The Florida Supreme Court denied petitions by national political groups League of Women Voters and Common Cause to restart the application process for three upcoming vacancies on its bench, ruling on Friday that the Judicial Nominating Commission was right to pick nominees before Jan. 8, when the spots officially open up.

But retiring justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince had other ideas.

“The majority today has reached an unfounded result that ignores the plain and explicit language of the Florida Constitution that the voters have established as our sacred governing document,” Lewis wrote, dissenting from the majority opinion.