Punishment by the Investigative Panel of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission and the Florida Supreme Court largely took two paths in 2023, based either on actions taken by judges in court or those taken while on the campaign trail.

Courtroom action was exemplified by ex-Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer whom the JQC found exhibited conduct that was, at times, “intemperate and gave the appearance of partiality to the prosecution,” in the proceedings involving mass shooter Nikolas Cruz, the gunman who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

FILE: Elizabeth Scherer is a judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court in Broward County, Florida. Elizabeth Scherer was a judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court in Broward County, Florida.