Gov. Ron DeSantis must select another applicant to replace his choice of 15th Circuit Judge Renatha Francis for a seat on the Supreme Court, and do so by noon September 14.

A unanimous Supreme Court on September 11 issued an order granting the request from Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Windemere, blocking DeSantis’s appointment of Francis and telling him to select one of the seven other finalists sent to the governor last January along with Francis by the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission.

The court agreed with Thompson that Francis was ineligible because she had not been a member of The Florida Bar for 10 years, as required by the Constitution for justices and appellate judges. Francis won’t meet that standard until September 24. The JNC nominated Francis and eight others for two vacancies on January 23, and DeSantis chose now Justice John Couriel and Francis on May 26, noting at the time Francis would not join the court until at least September 24.