TALLAHASSEE — Manatee County Circuit Judge John Lakin is facing what is essentially a trial over charges that he violated the judicial ethics code by accepting Tampa Bay Rays baseball tickets from a law firm representing a client before him.
Manatee County Circuit Judge John Lakin
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The charges were filed by the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, an independent but somewhat obscure group that since the late 1960s has been charged with the critical task of investigating judicial misconduct. A six-member JQC panel has been appointed to hear Lakin’s case and then recommend disciplinary action against the judge.
The JQC is a low-profile body by the nature of its work. Most of the handling of complaints and the decision whether to investigate them or not remains confidential, unless formal charges are filed.
But a December report from the Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Governmental Accountability (OPPAGA) illuminates the JQC’s activities and provides a template for the possible outcomes of Lakin’s case.
First off, the filing of formal misconduct charges against a Florida judge is very rare. Over a five-year period ending last June 30, the JQC received 3,353 complaints against judges but less than 1 percent, 23 cases, ended up with formal charges, OPPAGA reported.
But there has been an uptick in complaints and formal charges. Some 771 complaints were filed last year, a 13 percent increase, with nine formal charges, more than double the previous year’s four cases with formal charges.
The bulk of the complaints are summarily dismissed. That happened in 570 of last year’s 771 complaints, with some complaints being dismissed because they were aimed at federal judges, who are not under the JQC’s domain, or were complaints that did not allege violations of the judicial ethics code.
Other complaints are investigated and then dismissed. And in some cases, the investigation leads to a private admonishment of the judge for his or her conduct, although those remain secret as far as the public is concerned.
With formal charges, Lakin’s case moves into the public arena, including a yet-to-be-scheduled hearing by the six-member JQC panel, which will likely occur in Manatee County.
The JQC will present its case and Lakin can offer his defense, including calling character witnesses. Lakin’s lawyer told the Herald-Tribune that many of the allegations “will be admitted” and the judge will acknowledge “a serious lapse of judgment but he had no wrongful motive whatsoever.”
After hearing the evidence, the JQC panel will vote on sanctions against the judge, with the possibilities including removal from office, a public reprimand, a fine or suspension from office with or without pay.
The sanctions will be forwarded to the state Supreme Court, which will make the final decision in the disciplinary case.
In the 23 formal-charges cases in the OPPAGA study, the most common outcome was a recommendation for a public reprimand, occurring in eight cases.
In eight other cases, the JQC recommended either involuntary retirement due to a permanent disability or the judges resigned before discipline was imposed by the Supreme Court.
Only two JQC cases in that five-year period resulted in a recommendation for removal from the bench.
However, the OPPAGA report also noted a recent trend by the Supreme Court to impose harsher penalties for judicial misconduct than those recommended by the JQC.
In one case, the JQC recommended a 3-month suspension, a $17,000 fine and a public reprimand for Leon County Judge Judith Hawkins, who was being disciplined for using her judicial office to promote a private business. In 2014, the state’s highest court rejected that recommendation and removed Hawkins from her office.
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