TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday appointed Palm Beach County Judge Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court. The Republican governor announced Francis’ appointment to the conservative-controlled Supreme Court at a news conference in West Palm Beach. Francis is scheduled to join the court on Sept. 1, replacing retiring Justice Alan Lawson. In a short speech, Francis, who was born in Jamaica, said she is the “epitome of the American dream” and described her judicial philosophy with a reference to U.S. founding father Alexander Hamilton. “The Florida Supreme Court protects the people’s liberty, and inherent in the way we do that as a judiciary, is by respecting and observing the limited role that judges play in our constitutional system of government,” she said.