Calling her conduct “unacceptable,” the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a 10-day suspension, a public reprimand and a $2,115 fine for a Broward County circuit judge accused of inappropriate campaign activity, prohibited political contributions and other wrongdoing.
Justices in April rejected a less-severe punishment for Judge Stefanie Moon, leading the judge and the state Judicial Qualifications Commission to agree on the sanctions approved Thursday.
The commission, which investigates judicial conduct, alleged that Moon violated judicial canons by making political contributions, including to committees backing former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, former President Joe Biden and ActBlue, a Democratic Party fundraising arm.
In addition, Moon was accused of reminding an attorney in court that he had not returned a phone call related to her re-election campaign and improperly contacting the therapist of a man who was a party in a case and whose mental health was an issue.
“Our (Supreme) Court does not often come upon a judicial discipline case in which a single judge has violated the Code of Judicial Conduct in such distinct ways in wholly unrelated incidents.
Judge Moon’s conduct is unacceptable, especially given that the commission had already cautioned her in 2019 for improper campaign activities,” Thursday’s ruling said. The ruling noted that the recommended discipline credited the judge for “cooperation, remorse, and acceptance of responsibility.” Justices also appeared to put the judge on notice.
“While we defer to the commission’s assessment of the judge’s contrition, we stress that the court cannot tolerate any further misconduct by Judge Moon,” the unanimous ruling said.
The $2,115 fine reflects the amount of the political contributions Moon made to Democrats. Moon was first elected as a judge in 2018.
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