by David Ball
Staff Writer
In 1998, Pensacola judge Patricia Kinsey won election to an Escambia County judge seat with 64 percent of the vote, ousting incumbent Bill Green.
A former assistant state attorney, Kinsey called criminal defendants “thugs” and “punks” and supported police and crime victims during her election campaign. She even referred to her opponent as “Let ‘Em Go Green.”
In 2001, the Florida Supreme Court’s Judicial Qualifications Commission found her guilty of misconduct and in violation of ethical standards calling for an impartial judiciary. In 2003, the Supreme Court publicly reprimanded Kinsey and ordered her to pay more than $50,000 in fines.
That same year, the Judicial Qualifications Commission found John Renke III guilty of using an illegal $95,800 campaign loan and misrepresenting his qualifications and experience during his 2002 judicial campaign in Pinellas County.
The Florida Supreme Court kicked him off the bench in 2006. Then earlier this year, the Florida Bar suspended him from law practice for 30 days in a plea agreement.
These were just a few of the examples local judicial candidates heard at Thursday’s Supreme Court forum on campaign conduct. The message was simple: no politics allowed in this election.
“Judicial races are different than political races,” said judge Richard Townsend of the Supreme Court Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee. “Our goal is to educate you today so you do not have the excuse of ignorance.”
In attendance were candidates Mark Hulsey III and Adrian Soud, vying for the Group 11 circuit court seat, and Fred Buttner III and Virginia Norton, vying for the Group 28 seat. Candidates in the other 12 circuit court seats ran unopposed (including two non-incumbents) and will take the bench without an election.
The forum began with an introduction by Jacksonville attorney and Florida Bar Board of Governors member Jake Schickel, who reminded the candidates that until two of them are elected, they are still lawyers and under the auspices of the Florida Bar.
“To go out and trash one another does not help the profession,” said Schickel. “Don’t let politics of the moment, politics of the campaign... corrupt what you know are good ethics of the Bar.”
The forum for judicial candidates is required by the Supreme Court, and Chief Judge R. Fred Lewis spoke in a video message about how elections should reinforce the public perception of judges as impartial decision makers.
“You will either enhance...or you may inflict irreparable harm,” said Lewis. “The entire system will be judged and evaluated on your conduct.”
The candidates were given the latest revised version of Canon 7 of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct, a 109-page document that spells out the specific election rules for judicial candidates.
“It’s a lot of information, and I’ll have to sit down and read the rules very closely,” said Buttner. “It’s a matter of establishing the speeches you give to the community and make sure they are within the rules.”
Norton said Townsend’s presentation gave a “common-sense” approach to the sometimes complicated code.
“I’ve been very fortunate that before I accept an invitation to a certain event, I review them (the Canon),” she said.