Opinion ID: 1603815
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the law governing fitness

Text: Article V, section 12, Florida Constitution, states that two sanctions are available to this Court for dealing with judicial misconduct  reprimand or removal. Upon recommendation of two-thirds of the members of the judicial qualifications commission, the supreme court may order that the justice or judge be disciplined by appropriate reprimand, or be removed from office with termination of compensation for willful or persistent failure to perform his duties or for other conduct unbecoming a member of the judiciary demonstrating a present unfitness to hold office... . Art. V, § 12(f), Fla. Const. This Court has established mandatory standards governing the conduct of Florida judges by which fitness may be measured. Canons 1 and 2A of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct provide: CANON 1 A Judge Should Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary An independent and honorable judiciary is indispensable to justice in our society. A judge should participate in establishing, maintaining, and enforcing, and should himself observe, high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary may be preserved. The provisions of this Code should be construed and applied to further that objective. CANON 2 A Judge Should Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All His Activities A. A judge should respect and comply with the law and should conduct himself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. Fla.Code Jud.Conduct, Canons 1, 2A. This Court has noted in caselaw the heavy duty placed on judges to uphold the integrity of their office: Lawyers are disbarred only in cases where they commit extreme violations involving moral turpitude, corruption, defalcations, theft, larceny or other serious or reprehensible offenses. Judges should be held to even stricter ethical standards because in the nature of things even more rectitude and uprightness is expected of them. But they too should not be subjected to the extreme discipline of removal except in instances where it is free from doubt that they intentionally committed serious and grievous wrongs of a clearly unredeeming nature. The judge should observe high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary may be preserved. He should conduct himself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. In re LaMotte, 341 So.2d 513, 517-18 (Fla. 1977). We have removed judges where their conduct demonstrated a present unfitness to hold office. See, e.g., In re Graham, 620 So.2d 1273 (Fla. 1993) (judge removed for abuse of power) cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 114 S.Ct. 1186, 127 L.Ed.2d 537 (1994); In re Garrett, 613 So.2d 463 (Fla. 1993) (judge removed for shoplifting TV remote control device); In re LaMotte, 341 So.2d 513 (Fla. 1977) (judge removed for charging personal air transportation on a state air travel card). And we have declined to remove judges where the conduct was mitigated by other circumstances or otherwise failed to demonstrate present unfitness. See, e.g., In re Fowler, 602 So.2d 510 (Fla. 1992) (judge not removed for furnishing false information concerning a traffic accident where this was an isolated act). In the present case, we find that Judge Davey violated Canon 1 of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct in his handling of the Bryant case after he had been elected to judicial office  i.e., he failed to observe a high standard of conduct that would preserve the integrity and independence of the judiciary. We further find that he violated Canon 2A by the same conduct  i.e., he failed to conduct himself in a manner that would promote public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. We approve the Commission's recommendation that Davey be found guilty of violating these canons. We must now determine whether this misconduct renders Davey unfit to perform judicial duties.