Barbara Lagoa (left) and Robert Luck testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee during their confirmation hearing to be U.S. Circuit Judges for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, on Oct. 16, 2019. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

A pair of Florida State Supreme Court justices are poised for a smooth Senate confirmation to seats on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Justices Barbara Lagoa and Robert J. Luck faced little pushback from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during their nomination hearing Wednesday morning, as they fielded questions about "judicial activism" and how they would approach precedent as members of the federal judiciary.

President Donald Trump tapped both justices last month for seats on the circuit. That announcement came shortly after speculation began that the circuit will shift to the right, as Judges Stanley Marcus and Gerald Tjoflat take senior status, an outcome that seems likely to take place after Wednesday's relatively uneventful hearing.

A handful of the committee's Democrats—Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker—were at the Democratic debate in Ohio the night before and did not attend Wednesday's hearing. Sen. Chris Coons, another member of the panel, also attended the debate and did not question the nominees.

Senate Judiciary Republicans took the lead, asking the nominees about what they believed to be a "judicial activist," and how they might interpret the U.S. Constitution as they consider federal laws.

"The definition of a judicial activist is a judge who rules based on their personal preference or policy preference regardless of what the law calls for," Lagoa said.

Lagoa said there have been times when she personally disagreed with an opinion she wrote, but that she felt bound by what statutes say in issuing her rulings.

When asked about how legislative history should be used in judiciary rulings, Luck said he struggles with using legislative history as a main point in determining the intent of a statute, because a single statement by one lawmaker is not necessarily approved by Congress.

"The text is what is passed by the Congress," he said.

Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham also noted that both nominees, as members of an appeals court, could have the opportunity to overturn precedent.

"If somebody is challenging precedent, you'll give them their day in court?" Graham asked. Both nominees said they "absolutely" would.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, one of the few Democrats to question the nominees, applauded Lagoa's nomination. He noted the significance of appointing a Latina woman to counter a lack of diversity on the federal bench.

"The fact of the matter is only 6.6% of federal judges are of Latino or Hispanic heritage or descent," Blumenthal said. "In a country where more than 18% of our population is Latino or Hispanic, we should be doing more to attract nominees with that qualification."

Lagoa also invoked her parents' experience of fleeing Cuba to come to the U.S. as guiding her judicial interpretations.

"Unlike the country my parents fled, we are a nation of laws, not of men," Lagoa said.

Lagoa also gave her father-in-law, U.S. District Judge Paul Huck of the Southern District of Florida, a shout-out during her opening statement, saying she has looked to him as "a model of what a judge should be."

The state justice referred to her parents' experience again when Sen. Ted Cruz asked the nominees why judges should uphold the original meaning of the Constitution when it was written by "people who have been dead for 200 years."

Luck said that if judges stray away from the original meaning of the Constitution, it could open the door to a wide range of perspectives on the law, which "means every single person has a different way of viewing something" and create confusion for litigants.

And Lagoa replied that she believed it is important to uphold those original meanings in order to make sure that the law can be evenly applied over time, which she said was not the case in Cuba.

"To paraphrase 'Jerry Maguire,' you had me at 'this is not Cuba,'" Cruz joked.

"You had me at hello," Graham added.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of Robert Luck.