Outgoing Chief Justice Charles Canady passes the gavel to incoming Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz at a private ceremony for court staff June 29. Muñiz, who becomes chief justice July 1, said the ceremony was “about two things,” honoring his predecessor and thanking the court staff. “The rest of us on the court benefit so much from your leadership,” Muñiz said. “There’s a lot that goes into what you had to deal with, especially in the last couple of years, we know that we wouldn’t have been able to make it through the challenges that we had without you, so I wanted to say, thank you.” Canady served as chief justice for six years, although not consecutively. “It’s such a privilege that all of us have to serve the people of this state, doing the work that we do,” Canady said. “We’ve been through such a challenging time, and I am grateful to you for the ways that you adapted to those challenges and moved us forward.”

Chief Justice Charles Canady symbolically passed the gavel to Chief Justice-elect Carlos G. Muñiz in a ceremony for court staff June 29.

Surrounded by fellow justices and staff in the Supreme Court Rotunda in Tallahassee, Canady gripped an oversized gavel that he jokingly referred to as  a “mallet.”

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