Top Fla. Court Reprimands Appeals Judge Over Written Opinion
In what is believed to be a unique judicial disciplinary case, a Florida appeals court judge was publicly reprimanded by the state supreme court today for attacking a fellow appellate jurist’s character by making “unsubstantiated allegations” in a written opinion.
As Judge Michael Allen of the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee stood before the court in a dark suit and red necktie, Chief Justice Peggy Quince read him a 10-minute lecture, reports the Associated Press.
“If you had merely used intemperate or colorful language it is highly unlikely that formal charges ever would have been brought against you. Appeals court judges are free to analyze the legal reasoning of their fellow judges in terms that may be harsh or unflattering,” she told Allen, who had accused his judicial colleague in the written opinion of casting a corrupt vote in a case. “However, in this instance … your words constituted a personal attack on a judge’s character.”
As detailed in a prior ABAJournal.com post, the Florida Supreme Court determined that a reprimand was appropriate because Allen, based in part on personal animosity and relying on material that wasn’t part of the record in the case, had harmed the appeals court’s reputation for integrity with his attack.
