Recommendation To Reprimand Parkland Judge Deviates From Earlier Cases

The question of whether to formally discipline Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer’s handling of the Parkland high school mass shooting trial has turned out to be, consistently with the rest of the case, anything but routine. Broward County has seen its share of judges facing censure for conduct on and off the bench, from public drunkenness to inappropriate relationships with attorneys and even discussing ongoing cases with activists while seeking their political support. But in many of those cases, when the judges resigned, the Judicial Qualifications Commission backed off, finding little merit in spending political capital dressing down a judge who already discarded the robes. Not so for Scherer, who attracted nationwide attention overseeing a lightning rod of a case — the penalty phase that decided whether gunman Nikolas Cruz would be sentenced to life in prison or death by lethal injection. The JQC faulted Scherer for a number of missteps during the trial, including an unwarranted accusation that a member of the defense team threatened her daughter, a blistering criticism of the lead defense attorney in front of her client, and a post-trial decision to step off the bench and embrace the prosecutors, the victims’ families and others who had observed the trial from the start of jury selection. Related Articles News | Judge faces reprimand for conduct during Parkland school shooting trial Defense attorneys did not participate in the emotional epilogue to the trial, though Scherer insisted to the JQC they were welcome to do so. Public Defender Gordon Weekes declined to comment. Family members of the victims, and at least one former judge who had his own troubles with the JQC, came to Scherer’s defense Tuesday. “Judges can’t be human now?