It is unknown whether or not the JQC tour is stopping in other jurisdictions, but we’re guessing it’s a one-off given the recent landslide of JQC cases in the 17th Circuit, already the historical all-time JQC champ statewide.
Expect happy faces on the judges at least for the time being, and be sure to post a comment right here on JAABLOG if not …
Once upon a time, Broward bar associations surveyed lawyers on the performance of judges. The judges didn’t necessarily like being critiqued, and after JAABLOG came along and judges started to draw challengers come election time, the easily disseminated (via blog) bar polls simply disappeared.
It’s not just here in Broward where lawyers’ opinions about judges are no longer sought out. Just last year, more than a decade after the Broward surveys were killed, the Florida Bar 86’d its poll for higher court judges seeking merit retention. Read about it here in this 2024 Sun Sentinel Editorial End of Bar poll means less accountability for judges.
That being said, some circuits in Florida thankfully still believe lawyers’ first-hand knowledge of judicial performance matters. The Miami-Dade Bar 2024 Judicial Poll is one example, while up in Gainesville The Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association publishes a long list of survey questions and past poll results.
Since Broward is welcoming a new judicial administration, we thought we’d reimplement surveying of both lawyers and the general public via the JAABLOG comments section. It may not be the most scientific method, but in the absence of any official local bar association polls,** it’s the best we can do. It also may be a better method given the public is included, since tax dollars pay for judicial salaries, benefits, and highly lucrative judicial pensions.
(**We’ve called and emailed Braulio Rosa, Director of the Broward Bar Association (BBA), to see if the BBA is willing to restart its own polling. We’ll let you know when he gets back to us.)
And without further ado, for the first up in the 2025 JAABLOG JUDICIAL POLL, we’re starting near the top with a member of judicial administration itself: County Criminal Chairperson Deborah Carpenter-Toye:
Please post a comment if you’ve had any interactions with Debbie in court, or with the office she’s responsible for regarding scheduling and other important matters. Access to dockets and efficiency are big categories for JAABLOG, in addition to the following topics you may wish to consider:
Legal Acumen:
Demonstrates knowledge of the law;
Listens to legal arguments;
Comprehends legal concepts;
Analytically reaches decisions in unsettled areas of the law; and
Willing to make decisions based on established law.
Communication Skills:
Able to articulate question and decisions;
Decisions are well reasoned;
Decisions are clear and concise; and
Decisions address issues raised.
Professionalism:
Shows courtesy/civility;
Shows patience/temperament;
Shows industry/promptness;
Has integrity/ethics;
Shows impartiality;
Shows preparedness; and
Participates in professional activities.
Office Management:
Quickly and efficiently sets hearings, displays flexibility with both general scheduling and with Zoom hearings;
Helpful with proposed orders, etc.;
Responsive and collaborative, gives clear direction;
We’re told both the SAO’s Economic Crimes Unit (ECU) and Drug Trafficking Unit (DTU) are being placed under the supervision of the current Assistant State Attorney In Charge of the Cyber Crimes Unit (CYU), Justin Griffis, come August.
The current heads of ECU and DTU are reportedly approaching retirement towards the end of August …
The JQC has four pending cases in the 17th Circuit. That’s a lot even for Broward County, the GOAT by a mile in the JQC convictions department.
Any progress made over the years is now kaput. And it’s not backsliding either; it’s more like the entire courthouse has been placed in a time machine and sent back to 2007.
But why?
It’s not a simple question, of course. And there isn’t a simple answer. But one consistent theme since JAABLOG first came into being, when Dale Ross was in charge, is the role of the Chief Judge in setting the tone for what is acceptable behavior amongst the judiciary in the courthouse, on the campaign trail, or driving home from a bar function (double entendre intended).
Unfortunately, given the relentless pace of JQC activity in Broward today and over the last couple of decades, it’s obvious that no Chief Judge has made much of an impact.
And since déjà vu is the order of the day, we spoke with Howard Finkelstein, the former Public Defender who fought as hard as anyone to clean up Broward, about a concern many of us have discussed over the years (and most certainly revisited in the past few weeks). Whether you agree or not, younger readers and others who desire improvement in the 17th Circuit should find the issues presented interesting and worthy of discussion as well.
From Howard:
“I have worked with every chief judge since the first one.
The same link that for decades allowed Broward to build such an exceedingly large membership in the judicial misbehavior club has been followed through to today’s unfortunate JQC nightmare. That is the chief judge.
A highly political position within the judiciary … (t)hey often knew about the misbehavior but only acted when it became public and then a quiet transfer to another division. Behavior uncorrected just moved to a different area. Kind of like what was done with misbehaving priests, and for every judge protected another vote for chief judge acquired. A culture is created from above to those below, not the other way around, and extended all the way to the campaign trail where new judges are elected.
We have a new chief judge who has an opportunity in a new political climate to change what has been a decades long culture of protecting judges even at the expense of the public. It always takes courage to implement important changes, but I believe in the end a leader can and must emerge to finally lead Broward out of its opprobrium.”
“In my opinion, however, the Court has not been tough enough in imposing its own sanctions, but that is a longstanding problem—judges throughout the country do not really like to punish other judges“— Ethics professor Bob Jarvis
SS: “Broward has a long history of a highly political legal culture, and with it, an excessive tolerance for mediocrity on the bench.” –Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, April 14, 2025
COMING SOON – SUGGESTION BOX FOR THE NEW CHIEF JUDGE …
