Decisions, decisions.

Although the cases Canady now presides over on the Supreme Court are primarily death cases ("The diet at the district court is more varied," Canady admits), his record from the Second DCA reads like one of Canady's favorite novels: a unique cast of characters and some unexpected twists and turns.

In John R. Cartwright v. The State of Florida, Canady concurred with the state's position to send the appellant, a convicted, sexually violent predator, to a treatment facility as mandated in the Jimmy Ryce Act. The act, which was signed into law in 1998 by Governor Lawton Chiles, calls for inmates with sex offense histories to be reviewed by the Department of Corrections, the Department of Children and Family Services, and state attorneys to determine the level of risk for re-offense. Inmates may also be subject to civil proceedings and commitment to a secure facility for treatment. In Cartwright, the appellant argued that the Involuntary civil commitment described in the Ryce Act is unconstitutional.

"Cartwright argues that the plea agreement he entered with the State --which resulted in his adjudication for multiple counts of attempted capital sexual battery--precluded the State from subsequently seeking his commitment under the Ryce Act," opined Canady. "Cartwright also argues that such a violation of the plea agreement was also a violation of the due process clauses of the Florida and United States constitutions.

"The claims are unwarranted."

Just one week later, in the case of Stephen Edward Allen v. The State of Florida, Canady affirmed the commitment of another sex offender, Stephen Allen. In his opinion, Canady found only one of the appellant's concerns worth addressing: the adequacy of the jury instructions, an issue that had also come up in the Cartwright hearings.

At the close of his opinion in Allen, Canady wrote: "We follow Lee and Cartwright in certifying the following question to the Florida Supreme Court as one of great public importance: 'May an individual be committed under the Jimmy Ryce Act in the absence of a jury instruction that the state must prove that the individual has serious difficulty in controlling his or her dangerous behavior?'"

It was the second time Canady had certified that question in just one week, and the Supreme Court declined to rule in either case.

Canady faced an entirely different case in July 2004, when Lisa Abril and her husband Roberto appealed a trial court's order dismissing their complaint against...