Charles T. Canady

Born in Lakeland, Florida, Canady graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Haverford College in 1976 and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1979. He was admitted to the bar the same year and began his practice in Lakeland. In 1983, he was hired as the legal counsel for the Central Florida Regional Planning Commission. From 1984 to 1990, Canady served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, initially elected as a conservative Democrat, he switched parties in June 1989. The change created many hard feelings as it happened after he accepted Democratic money for his re-election campaign. He ran for the Florida State Senate in 1990, but was unsuccessful.

In 1992, Canady made a successful bid for the U.S. House of Representatives, narrowly defeating his Democratic opponent Tom Mims. In Congress, Canady was credited for coining the term "partial-birth abortion" while developing the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995.[2][3] According to Keri Folmar, the lawyer responsible for the bill's language, the term was developed in early 1995 in a meeting among herself, Canady and National Right to Life Committee lobbyist Douglas Johnson.[4] Canady could not find this particular abortion practice named in any medical textbook and therefore he and his aides named it.[5] He was one of the managers appointed to conduct the impeachment proceedings of President Bill Clinton. He did not seek re-election to a fifth term in 2000, keeping a term limits pledge he made in 1992.

After leaving Congress, Canady served as general counsel for Florida Governor Jeb Bush before he was appointed a judge on the Second Florida District Court of Appeal in 2002, taking seat in November of that year. On August 27, 2008, Governor Charlie Crist appointed Canady to the Supreme Court of Florida to replace Justice Raoul Cantero, who was returning to private practice. He became the 82nd Associate Justice of the Florida Supreme Court on September 6, 2008.[6]

In 2013, Governor Rick Scott signed the Timely Justice Act (HB 7101)[7] which overhauled the processes for capital punishment;[8] the United States Supreme Court struck down part of this law in January 2016 in Hurst v. Florida,[9][10] leading the Florida legislature to pass a new statute.[11] The new sentencing scheme came before the Florida Supreme Court in October 2016, which held that a death sentence must be issued by a unanimous jury.[12] Canady was one of two justices to dissent from this opinion, with coverage noting his inclusion amongst Donald Trump's list of potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees[13] which was released less than a month earlier.[14]

• List of American politicians who switched parties in office
• Donald Trump Supreme Court candidates

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• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN