Lauren Peffer very much wanted to be a Broward County judge, but her success brought consequences that are, to use her own word, “mortifying.”

Elected by Broward voters in 2024, Peffer now faces a 30-day suspension, $10,000 fine and public reprimand from the Florida Supreme Court for actions she describes as “tremendously stupid.”

Running for judge two years ago, Peffer told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board of the need to rebuild trust and confidence in the courts, but her efforts backfired spectacularly. She cited as proof a self-published book by a fired courts employee in Orlando and a fabricated recording of a phone call that imitated the voices of two justices of the Florida Supreme Court.

To make matters worse, the “deepfake” 18-minute recording was laced with racist references to a prominent Orlando judge. Peffer emailed the phony recording to Sun Sentinel reporter Rafael Olmeda after he asked her to corroborate references in this editorial board’s candidate questionnaire to “revelations” as proof of an “image crisis” in the courts.

A full JQC investigation

In an investigation by the state Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC), Peffer acknowledged she never read Brett Arquette’s book, nor did she try to verify the legitimacy of the fabricated recording.

“I didn’t do what I was supposed to,” she told a JQC panel at a December hearing in Fort Lauderdale.

“By making no attempt to verify the false and embarrassing portrayals of the judiciary — which she perpetuated as part of her effort to obtain a newspaper endorsement — Judge Peffer exhibited gross negligence,” says the JQC’s findings and recommendations. “While the evidence suggests that Judge Peffer’s time on the bench has been positive and productive, it is not enough to overcome the events she set in place by her poor judgment.”

The transcript of Peffer’s hearing, held in the county courthouse on Dec. 16, 2025, shows that Peffer considered publicly retracting her statements at the time, but decided against it after consulting with her campaign manager, Jennifer Gottlieb.

‘It will be okay’

“I didn’t know what to do,” Peffer recalled, according to the transcript. “I think the advice — everybody was kind of patting my hand and telling me not that many people read the newspaper anymore, it will be OK, you can lose the endorsement and still win a campaign.”

That’s what happened. The Editorial Board endorsed Peffer’s opponent, Emilio Benitez, and chided Peffer for “poor judgment” in citing the book and recording. Peffer won a six-year term on the bench with 54% of the vote.

She’s the fifth Broward judge to face serious sanctions in the past two years.

Former Circuit Judge Gary Farmer resigned last August after being suspended indefinitely and former County Judge Marti Levey Cohen, elected three times by voters, resigned in December after she was suspended and reprimanded.

Circuit Judge Stefanie Moon was suspended and fined, and County Judge Woody Clermont faces a reprimand for misconduct. Both remain on the bench.

Broward has 90 county and circuit judges, and the vast majority of them are competent, ethical and professional.

Before Peffer’s problems arose, she made a memorable statement in her Sun Sentinel candidate interview in 2024. Her description of what was wrong with the Florida judiciary is a part of the JQC’s findings and recommendations.

“It’s a bad situation that requires, you know, really strong ethical stances to those coming up in the future judicial races and generations,” Peffer said.

In a couple of months, this newspaper will send questionnaires to dozens of candidates for judgeships and other offices. We urge all candidates to take them more seriously than Lauren Peffer did.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.