Sign Of The Times

The Florida Supreme Court has ordered a circuit court  judge to appear before it to receive a public reprimand

The first incident occurred on or about June 2, 2014. Upon seeing an opponent’s campaign sign in a convenience store, Judge Schwartz asked to speak with the store’s owner. She was told that the owner, Mr. Firas Hussain, was not there but that he might be back later that day or the next day.

That night, Judge Schwartz returned to the convenience store to speak with Mr. Hussain and to request that he display her campaign sign. When Mr. Hussain refused to display Judge Schwartz’s campaign sign, she lost her temper. Before leaving the store, Judge Schwartz used profanity and threatened to sue Mr. Hussain.

In the second incident, while presiding over a case, Judge Schwartz wrote notes on pages of scrap paper and on original documents contained in the case’s court file. One of the parties reviewed the court file and photocopied the judge’s notes. Later, that party requested a certified copy of the pages that contained the notes. Upon receiving the party’s request, Judge Schwartz instructed her bailiff to remove those pages from the court file. After reviewing the uncertified copies of Judge Schwartz’s notes, the party filed a motion to disqualify her from the case. Judge Schwartz denied the motion. Judge Schwartz testified that she instructed her bailiff to remove the pages containing her notes from the court file and place them in an envelope. The missing pages were never found.

The judge stipulated to the violations. She must also pay a fine and write a letter of apology.

The Miami Herald reported that the judge told the store owner to “Go f— yourself.” (Mike Frisch)