Judge suspended, censured over misleading political ad
Years after being elected, Orange-Osceola Circuit Judge Kim Shepard is seeing the repercussions from a controversial and misleading advertisement during her campaign.
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a 90-day suspension without pay and a public reprimand for Shepard, and ordered her to pay for all costs associated with the investigation, which hasn’t been finalized.
It all started with a campaign flier she circulated in 2014.
The flier included an Orlando Sentinel endorsement that referred to her 1994 campaign for re-election to the Florida House, not her most recent judicial bid.
It read, “‘Ms. Shepard has done well. She has kept her promises. She has worked hard. She has maintained integrity.’ — The Orlando Sentinel.”
The problem was that in 2014, the Sentinel endorsed her opponent, Norberto Katz for the Ninth Circuit. He lost the election.
A complaint was filed with the Florida judicial ethics commission in 2015 about the ad, accusing Shepard of duping voters. She told the ethics board she did not believe it was misleading and that it was an accurate reflection of statements made about her.
The Supreme Court unanimously backed penalties recommended by the state ethics panel.
The Court noted Shepard used selective editing and “knowingly misrepresented the Orlando Sentinel’s 1994 endorsement in her advertisement, which made it appear that she had received the Orlando Sentinel’s 2014 endorsement,” according to the ruling.
It also said she didn’t show “any remorse for her misconduct” and believed her opponent to be unworthy of judicial office and that any action she undertook to defeat him was justified. The court considered removing her from office but ultimately decided on the suspension. The public reprimand has not been scheduled.