Broward County Judge Who Used Over-The-Top Book She Didn’t Read And Judicial Deepfakes On Campaign Trail Faces Ethical Complaint

Every once in a while you come across a structurally ironic scenario where a person offers evidence for a claim in ways they did not intend. Take the judiciary’s image crisis, for example. You could point to several things from recent history: Amy Coney Barrett promising not to be a partisan hack at a partisan event, Sam Alito hanging an American flag “Stop The Steal!” style while presiding over insurrection cases, Clarence Thomas getting outed as one of Harlan Crow’s highest ranked sugar babies, the list goes on. But doing so proved too simple for Judge Lauren Peffer. To prove that the judiciary had an image problem, she cited a book during her election campaign. She also shared video “proof” that there was a widespread issue. Her reward for all her efforts? Yeah, she’s facing an ethics complaint now. Turns out if you’re a judge using a book to bolster your argument, you should probably read it first. ABA Journal has coverage:

A judge in Broward County, Florida, is facing ethics charges for citing a book she never read and providing a fake recording she didn’t fully review or vet to bolster her claim that the judiciary has an image crisis.

The judge, Judge Lauren Peffer of Broward County, Florida, referenced the book when trying to obtain an endorsement from the South Florida Sun Sentinel during her 2024 judicial election campaign, according to a May 9 notice of ethics charges.

I know that it’s a faux pas to judge a book by its cover, but take a look at this damned thing:

Even if prejudice over book covers is a bridge too far for you, judging a book by its title should be completely fair game. Think about it, would you trust a book titled The Ninth Circus Court of Florida, My 30-Year Job from Hell! without reading a couple of pages first? I wouldn’t — the title sounds like the legal equivalent of something penned by Quan Millz:

To make matters worse, the content of the book might not be all that different either. The ABA Journal rightly states that the ethics charges say the book is full of gratuitous profanity and starts off with a list of more than 1,300 synonyms for the word sex, but it isn’t enough to just see this on the paper. I’m advising you to do what the judge didn’t do: exercise the smallest quantum of due diligence and take a look for yourself. And if you’re thinking “No thanks, I love myself enough to not go out of my way and see such nonsense,” two things. First, I respect it. Second, you should at least know that the 1,300+ strong list of sex euphemisms isn’t even sorted alphabetically; I wouldn’t have done my job if I failed to burden your soul with that knowledge.

But wait, there’s more!

Remember that video that was mentioned above?

“The recording is fabricated, likely using computer manipulation or generative-AI,” the notice of charges says. “While the voices resemble those of the purported participants, the manner of speech, tone, and much of the content are objectively unrealistic.”

The notice of charges cites an example in which the fake Ninth Judicial Circuit judge purportedly claims another judge’s “first love is power, then money, then white women. I’m not trying to be glib, but my guess is if [the judge] could have a perfect death he would be buried under the Lincoln Memorial next to Clarence Thomas in a solid gold coffin and have a live white hooker buried with him as a sacrifice.”

I’d say you can’t make this shit up but someone clearly did. Forget the high standard of competency expected of someone acting as Broward County judge, I’d expect better of the average Judge Judy fan than to rely on this book or recording for anything besides some mind numbing content to relax with at the day’s end.

Judge Lauren Peffer responded with boiler plate language about taking responsibility for her unintended actions, espousing her dedication to serving the people of Broward Country and said that she will “continue to uphold the highest level of judicial integrity.” It would be one thing if this was a blip in an established judge’s long career, but she was recently elected to the position and started serving in January. When something like this comes out on your fifth month on the job, I think the operative phrase should be that you’ll start upholding the highest level of judicial integrity.

Florida Judge Is Accused Of Sharing ‘Objectively Unrealistic’ Fake Recording With Editorial Board [ABA Journal]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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