The fabulous Monica Goodling — if you’re on Facebook, join her fan club — isn’t the only person being accused of anti-lesbian bias these days. From the Daily Business Review (via JAABlog):
A longtime Broward County judge resigned after he was reassigned to hear traffic cases in a satellite courthouse and barred from entering the main Fort Lauderdale courthouse.
Courthouse sources said County Court Judge Jay Spechler’s reassignment came after he got into a verbal altercation with fellow County Court Judge Peggy Gehl and made disparaging comments about her sexual orientation.
[E-BOOK] 5 AI Productivity Hacks To Save Time And Streamline Your Law Firm
Discover five practical ways to harness AI and eliminate busywork—so you can focus more on your clients and less on repetitive tasks.
Rumor has it that he called her a “robe muncher.”
It seems that Judge Gehl wasn’t the only colleague who had issues with Judge Spechler. According to JAABlog, Judge Spechler had something of a “reputation for bullying his colleagues.”
Being reassigned to handle traffic and parking cases, in a satellite courthouse, didn’t make Judge Spechler very happy. One colleague quipped, “He was reassigned to his car, essentially. He didn’t like it.” So he decided to accept a lucrative offer in the private sector, from a North Miami mediation firm.
If you have a vague sense that south Florida judges misbehave a lot, it’s not without foundation. Per the Daily Business Review: “[Former Chief Judge Dale] Ross resigned following a series of controversies involving Broward judges accused of everything from pot smoking in a park to insensitivity on the bench. The incidents came to a head last March when Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis flew to Miami to meet with minority bar leaders.”
Daily Business Review Deciphers Spechler Riddle [JAABlog]
UH OH! [JAABlog]
Spechler reassignment, resignation came after disparaging remarks about fellow judge’s sexual orientation [Daily Business Review]