Jorge Labarga

Jorge Labarga is an Associate Justice of the Florida Supreme Court and its sole remaining member not appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis. Born in Cuba in 1952 and raised in Pahokee, Florida, he earned his undergraduate degree and law degree from the University of Florida, practised personal injury and criminal defence law in West Palm Beach, then ascended through the trial and appellate benches via appointments by Governors Chiles and Crist. He served as Florida's 56th Chief Justice from 2014 to 2018, the first Cuban American to lead the state judiciary and the first chief justice to serve consecutive terms in a century. On 10 June 2026, when six DeSantis-appointed colleagues voted 6-1 to decline jurisdiction over the Fair Districts challenge to the 24R-4D congressional map, Labarga dissented alone, arguing the court had jurisdiction and that deferring to the First District Court of Appeal would leave no chance to review the map before the November election.

Labarga's dissent carries structural weight beyond its legal argument. The 6-1 split aligned precisely along appointment lines: every justice appointed by the governor declined to examine the governor's own map, while the sole non-appointee argued for merits review. His career spans appointment by a Democratic governor (Crist), chief-justice leadership during the 2014-18 period, and now the role of institutional outlier on a court that has shifted sharply rightward. The Fair Districts amendments he argued the court should consider are Florida's constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering, adopted by voters in 2010 with over 60% support.

As the only justice insulated from the current governor's appointment power, Labarga's future opinions on election-law and redistricting questions will remain a marker of the court's internal division. The Equal Ground Education Fund challenge he sought to have heard continues at the 1st DCA but cannot produce a 2026 remedy.