Florida judge is accused of sharing 'objectively unrealistic' fake recording with editorial board
Judge Lauren Peffer of Broward County, Florida, is facing ethics charges for citing a book she never read and providing a fake recording she didn’t fully review or vet to bolster her claim that the judiciary has an image crisis. (Photo from the 17th Judicial Circuit of Florida)
A judge in Broward County, Florida, is facing ethics charges for citing a book she never read and providing a fake recording she didn’t fully review or vet to bolster her claim that the judiciary has an image crisis.
The judge, Judge Lauren Peffer of Broward County, Florida, referenced the book when trying to obtain an endorsement from the South Florida Sun Sentinel during her 2024 judicial election campaign, according to a May 9 notice of ethics charges.
She supplied the fake recording, purportedly of a conversation involving two Florida Supreme Court justices, when the newspaper’s editorial board questioned the book’s claims.
The e-book was written and self-published by a fired technology officer who had worked for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit. It was titled: The Ninth Circus Court of Florida, My 30-Year Job from Hell!
According to the notice of charges, the book “is full of gratuitous profanity” and begins with a list of more than 1,300 synonyms for the word “sex.” It portrays the Ninth Judicial Circuit as corrupt and incompetent and attacks the character of some of its judges.
The fake recording, posted to a website associated with the fired employee, was purportedly a recording about the book between a Ninth Judicial Circuit judge and two Florida Supreme Court justices. The faked voices of the justices say the Ninth Judicial Circuit could lose millions of dollars because of the former employee’s firing.
“The recording is fabricated, likely using computer manipulation or generative-AI,” the notice of charges says. “While the voices resemble those of the purported participants, the manner of speech, tone, and much of the content are objectively unrealistic.”
The notice of charges cites an example in which the fake Ninth Judicial Circuit judge purportedly claims another judge’s “first love is power, then money, then white women. I’m not trying to be glib, but my guess is if [the judge] could have a perfect death he would be buried under the Lincoln Memorial next to Clarence Thomas in a solid gold coffin and have a live white hooker buried with him as a sacrifice.”
Peffer “acknowledged a complete lack of due diligence,” the notice says, including never reading the book, not listening to the entire recording, doing nothing to determine if the recording was legitimate, never speaking with the judges identified in the recording, and perpetuating the fired employee’s “farce.”
“Your campaign theme was to restore the public’s trust, but your behavior did the opposite and brought harm to the dignity and integrity of the judiciary,” the notice of charges says.
Publications with coverage of the ethics charges include Law360, Law.com, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the News Service of Florida via FlaglerLive.com and Florida Politics.
Peffer gave this statement to Law.com:
“The JQC has found probable cause that during my campaign to seek my current judicial position, my reference to content created by a third party—to whom I have absolutely no ties—was a violation of the Judicial Canons which require a judge to act in a manner that instills public confidence. My sole intent was to provide an example of the scrutiny a judge faces and why the judiciary must hold itself to the highest moral standard. While unintentional, I take responsibility for my actions and apologize for the unfortunate effects the reference may have caused my fellow judiciary members. … I am dedicated to serving the people of Broward County, and will continue to uphold the highest level of judicial integrity.”
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