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Broward County: Systemic Judicial Misconduct

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Sun Jun 29, 2014 at 03:01:17 PM EST
Tags: Broward County, Judges (all tags)
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Frances Robles has an eye-opening article in the New York Times about the number of judges charged with criminal conduct and ethical violations in Broward County.

How could one county have so many misbehaving judges? Some say it's systemic. Others are in denial. The facts speak for themselves.

Added: Robles says "Bad behavior by judges has become distressingly common across Florida in recent months." Here are just a few examples:

  • 3 judges charged with DUI in 6 months.
  • This month, a former judge in Broward was disbarred for exchanging 949 phone calls and 471 text messages with the prosecutor during a death penalty case.
  • Judge John C. Murphy in Brevard County is on leave after he was caught on video this month threatening a public defender, who later accused the judge of punching him in the head.
  • In the Keys, a judge who was replaced on the bench after dozing off told a local news reporter that Ambien made him hallucinate about “ ‘Fantasia’ and the dancing brooms.”
  • Another stepped down because a blogger exposed a sexually explicit profile the judge had posted on a gay dating site.

Broward County has the highest rate of exonerations of defendants in Florida. [More...]

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