Official: JQC work should be public

He says opening the proceedings would force the agency that disciplines judges to be more accountable.

By ANITA KUMAR, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 13, 2002

TALLAHASSEE -- The state agency that regulates judges was ready to give Hillsborough Judge Robert Bonanno a slap on the wrist last year over allegations of a courthouse affair.

State Rep. Larry Crow didn't think that was enough.

It wasn't until his House committee launched an impeachment inquiry that Bonanno resigned.

Crow, a Palm Harbor Republican and chairman of the Judicial Oversight Committee, wants to open up all of the secret Judicial Qualifications Commission's proceedings as a way to pressure the agency to be more aggressive and accountable to the public.

"The public interest is best served by public scrutiny. That was evident to me in Judge Bonanno's case," Crow said. But Crow's committee rejected his bill that would have asked voters in November to make the commission more open.

Legislators worry that victims and witnesses would be less likely to file complaints if the proceedings were open and that the reputation of judges might be blemished by unfounded allegations.

"I have seen a system that is not broken," said Rep. John Seiler, D-Wilton Manors. "Why are we going through this?"

Rep. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, suggested that complaints be anonymous. "I understand what you are trying to do, but I want to be more cautious," he said.

Crow said he doesn't trust the JQC and plans to have his committee impeach more judges. He declined to say which judges.

The committee "is going to get into impeachment in a big way," Crow said after the vote. "We are the entity of last resort."

The committee began the rare move of investigating Bonanno and Charles Cope, a Pinellas-Pasco circuit judge who faces criminal charges in California. In the past 163 years, just one public official has been convicted by the Florida Senate after the state's House impeached him.

Committee members agreed to let Crow's proposal resurface later in the legislative session.

Several people representing judges throughout the state showed up Tuesday to speak against the proposal.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder, who is under investigation by the JQC, had planned to attend the meeting to support the proposal but canceled at the last minute.

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