Judge should be removed for political mudslinging, panel says
A Florida judicial watchdog panel is recommending a Palm Beach County judge be removed from office for running a “win-at-allcosts” 2016 election campaign.
Palm Beach County Judge Dana Santino, 49, criticized her opponent, Gregg Lerman, for being a defense attorney and choosing to represent “murderers, rapists, pedophiles” during her judicial campaign.
In doing so, she undermined her opponent’s integrity with the “win-at-allcosts” strategy, in stark contrast to rules governing judicial elections, wrote Judge Michelle Morley, chair of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission hearing panel, in court records filed Thursday.
“Her entire campaign was inflammatory and rife with innuendo,” Morley wrote. “She repeatedly implied that representing persons charged with crimes was, by its very nature, dishonorable and antithetical to the public good.”
Santino will have a chance to tell the panel why she should not be removed from office before the recommendation goes to the Florida Supreme Courtfor a final decision.
Jeremy Kroll, Santino’s attorney, declined to comment on the recommendation in an Sentinel.
Lerman told the Sun Sentinel that the panel made the correct decision.
“I think the judiciary is supposed to be above the politics of the moment,” he said. “What she was doing was maligning the work of all defense attorneys that uphold the Constitution.”
Santino admitted she made mistakes and said she’s “deeply remorseful” for her comments. She made them, in part, because she was new to the election process, accepted bad advice and didn’t follow her own instincts, Santino testified last month.
Morley wrote, “Judge Santino’s post-election remarks that discipline would ‘probably be a fine’ and was ‘no big deal’ confirm that a fine or suspension would be inadequate, and treated as the routine cost of doing business.” email to the Sun