Title: Inquirey Concerning Johnson

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

692 So. 2d 168 (1997)
INQUIRY CONCERNING a Judge No. 95-412, re June Laran JOHNSON.
No. 87482.

Supreme Court of Florida.
April 17, 1997.
*169 Frank Kaney, Chairman and Thomas C. MacDonald, Jr., General Counsel, Tallahassee, Timothy W. Ross, Special Counsel, Coconut Grove, and Lauri Waldman Ross, Special Counsel, Miami, for Judicial Qualifications Commission, Petitioner.
Bruce S. Rogow and Beverly A. Pohl of Bruce S. Rogow, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for Respondent.
PER CURIAM.
The Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) has filed with this Court a recommendation that June LaRan Johnson be removed from her position as a county court judge in Broward County. We have jurisdiction under article V, section 12(f) of the Florida Constitution.
In support of its recommendation, the JQC made the following findings of fact:
Judge Johnson did not testify. Before this Court, she has accepted the JQC's findings of fact except for its characterization of her motive and intent. She asserts that her acts were not prompted by corrupt motive. She says that her "single error in legal judgment, though repeated 42-57 times, represents but one mark on an otherwise unblemished fourteen-year judicial career." Thus, she suggests that the appropriate discipline for her misconduct should be the imposition of a public reprimand personally administered before this Court.
We cannot dispute Judge Johnson's otherwise unblemished judicial record. However, *173 her knowing and repeated acts of falsifying public records strike at the very heart of judicial integrity. We are compelled to the conclusion that Judge Johnson must be removed from office.
There can be no question that Judge Johnson knew what she was doing. She acknowledged on the record that if she merely backdated the records nunc pro tunc, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (Department) would not recognize the earlier date. She knew her actions would affect the length of drivers' license suspensions. The backdating of these records was not a single act of misjudgment but rather a knowing falsification which was repeated many times. To make matters worse, she ordered court personnel to assist in changing the records.
Many people are killed or injured on the highways of Florida each year as a result of persons driving under the influence of alcoholic beverages or prohibited chemical substances (DUI). The legislature has responded to this serious social problem by imposing strong sanctions against those convicted of DUI, including the suspension of their licenses to drive motor vehicles. The actions of Judge Johnson were designed to thwart the proper imposition of these suspensions. The consequences of Judge Johnson's actions were explained by Jill Schwartz, an assistant general counsel of the Department:
We agree with the JQC that by her conduct Judge Johnson committed a fraud on the Department. It makes little difference whether she was motivated by a desire to reduce her case load or by humanitarian reasons. The fact that her alteration might have been corrected through an appeal is of no consequence. Her conduct speaks for itself. A person committing acts of this nature cannot be permitted to remain a judge.
Accordingly, we direct that June LaRan Johnson be removed from the office of county court judge effective upon this opinion becoming final.[1]
It is so ordered.
KOGAN, C.J., and OVERTON, GRIMES, HARDING and WELLS, JJ., concur.
SHAW, J., dissents with an opinion, in which ANSTEAD, J., concurs.
SHAW, Justice, dissenting.
Judge Johnson's serious error in judgment is not justifiable and deserves punishment, but removal is too harsh a sanction. I would apply the recently amended provision of the Florida Constitution[2] to tailor a sanction more suitable to her offense.
To call Judge Johnson's conduct unredeeming and to say that she is unfit for judicial office confuses a misguided abuse of judicial discretion with malevolent misuse of judicial power. She committed one error in judgment  and although she committed it repeatedly, her openness convinces me that she was oblivious to the seriousness of her impropriety.
The record shows Judge Johnson has served honorably for fourteen years and she is respected by her colleagues. I am persuaded that she did not act with corrupt *174 motive, and I do not believe her wrongs are beyond redemption. In my view, her misguided attempt to circumvent the mandatory license revocation statute deserves more punishment than a public reprimand, but should not lead to her judicial demise. It seems inequitable to remove Judge Johnson when Judge Colby received a public reprimand for lying in open court, falsifying records, and convicting DUI defendants without a plea or trial in cases where the defendants failed to appear. See In re Colby, 629 So. 2d 120 (Fla.1993).
The new amendment recognizes the appropriateness of a middle ground between a public reprimand and removal. While it would be unfair to apply new and onerous changes in the law to conduct which preceded the law, I would apply the new amendment here to benefit Judge Johnson. See State v. Lavazzoli, 434 So. 2d 321, 323 (Fla. 1983) (holding that "disposition of a case on appeal is made in accordance with the law in effect at the time of the appellate court's decision rather than the law in effect at the time the judgment appealed was rendered" unless a substantive right is altered). I would reject the JQC's removal recommendation and suspend Judge Johnson for six months.
ANSTEAD, J., concurs.
[1]  We need not decide whether the recent constitutional amendment to article V, section 12 of the Florida Constitution which now permits the suspension of a judge in addition to other sanctions applies to Judge Johnson because we conclude that removal is the only suitable discipline.
[2]  The recent amendments to Article V, § 12 of the Florida Constitution, relating to judicial discipline were effective January 7, 1997, and reflect the following change to section 12(a)(1):

For purposes of this section, discipline is defined as any or all of the following: reprimand, fine, suspension with or without pay, or lawyer discipline.
And section 12(c):
(1) The supreme court may accept, reject, or modify in whole or in part the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the commission....