Judge agrees to reprimand for not revealing speeding ticket en route to appeals court job interview
Florida Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler was ticketed for speeding in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012, twice at speeds of as much as 30 mph or more over the legal limit, although one of the other tickets was dismissed. In 2014, as she was on her way to an interview that she hoped would point her toward a seat on a state appellate court, she collected one more speeding ticket.
Now that March 17 ticket has sparked a legal ethics problem for the 42-year-old judge who oversees a divorce and civil cases in Sanford, Florida, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
Recksiedler didn’t mention the March 17 speeding ticket at her interview later the same day, although she acknowledged that her driving record was a concern. Nor did she bring it up when she was expressly asked, six months later, about her most recent violations. She assumed the question referred to any subsequent tickets, the judge later explained to the Judicial Qualifications Commission, because the appeals-court panel presumably had a copy of her driving record listing the ticket.
The judge and the JQC have mutually agreed to resolve the issue with a public reprimand, the newspaper reports. However, whether an ethical issue exists and, if so, whether a public reprimand is the appropriate resolution must still be determined by the Florida Supreme Court before the matter is concluded.
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