Query: doesn't a judge have the right to express an opinion in a political campaign? See Republican Party of Minnesota v. White https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_of_Minnesota_v._White. Judge CASEY WOOLSEY was previously managing partner of the WOOLSEY MORCUM law firm. Its website states that our 5th District County Commissioner, ISAAC HENRY DEAN, is "Of Counsel" to the law firm, In 2023, WOOLSEY MORCUM hired as its "Director of Investigations" disgraced former St. Johns County, DAVID BERNARD SHOAR, who legally changed his name from "HOAR" in 1994. SHOAR/HOAR worked for DELTONA CORPORATION as a young man, before he was in law enforcement. SHOAR told a League of Women Voters' forum in St. Augustine Beach that developers (who funded his campaigns), were "very nice people." At today's meeting of the St. Johns County Land Acquisition Management Board (LAMP) advisory board on December 11, 2023, I asked for full disclosure of all ex parte contacts between LAMP advisory board members, County staff, Commissioners (including ISAAC HENRY DEAN, DAVID SHOAR, and his former employer as a young man, DELTONA CORPORATION, Judge WOOLSEY, WOOLSEY MARCUM, et al. Who knew? LAMP Vice Chair WAYBE FLOWERS was angry in his Board member comments, demurely stating no ex parte disclosures are currently "required." How feeble, frenetic and fraught with feculent Dull Republican tropes and corporate lawyer effrontery. To LAMP, BoCC, SHOAR, ET AL., I want to know. Now, please. No excuses.
St. Johns County Judge Casey Woolsey Could Face Reprimand Over Inappropriate Fundraising
A St. Johns County judge could face a public reprimand after an investigation into whether she improperly injected partisanship into her election campaign and made a misleading statement about fundraising.
Judge Casey Woolsey “admitted that her conduct was inappropriate” and violated judicial canons, according to a document filed Monday at the Florida Supreme Court by an investigative panel of the state Judicial Qualifications Commission.
The panel recommended a public reprimand, though the Supreme Court has final say about disciplining judges. Woolsey, who was first elected in 2022, was accused of describing herself as a “conservative” in recorded phone messages to voters, violating a prohibition on partisanship in judicial races. She also was accused of a misleading Facebook post about how much money she had raised for her campaign, according to filings at the Supreme Court.
“Distilled down, Judge Woolsey made representations about her candidacy that were improper and misleading,” Judicial Qualifications Commission findings said. “Judge Woolsey admitted these violations should not have happened and addressed how she would handle campaigns differently in the future. Judge Woolsey admitted that it was incumbent upon her to know the canons and follow the canons, and that being in her first campaign was not an excuse for the failures at issue.
The commission believes that a public reprimand of Judge Woolsey will be sufficient to deter similar misconduct by Judge Woolsey in the future and will also serve as a reminder to future candidates for judicial office that they must protect the integrity of non-partisan judicial elections by refraining from using, advertising, or implying partisan endorsements.”
St. Johns County is part of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, which includes Flagler, Putnam and Volusia counties. There are 27 circuit judges and 16 county judges currently serving, with one vacancy in Volusia County court. Circuit judges may be assigned across county lines within the district and are elected circuit-wide. County judges are elected to serve in their own county, and are elected only by that county’s electorate. Circuit Judge Leah Case is currently the chief judge of the circuit.
–News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive
2 comments:
There is no "non-partisan" anything anymore man. What a joke. The degenerate right wing politics are obvious in their decisions in just about everything in any position of power. In the courts AND state attorneys office they send people to prison for too much time, they side with the rich and powerful in civil cases, they barely uphold people's rights and in criminal cases their favorite part about the whole process is taking people's rights away forever in some aspects and of course the class demotion aspects. The more conservatism seems to be on the losing side, the more harsh they become and those who are unfortunate enough to be in their way pay the price. On a national level, take rights away and sabotage and obstruct government to benefit the rich. These are nasty and tyrannical people.
Non-partisan my ass. They are the GOP and share the same ideology. Just because they don't run as Republican XYZ means nothing.
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