Supreme Court Could Reprimand Judge Over “Undignified Conduct”

The Florida Supreme Court is signaling it agrees with the proposed punishment for a Broward judge.

A panel of the Judicial Qualifications Commission had recommended a public reprimand, mentoring and stress management classes after Circuit Judge John Patrick Contini was brought up on judicial conduct charges last year.

The court issued an order to Contini on Monday “to show cause, on or before July 5, why the recommended action should not be granted.”

He was accused of sending a document on how to argue for lesser sentences to an assistant public defender without giving a copy to prosecutors. Contini himself is a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney.

When they sought to disqualify him from pending criminal cases because of an appearance of bias, he rejected the request and lashed out against them, making “disparaging, demeaning remarks,” a JQC report says.

Contini later admitted making an “improper communication,” and “exhibiting discourteous, impatient, undignified conduct.”

He only challenged “the propriety of his ruling on the State’s disqualification motion, and the appropriate discipline.”