March 31, 2026<\/p>\n
Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling on the Florida House to impeach a Tallahassee judge who briefly released a sex offender onto the streets, resulting in the killing of the man\u2019s 5-year-old stepdaughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo my friends in the Florida House of Representatives, I don\u2019t think what you\u2019ve done is enough,\u201d DeSantis said during a Tampa press conference on Tuesday. \u201cYou have the power, and you have sufficient numbers in your chamber, to impeach this judge, Tiffany Baker-Carper.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil you start holding these judges accountable, they are gonna continue to find ways to benefit the criminal element,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The comments were the strongest yet from the governor who has long battled those he calls \u201cactivist judges<\/a>.\u201d Although it\u2019s the first time DeSantis \u2014 who\u2019s insisted for years that unruly judges must be held accountable \u2014 has pushed for impeachment, it comes only days after President Donald Trump publicly called<\/a> for a federal judge to be impeached.<\/p>\n It takes a two-thirds vote from the Florida House to impeach judicial officers, followed by a two-thirds vote in the Senate to remove them. Republicans make up nearly 70% of lawmakers in each chamber.<\/p>\n DeSantis\u2019s impeachment call came Tuesday as he signed Missy\u2019s Law. A priority bill for Attorney General James Uthmeier, the legislation demands judges keep defendants convicted of dangerous crimes in custody instead of freeing them ahead of sentencing.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what happened in the case of Daniel Spencer, a 35-year-old convicted in an underage sex sting for attempting to meet a 15-year-old girl. Leon County Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper didn\u2019t lock him up pending sentencing because he\u2019d already been out of jail for a year without violations and had no violent criminal history, the Tallahassee Democrat reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n But a month later, he \u2014 along with the girl\u2019s mother, Chloe Spencer \u2014 beat and murdered his stepdaughter, Missy Mogle. Both Spencers were charged with second-degree murder in May 2025.<\/p>\n Baker-Carper was elected to the Second Judicial Circuit on Nov. 3, 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a miscarriage of justice, a dereliction of judicial duty,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cIf we had this bill in place then, Missy would be alive today.\u201d<\/p>\n