Florida Supreme Court calls for suspending Broward judge accused of making improper political donations, inappropriate court comments
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday said a Broward County circuit judge deserves more severe punishment than a reprimand and a fine recommended by a panel that investigates judicial conduct.
The Supreme Court unanimously said Judge Stefanie Moon should receive a 10-day suspension without pay in a case that includes allegations she improperly made political contributions.
The state Judicial Qualifications Commission last month recommended that Moon receive a public reprimand and pay a fine of $2,115, the amount of the political contributions. That recommendation came after the commission reached an agreement, known as a stipulation, with Moon.
But the Supreme Court, which has final say on disciplining judges, rejected the recommendation Thursday and said it would "approve a stipulation calling for discipline consisting of a 10-day suspension without pay, plus the public reprimand and fine already recommended by the commission."
The commission last month filed documents at the Supreme Court that alleged Moon violated judicial canons by making political contributions, including to committees backing former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, former President Joe Biden and ActBlue, a Democratic Party fundraising arm.
In addition, Moon was accused of reminding an attorney in court that he had not returned a phone call related to her re-election campaign and improperly contacting the therapist of a man who was a party in a case and whose mental health was an issue.
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Time Magazine
35 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
A Decade After Obergefell, Is Same-Sex Marriage Safe?
When Jim Obergefell and John Arthur boarded a charter medical jet one summer day in 2013 to exchange vows, national attitudes towards same-sex marriage were shifting. That May, a record-high 51% of American adults said they were in favor of allowing queer couples to marry, a dramatic uptick from the just 32% who supported marriage equality in 2003, when Massachusetts became the first state to legalize it following a state Supreme Court decision. The pair's rushed ceremony, which took place on the tarmac of the Baltimore/Washington International Airport due to Arthur's deteriorating ALS condition, cemented the relationship between the couple who had been together for more than two decades. 'It really was the happiest moment of our life together,' Obergefell tells TIME. 'That's for us what marriage represented; that coming together and that public commitment of saying, you're the person I choose to spend my life with, and I will do anything I can for you and with you.' Five days later, that bliss was dulled after civil rights attorney Al Gerhardstein explained that Obergefell would not be on his husband's death certificate because their marriage was not legally recognized by the state of Ohio. 'We had just jumped through so many hoops to get married that millions of couples would never have to do, and we simply wanted John to die a married man,' Obergefell says. Their lawsuit, and several more from other same-sex couples, culminated in the Supreme Court's landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage the law of the land throughout the U.S. A decade later, some fear marriage equality could soon be at risk. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said as much in a concurring opinion in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, urging the court to reconsider its rulings in Obergefell, along with two other landmark cases, calling them 'demonstrably erroneous.' Only two of the justices that ruled in favor of Obergefell—Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor—remain on the court. A subset of the LGBTQ+ community is already facing rolled back protections following the Skrmetti ruling that upheld Tennessee's gender-affirming-care ban for youth. Advocates are awaiting a decision on Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case regarding opt-out measures for books featuring LGBTQ+ characters, and justices are set to hear arguments for Chiles v. Salazar, which is challenging Colorado's conversion therapy ban. This year alone, legislators in at least nine states have filed resolutions asking the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell, with one such lawmaker citing 'religious persecution.' 'There is a reason to be nervous, certainly more so after Dobbs,' admits University of Maine School of Law professor Jessica Feinberg, who specializes in gender and sexuality law. 'But I guess what makes me feel a little less panicked is [the Obergefell decision] was very recent.' Roe v. Wade and its recognition of a right to abortion, in contrast, had been in place for nearly 50 years before the court overturned it. Others agree—at least for now. Legal experts tell TIME that Obergefell's legal standing is twofold, hinging on both the due process and equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment. Due process refers to the fundamental rights guaranteed to individuals. 'It's one of those choices that is so personal and so central to our identity and our economy that we protect it,' says Feinberg. Thomas's concurring Dobbs opinion argues that the court should re-address its due process findings in Obergefell and other landmark cases, but does not take into account equal protection, which could provide a safety net for marriage equality. 'The legal issues are somewhat different,' says Mary Bonauto, the attorney who argued Obergefell before the court and currently works as the senior director of civil rights at GLAD Law. 'A central holding in Obergefell was that there was an equal right to marry, and that was not an issue in Dobbs.' She adds that courts must consider additional 'reliance interests' in regards to marriage, which include rules with respect to the way married couples file taxes, purchase property, or are even included on each other's health insurance plan. 'The marriage issue really, is about stability and security, the rights of couples to marry and to keep being able to marry,' she adds. Feinberg also points to the Respect for Marriage Act, a bipartisan 2022 law that mandated states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages, as a second layer of protection. Some activists have pointed to shortcomings in the federal law, notably that the legislation does not bar states from refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples should Obergefell be overturned. But Cathryn Oakley, senior director of legal policy at the Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, notes that even if Congress wanted to pass a national law to codify same-sex marriage, it would be difficult because states control marriage rights. 'The Respect for Marriage Act is as close as our separation of powers will let us come to that and really guarantee those rights under federal law,' she says. 'It's hard not to think about marriage for same sex couples being shaken up,' says Bonauto. '[But] the Supreme Court takes 1%, if that, of its cases every year … So given the enormous importance of this issue and how it affects the stability of families in their day to day lives … there's good reason to believe it should remain the law of the U.S.' Bonauto, who has been at the forefront of court battles for marriage equality for more than two decades, fighting—and winning—cases that guaranteed civil unions and eventually marriage, points to the long path to marriage equality, which was paved by a myriad of challenges. In the six months between the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality and the first day licenses could be issued, critics of the decision fought back through constitutional amendment proceedings and lawsuits. It wasn't until June 2007, four years after the initial court ruling, that legislators defeated the final constitutional amendment seeking to overturn it. 'Until that happened, the idea that it could go away was very present in people's minds,' says Bonauto. 'This made it clear marriage was here to stay.' Roadblocks to marriage equality came up again and again in other states. In order to pass Vermont's state marriage equality law, legislators had to override then-Governor James Douglas's veto. Maine lawmakers passed a state law allowing same-sex marriage, only for voters to revoke it at the ballot box, before voting in favor of marriage once again in 2012. 'There was so much change happening across the nation when it comes to marriage equality,' Obergefell recalls of the time he was fighting for the right a decade ago. 'My experience was overwhelmingly positive. People in support of marriage equality hugging me, crying, telling me stories and explaining what this fight meant to them, to their loved one, to their children.' For older queer folks, the idea that the Supreme Court could even grant marriage equality seemed like a far away dream, Oakley says. Older colleagues would tell her, 'Well, you know, it never even occurred to me that I might be able to get married,' she remembers. She had a much different perspective. 'I had always assumed I was going to be able to get married eventually. I just didn't know how long it was going to take.' The Obergefell decision ended the back-and-forth battles and ushered in legal stability for same-sex marriage. In the decade since the court ruled in the case, hundreds of thousands of queer couples have gotten married and started families across the country. More than 750,000 households are now led by same-sex married couples, making up 1.3% of married couples in 2023, the Pew Research Center reports. A solid majority of Americans—nearly 70%, according to a Gallup survey conducted last month—now support same-sex marriage.'Now my daughter is living in a world that's not that much further away, and she's never known a time that marriage equality wasn't legal across the country,' Oakley says. 'In light of Skrmetti and other things, I think it's really important that people keep in mind, ultimately, how quickly LGBTQ rights have progressed.'
Bloomberg
35 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
‘Alligator Alcatraz' Is a Dystopian Pipe Dream, Not a Plan
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has been getting a lot of attention this week for erecting an ICE deportation camp on an abandoned airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades and calling it 'Alligator Alcatraz.' In a glossy video, he suggests that the flood-prone wetland is perfect for housing detained immigrants in the heat of the summer because if anyone escapes 'there's not much waiting for them — other than alligators and pythons.' As a policy, building a tent city in a fragile swamp during hurricane season doesn't make much sense, but Uthmeier needed a publicity stunt. The little-known politician has held the job for six months and is facing a serious election challenge from Democratic former state Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez. Conjuring up harsh conditions for undocumented immigrants may not only get Uthmeier the attention of President Donald Trump, but also give him traction with Florida's MAGA voters. Indeed, the federal government is already backing the plan, giving Uthmeier $450 million in taxpayer money to dish out in no-bid construction contracts to potential political donors.
The Hill
40 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump team ramps up defense of Iran strikes
The White House is scrambling to address growing questions about its military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, as President Trump and top officials insist the decision to bomb facilities has significantly set back Tehran's nuclear efforts. The Trump administration today will dispatch CIA Director John Ratcliffe and other officials to Capitol Hill to brief senators while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plans to hold a Pentagon news conference this morning 'in order to fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots,' Trump said. 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SMART TAKE with BLAKE BURMAN The Trump administration is continuing to defend the success of Operation Midnight Hammer, which includes the CIA Director John Ratcliffe releasing a statement saying Iran's nuclear program was set back years. I asked retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, NewsNation's senior national security contributor, what he takes away from the satellite images of the Fordow nuclear facility. 'It's severely damaged. We have to wait a number of days and maybe even weeks before we really understand what the [battle damage assessment] tells us,' Newton told me. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will be back before the cameras this morning, briefing the media at the Pentagon. President Trump turned the microphone over to Hegseth on Wednesday at his NATO press conference, and he must have liked what he saw. NEW YORK STATE OF MIND: State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani's stunning upset in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary is stoking Democrats' battle over the future of their party. Mamdani shocked New York on Tuesday as votes poured in, showing him in a healthy position to defeat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Progressives argue Mamdani's win is a sign of where the party needs to go if it wants to build winning coalitions that propel it to victory in next year's midterms and beyond. But moderate Democrats say moving too far in that direction could put the party in jeopardy in areas of the country less friendly to the sort of progressive policies he has embraced. 'You can win if you build a coalition, and you show that you're not just speaking to one part or one slice of voters — you're speaking to a broader slice,' said Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, the co-founder and vice president of the Democratic strategy firm and donor network Way to Win. 'And that enabled him to keep likely voters who were maybe on the fence, for him to win them over.' Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) both congratulated Mamdani — but stopped short of endorsing their party's likely nominee. The congressional leaders said they planned to meet with Mamdani but didn't specify when. Trump on Wednesday derided Mamdani as a 'communist lunatic.' Right-wing influencers, meanwhile, reacted to Mamdani's political upset with anti-Islam attacks. ▪ The Hill: Mamdani says his platform would be successful with candidates outside of NYC ▪ The Hill: Winners and losers from the New York City mayoral primary. ▪ The New York Times: In a postelection interview, Mamdani said he took some lessons from Trump's focus on the cost of living. ▪ Politico: 'Democratic leadership is way out of touch': Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Mamdani's win. MEGABILL IN DANGER: Republican senators are pushing back hard on hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts included in the Senate version of Trump's budget reconciliation package, endangering Senate Majority Leader John Thune's (R-S.D.) plan for a vote as soon as Friday, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports. Trump, seeking to staunch the dissent, will host an event at the White House tonight to pressure GOP holdouts. Two Republicans are a hard 'no' on the bill — Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.) — while Bolton reports that a handful of other Republicans won't say whether they'll vote to begin debate on the package because they are concerned deep cuts in Medicaid spending could cause millions of Americans to lose their coverage and push scores of rural hospitals around the country into bankruptcy. Others, including GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Josh Hawley (Mo.), are on the fence after the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday circulated a proposal to establish a $15 billion health care provider relief fund. 'I believe we need [a] $100 billion provider-relief fund. I don't think that solves the entire problem. The Senate cuts in Medicaid are far deeper than the House cuts, and I think that's problematic as well,' Collins said. 'Obviously any money is helpful but not if it is not adequate. But I do not know for certain that that is where the Finance Committee has landed.' While the Senate bill has some substantial differences from the version the House passed in May, extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts is a centerpiece of both. Republicans say the measures will boost growth, create jobs and won't balloon the deficit. Economists, investors and tax experts are telling a different story. 'From a macroeconomic perspective, it probably has little effect,' Reuven Avi-Yonah, a professor of tax law at the University of Michigan, told The Hill's Tobias Burns. 'I'm always a bit skeptical of the growth potential resulting from tax cuts. And it increases the deficit significantly in a higher interest rate environment, and that's not ideal.' ▪ The New York Times: Trump's bill slashes the safety net that many Republican voters rely on. ▪ The Hill: House Republicans cleared their first funding bill for fiscal 2026 on Wednesday, approving more than $450 billion to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs, military construction and other programs. A SALTY COMPROMISE? Negotiators for the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap are down to the wire to strike a deal ahead of the GOP's megabill deadline. Talks have seemingly remained stagnant in recent days as lawmakers try to resolve one of the numerous remaining issues by the end of the week. After a high-stakes meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday, House Republicans in the SALT Caucus and a key GOP senator reported 'progress' but no deal, leaving one of the thorniest issues in the party's tax and spending bill unresolved. 'Everybody wants a deal, everybody wants to get to yes, everybody wants to put the nation on a better track,' said Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), a key member of the SALT Caucus. 'But it does seem like the Senate and the House right now are far apart.' ▪ NOTUS: SALT negotiations are a question of which chamber will cave first. ▪ The Hill: White House budget chief Russell Vought faced bipartisan heat while urging senators to pass the administration's roughly $9 billion in proposed cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting funds. CRYPTO: The White House is pushing the House to quickly get stablecoin legislation across the finish line with limited changes, stymieing efforts to tie the bill to a larger crypto framework and steeply curbing the lower chamber's ability to put its stamp on the measure. But the push to pass the stablecoin bill on its own cuts against efforts supported by some in the industry and Congress who worry that another key crypto bill — seeking to divvy up regulation of the broader crypto market — will lose momentum. ELSEWHERE: Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to charges she assaulted and interfered with federal officials during a congressional oversight visit to a New Jersey detention center with two other lawmakers. Meanwhile, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) said her offices were evacuated due to 'imminent death threats against me, my unborn child, my family, and my staff,' which she said 'erupted' following a news report about her ectopic pregnancy. HOME STRETCH: The Supreme Court is wrapping up its biggest cases of the year, with potentially landmark opinions still to come on immigration, religion, pornography and health care. Decisions coming as soon as today will resolve whether Trump can enforce his changes to birthright citizenship. The justices will also issue decisions to determine if health insurers have to cover certain medicines and services, like HIV-preventive medication and cholesterol-lowering drugs, and if parents can remove their elementary school children from class when storybooks with LGBTQ characters are being read. The Supreme Court will confront the next frontiers of the legal battle surrounding transgender rights now that the justices have signed off on Tennessee's youth transgender care ban. After the justices announce opinions from the bench, they'll meet behind closed doors to discuss how to proceed with more than a half-dozen petitions concerning states' transgender athlete bans, bathroom restrictions and prohibitions on gender-affirming surgeries in Medicaid plans. ▪ The Hill: The Supreme Court codified same-sex marriage 10 years ago. Is a backlash brewing? ▪ The Hill: A group of 21 Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit against the administration for cutting grants allegedly misaligned with agency goals. ▪ The Hill: The Trump administration has sued the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and all 15 of its judges over an order slowing down its speedy deportation efforts, a striking escalation in its battle with the judiciary. ▪ ProPublica: A new Trump plan gives the Department of Homeland Security and the White House greater influence in the fight against organized crime. Internal documents show that an overhaul would scale back prosecutors' control over investigations. MEDIA: Kari Lake, Trump's top adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media and staunch critic of the mainstream press, testified Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about her vision for Voice of America (VOA). Lake has slashed VOA's staff by hundreds and promised to transform the English-language broadcaster into an outlet that promotes Trump's 'America First' messaging around the world. The Hill's Dominick Mastrangelo has five key takeaways from the hearing. HIGHER ED: Colleges are waiting with bated breath after the president announced an upcoming deal with Harvard University, fearing concessions that could become a blueprint for what the administration demands of other schools. Some observers see no path forward that could both satisfy Trump and avoid compromising principles Harvard President Alan Garber promised to keep. DEFENSE SPENDING: NATO leaders on Wednesday agreed to a major defense spending increase while leaving room for some alliance countries, including Spain, Belgium and Slovakia, to not hit the new spending goals thanks to very particular wording. 'Allies commit to invest 5 percent of GDP annually on core defense requirements as well as defense- and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations,' the 32 leaders of the alliance said in a statement that pointedly did not specify 'all allies' had committed to doing so. Since his first term, Trump has pressured NATO countries to commit more of their annual gross domestic product (GDP) to military spending as the United States looks to shift its attention from security priorities in Europe to the Indo-Pacific and Middle East. Trump on Wednesday slammed Spain during a press conference at the NATO Summit after the country said it could not meet the goal. The president said he would push for Spain to pay more through a trade deal. 'We're going to make them pay twice as much,' he said. 'And I'm actually serious about that… They want a little bit of a free ride, but they'll have to pay it back to us on trade, because I'm not going to let that happen. It's unfair… They'll pay more money this way.' ▪ CNN: Inside the NATO charm offensive that shocked as much as it delivered. ▪ The Hill: NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte sought to clarify an eyebrow-raising comment he made alongside Trump: He doesn't consider the U.S. leader 'daddy' and was making a reference in jest. ▪ NBC News: Trump's unpredictability causes great anxiety in Europe, particularly his questioning of the mutual defense promise at the heart of the alliance. UKRAINE: Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 'couldn't have been nicer' during their one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit. Trump said at a press conference that the two leaders did not discuss details of a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war but stressed their shared desire to end the war swiftly. Trump said he'd call Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to facilitate an end to the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Zelensky also gave a glowing review of what he described as a 'long and substantive meeting with President Trump.' The president also didn't rule out sending Ukraine monetary and defense aid, including Patriot missile systems. ▪ EuroNews: 'It's possible' Putin will invade more than Ukraine, Trump said. ▪ The Wall Street Journal: At NATO, Trump said Putin was the 'more difficult' leader to convince of ending the war in Ukraine. And finally … ☠️ It's Thursday, which means it's time for this week's Morning Report Quiz! This is our summer 'ick' puzzle. Go ahead, frolic outdoors, but be alert to the seasonal hazards! Be sure to email your responses to asimendinger@ and kkarisch@ — please add 'Quiz' to your subject line. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday. Why were Africanized honeybees, known as 'killer bees,' in U.S. headlines this week? This year's abundance of blood-sucking, potentially Lyme disease-carrying ticks as summer arrives have been blamed by experts on a 2023 bumper crop of what in New York state? With the recent anniversary of the 1975 film 'Jaws,' the news media this month focused on which state that claims a beach known as the 'shark bite capital of the world'? Mosquitoes are everywhere in states' headlines because the biting pests are testing positive for what hazard to humans? Thanks for reading! Sign up for other newsletters from The Hill here. See you next time.
