Florida’s courts watchdog agency has recommended a 30-day suspension, a public reprimand and a $10,000 fine against Broward County Judge Lauren Peffer after she cited a scandalous book and a fabricated recording of a phone call as an example of mistrust in the judiciary system during her 2024 campaign.
While campaigning for the county court judge seat she now holds, Peffer cited in an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Board a book written by a disgruntled former employee of the Orlando-area judicial system that contained salacious statements and vulgar references to current and past judges. She used the book as an example of “recent revelations” that “highlighted an image crisis within Florida’s judiciary,” though she later admitted in court proceedings she had never read the book.
After the interview, Peffer shared a recording with the Sun Sentinel that was purported to be a phone call discussing the book between Chief Judge Lisa Munyon, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz and Justice Renatha Francis, according to court records in the case. The call, however, was fabricated and likely made with generative AI, the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission said.
The FJQC filed charges against Peffer last summer, alleging she violated judicial ethics rules and failed to exercise due diligence by, in part, never reading the book she cited and not verifying whether the recording she shared with the newspaper was legitimate.
Broward judge admits lapse in judgment over 2024 campaign
“Judge Peffer perpetuated a false and undignified perception of the judiciary that ensnared not only those justices and judges who were specifically named in the Book and the Recording, but also the entire state judiciary,” the FJQC Hearing Panel wrote in a court filing recommending discipline Friday.
Peffer testified at a final hearing in Fort Lauderdale in December that she never would have cited the book to the Sun Sentinel had she read the first few pages.
“I mean both the book and the recording are — they are racist and sexist and frankly it’s thuggish. And it really had no place anywhere within my judicial campaign … it was a very shortsighted, ridiculous mistake,” Peffer said at the hearing.
The judge also in her testimony expressed remorse for sharing the fabricated call, according to a transcript of the hearing.
“… I cannot justify or explain why now listening to it I thought it was a valid piece of content at the time, but I did,” she said.
The watchdog agency’s panel recommended Friday that the costs of the proceedings be taxed against Peffer, in addition to the 30-day suspension, public reprimand and fine.
The Florida Supreme Court will ultimately determine the discipline.
Peffer’s attorney did not respond to a voicemail or email Friday evening.