TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Former Circuit Judge James Perry has been formally invested as a Florida Supreme Court justice.
Perry, who served on the trial bench in Sanford, is Gov. Charlie Crist's fourth appointment to the high court in less than a year.
That's more than any other governor in his first term and comprises a majority of the seven-member court.
Crist presented Perry's credentials at Friday's ceremony.
The appointment also gave the Supreme Court a second black justice in keep with Crist's push for more diversity. Chief Justice Peggy Quince also is black. He is the fourth black justice in Florida's history.
Florida's first black chief justice, Leander J. Shaw, Jr., presented a Bible to Perry as part of the ceremony.
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