high court is considered a centrist bench by veteran court observers, who note that it sometimes gave
  Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles as hard a time as it has given Bush and the GOP-controlled Legislature.

  Gerald Kogan, a former Florida justice, said it is too soon to gauge what effect Cantero will have on the court.

  ``Until you see someone performing, you really don't know what they are going to do. Justice Cantero doesn't have a track record. He has not been on the bench
  before. Once he's been there for a couple of years, maybe you look back and pigeonhole him, but it's very difficult to people you can paint with a brush as conservative
  or liberal.''

  Cantero, who wrote an anti-abortion letter to The Herald in 1993 and is a member of a church that has opposed capital punishment, also declined to discuss his opinions
  on Wednesday, saying, ``My personal views are not going to keep me from applying the law, whatever it is.''

  Cantero brings to the job a reputation as a smart, hard-working lawyer. Nearly every judge on the Third District Court of Appeal in West Miami-Dade, where Cantero
  mostly practices as head of the appellate division of Adorno & Yoss, recommended him to the nominating committee.

  CHILD OF EXILES

  Born in Spain to the daughter of ousted Cuban dictator Batista, Cantero was nine months old when his parents, living in exile, brought him to America.

  A product of Miami's Catholic schools, Cantero followed his father into law. He graduated from Harvard Law School after earning his undergraduate degree at Florida
  State University, with majors in English and business and minors in philosophy and mathematics.

  U.S. District Judge Frederico Moreno, an old friend, summed up Cantero with one noun: ``In Spanish we have a word, caballero, which means a gentleman and so much more than that. He is a caballero in every sense of the word.''

  Pam Perry, a lifelong Democrat who sits with Cantero on the judicial nominating committee that reviews applications of potential judges for Miami-Dade courts,
  applauded the governor's decision.

  Perry, who says her views are sometimes stereotyped as liberal, said: ``If I were governor, I couldn't have made a better choice. . . . The only reason I'm surprised he
  is a justice today is that he's so humble.''

  Only one blight marred Cantero's candidacy, when some took exception to his work for a militant Cuban exile extremist. Cantero was a junior associate in 1989 when
  his firm helped Orlando Bosch stay in the United States and out of prison after he was released from jail in Venezuela for his alleged role in blowing up a Cuban airliner
  with 73 passengers aboard.

  Bush said the incident played no role in his selection. ''Everybody has a right to an attorney -- it's one of the foundational aspects of our legal system,'' the governor
  said. ``And I have no problems that Raoul was part of the team defending Orlando Bosch.''

  Cantero also defended his representation of Bosch, noting that U.S. President John Adams once represented British soldiers.

  ''Any lawyer who's ashamed of who he's represented should consider another line of work,'' Cantero said.

  Across the political spectrum, Bush's choice largely got accolades Wednesday. The state's top elected Democrat, Attorney General Bob Butterworth, who had urged the appointment of a Hispanic, calling it ``a very fine appointment.''

  Third District Court of Appeal Judge Rodolfo ''Rudy'' Sorondo Jr. said Cantero will be a force on the court. ``At his level, now you have to be able to persuade your
  colleagues. He will be a consensus seeker who is able to persuade his colleagues.''

  Herald staff writers Tere Figueras, Charles Rabin, David Cisneros and Tina Cummings contributed to this report.