Fla. judge suspended for promising to support cops and ‘sting’ the guilty

The judge’s campaign statements undermined confidence he would give the accused a fair hearing, said the president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

November 29, 2024 11:23 AM

The Florida Supreme Court building in Tallahassee. On Wednesday, the Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments about the wording on a proposed abortion ballot amendment. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel file)

By Rafael Olmeda
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Backing the blue and promising to be tough on criminals turned out to be a winning message for one Florida judicial candidate, but it also got him suspended by the Florida Supreme Court this week.

John B. Flynn was elected to the Polk County bench in 2022 after promising to “support our law enforcement agencies” and vowing that “criminals won’t be happy to see me on the bench. I am tough. If someone is found guilty, the punishment should sting enough for the person to learn criminal behavior will not be tolerated.”

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Flynn rode the message to a decisive win, defeating his opponent by 25 percentage points. But the Judicial Qualifications Commission, the state’s ethics watchdog, opened an investigation and found the campaign violated the judicial canons, the rules that govern a judge’s public and private conduct.

“It’s the job of the impartial judge to look at each defendant individually and each case individually,” said Jason B. Blank, a Broward attorney who serves as president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. The judge’s campaign statements undermined public confidence that he would give the accused a fair hearing, he said.

Blank took little issue with the general statements supporting police, recognizing that jurors are told to weigh the testimony of police the same as they would any civilian witness. “We would hope that they testify truthfully as every citizen would and should. A statement of support for law enforcement has to be balanced with the fact that not every defendant is guilty.”

Once he was elected, Flynn was appointed to oversee civil cases.

A phone call to the attorney who represented Flynn in front of the qualifications commission was not returned Wednesday.

The Supreme Court suspended Flynn for 25 days without pay and ordered him to appear in front of the court’s justices for a public reprimand. The dates for the suspension and reprimand have not been set.

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