Partnership with the Community

It started with lunch and a request to be heard in a case pending before me. It led to a complaint filed with the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) by a political opponent. Mea culpa. 

When I set the case for hearing, I failed to advise the parties that people in the Community had asked to be heard. Declining to discuss the case with them outside of court, insisting that anything they had to say would have to be in open court and on the record, was insufficient. I should have put the parties on notice of the request to be heard. 

The JQC charged that this, coupled with the fact that I then ruled in favor of community activists who supported my re-election, created the appearance of a quid pro quo of political support in exchange for favorable judicial action. Of course, there was no quid pro quo or promise of support. But, I found out the hard way that appearances are enough to buy you trouble under the Code of Judicial Conduct.

When I sentenced Herbert Smith, a young, violent felony offender to 60 years in prison, the reaction was immediate. The generally accepted disposition however, the bottom of the Guidelines which was more than 10 years in prison, got little notice. At the hearing, not a single witness was called on Mr. Smith’s behalf while the State built a damning case against him. That all changed when the Community got involved.

I do think some found it hard to believe that I would listen to people from the Community and suspend that 60-year sentence. Had you been there from the beginning though, you would have known that I had been trying to save Mr. Smith for the better part of two years - refusing to listen to prosecutors and send a young man off to prison for more than a decade. I just couldn’t seem to reach him.

I have been asked many times if the 60-year sentence was a bluff. What I will say is that it got everyone’s attention, including Mr. Smith’s. I was called a lot of things on social media by a lot of people I’ve never met - many of whom don’t even live in Florida, let alone Broward County. All of which seems irrelevant when you consider that a very real partnership between the Court and the Community suddenly came about.

Was it unusual for people in the Community to support my re-election? They had in the past and you should know that lawyers and various organizations support judges they favor all the time.

I was surprised and embarrassed that some would attach improper motives to my ruling and I deeply regret that my oversight gave credence to a suggestion of improper influence on the part of community activists. But, the JQC was right. There are people who will never accept a court’s ruling regardless of its legality, especially if it’s controversial. My failure to follow protocol gave them something to point to and all they needed to justify a conspiracy theory. Again, mea culpa. I should have seen it coming. The Code of Judicial Conduct required me to anticipate it and avoid it.

In spite of the efforts of many, for which I remain truly grateful, I lost the election in 2016 and subsequently resigned my position. The JQC then took a voluntary dismissal of the charges and I went back to private life.

But, the story doesn’t end there because, despite the fallout, the partnership between the Court and the Community yielded very real results. A young man gave up a life of crime - something prison and probation had been unable to accomplish. Maybe I was finally able to reach him. Maybe he had been looking for a way out all along - there just wasn’t one. By suspending his sentence, I gave him a choice. The Community gave him something more important: a way out and a path forward.

You don’t have to take my word for any of this. There are official court records and you can ask the people involved: Vincente Thrower, Rev. Allen Jackson, Dahlia Baker and Herbert Smith, himself, to name a few.

The Smith case was an enlightening experience in many ways. It is the primary reason I decided to run again. Our Courts are constantly striving to be inclusive and accessible. You can either watch from the sidelines or step up.