Opinion ID: 1787171
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Charges 6-7

Text: Charges 6 and 7 are grounded upon a brochure entitled 16-Year Judge Brown Treats Crime Like a Part-Time Problem and other statements contained in a written campaign submission by Judge McMillan to the editorial board of The Bradenton Herald newspaper. Statements in the campaign submission included: 1. For the last four years 16-year incumbent Judge Brown has served in the criminal court, he has averaged only 14 hours a week on the bench. 2. In 1997 he took 84 days off from court and in 1996 he took 86 days off from court. 3. We hear all the time how overloaded our court system is, and it's no wonder with working hours like that. 4. But, what's even more amazing, we pay him over $98,000 a year to do this job. The JQC found this brochure to be a serious and knowing misrepresentation as to Judge Brown's devotion to his duties, and to have been perhaps the most serious issue in this unfortunate campaign. As found by the JQC, Judge McMillan manipulated the phrase days off from court in the brochure to make it appear as though Judge Brown was actually not present at the courthouse at all on those days. Judge McMillan testified that for purposes of calculating the eighty-four and eighty-six days, he considered a day off from court any day that Judge Brown did not actually hold county court dealing with county court functions. In that sense, Judge Brown was off anytime he spent time handling matters in chambers; handling any duties or responsibilities as the county administrative judge, which he had been for all of his sixteen years on the bench; handling any duties as a designated circuit judge; handling first-appearance hearings; or handling any of the other myriad responsibilities that a judge has that do not necessarily require sitting on the bench in open court. Tom Nolan, Judge McMillan's campaign consultant, agreed that the brochure would have in fact led voters to believe that Judge Brown had not been working at all on eighty-four days and eighty-six days in the years in question. Judge Brown testified and denied being off from court for eighty-four and eighty-six days those years. Judge Brown submitted his calendars for those years and the JQC found the calendars to be consistent with his testimony and inconsistent with Judge McMillan's campaign representations. In fact, Judge McMillan's own exhibits showed that in 1997 Judge Brown took a total of twenty-three days off, not eighty-four. The JQC found that Judge McMillan's figures were simply untrue, and that Judge McMillan was attempting to convince the voters that Judge Brown was at best a part-time judge who took off from work for extended vacation periods. As to charge 7, the JQC found that Judge McMillan's claim in his campaign materials that the court system was overloaded and backed up as a result of Judge Brown's slack schedule and inattention to his duties was also a knowing misrepresentation. A portion of a transcript of a televised town hall meeting in which the two candidates participated revealed as much: Q. One of the problems we've heard the court system is constantly, [sic] there is a backlog of cases that makes it very difficult to get things processed through the court. In your experience, what would you suggest to help alleviate that problem. [J. Brown]: Let me answer that this way. In Manatee County there is no backlog to be concerned about at all. We have been very fortunate. I have been administrative judge for 16 years and when I first took over the office 16 years ago, I developed some systems that helped unclog things and we've been able to, very fortunate to proceed through rapidly with our caseloads so that we have the time to devote to those cases that really need our time.... [Judge McMillan]: I absolutely concur. There is no backlog of cases in Manatee County. But it, one thing it allows us to do that I don't think we're currently doing in the criminal justice system is to deal effectively with the problems of domestic violence and drunk driving. I think this lack of a backlog allows us the opportunity to spend more time individually with each case.... Town Hall Meeting (Channel 62 July 20, 1998) (emphasis added). The JQC found that this response by Judge McMillan clearly contradicts his own campaign materials claiming an overwhelming back-up of cases in the local court system where Judge Brown worked.