Latest news with #LaurenPeffer
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Broward judge denies violating judicial conduct code over deepfake AI call
Broward County Judge Lauren Peffer in a new court filing Friday formally denied the ethics charges filed against her, stemming from her promotion of a scandalous book and a deepfake AI recording during her campaign last year. In the routine filing with Florida's Supreme Court, Peffer denied the Judicial Qualifications Commission's charges filed last month that she violated judicial ethics rules that govern 'inappropriate political activity.' Peffer, a first-time judicial candidate, won her seat in August and began her term in January. During her campaign, which centered on trustworthiness and ethics in the judiciary, Peffer referenced in an endorsement interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board a book written and published by a former courthouse employee in the Orlando area called, 'The Ninth Circus Court of Florida, My 30-Year Job from Hell!' The book, written by someone who had been terminated, 'portrays the judiciary in the Ninth Judicial Circuit as corrupt and incompetent and attacks the character' of numerous judges, including current Chief Judge Lisa Munyon, according to the JQC's charging document. Peffer wrote in response to a Sun Sentinel editorial board questionnaire that the book's 'recent revelations' had 'highlighted an image crisis within Florida's judiciary,' according to the JQC's notice of formal charges. At the time Peffer cited the book in the Sun Sentinel interview, it lacked any published reviews and appeared to have generated no public discourse or impact, the Sun Sentinel previously reported. Asked by the Sun Sentinel about evidence of the book creating public mistrust, Peffer sent the newspaper a link to an 18-minute recording of what purported to be a phone call about the book between Munyon, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz and Justice Renatha Francis, according to the notice of charges. But the recording was fake, likely made with generative AI, and could be deemed so by 'any reasonable person,' the JQC said in its notice of charges. Broward judicial candidate drops Orlando author's self-published tell-all from her campaign stump speech Peffer was forwarded the link to the recording 'by another lawyer,' her response filed Friday said. Peffer in her response to the charges on Friday acknowledged that she had not 'carefully listened to the call but had a recollection that the judiciary was being criticized in the recording' and did not try to determine its veracity before providing it to the newspaper. 'Judge Peffer acknowledges that she should have more carefully listened to the recording before referencing it in her answers to the editorial board. In responding to these proceedings, Judge Peffer listened to the recordings without distraction, and it was immediately apparent that the purported phone call was a 'deep fake,'' her response said. However, she denied that she shared the recording 'despite clear evidence of its inauthenticity,' as the JQC alleged in its charges. In her response, Peffer also admitted that she never read the disgruntled employee's book before referencing it to the Sun Sentinel and did not research the claims the employee made. 'Judge Peffer did not intend to promote the validity of the book but instead, she intended to point to the book as an example of criticism of the judiciary,' her response said. She previously acknowledged issues with the book in a July interview with the Sun Sentinel and said she would stop citing it. Peffer denied that she 'ignored' the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee's training on campaign ethics as the notice of charges alleged and denied that she 'helped facilitate the former employee's farce,' according to her response.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judicial watchdog files charges against Broward judge who promoted salacious rumors, AI recording in campaign
The state's official judicial ethics watchdog has filed formal charges against a newly elected Broward judge who promoted a salacious tell-all and a deepfake recording during her 2024 campaign. Lauren Peffer, whose term on the bench began in January after she won the August 2024 primary, campaigned on a platform of restoring public confidence in the judiciary. As evidence that of that loss in confidence, Peffer made public references to a self-published book called 'The Ninth Circus Court of Florida,' a tell-all written by a former employee of the Orlando-area court system. Those references to the book were made in an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Editorial Board when seeking the media company's endorsement. The Sun Sentinel did not endorse her. The book painted the Ninth Circuit as a hotbed of corruption, but as Peffer's 2024 campaign was taking shape, there was no indication that the book Peffer promoted had any impact in that judicial circuit. It had no published reviews and no news organizations wrote or broadcast any stories about it. Asked by the South Florida Sun Sentinel in June about the apparent silence surrounding the book, Peffer provided a link to a recording that purported to be a conversation about the book between Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz and Lisa Munyon, chief administrative judge of the Ninth Circuit. On the recording, those two judges are supposedly joined by Florida Supreme Court Justice Renatha Francis. The recording was a fake, according to all three judges and the Judicial Qualifications Commission notice of charges, which accuse Peffer of failing to maintain the 'dignity appropriate to judicial office and act in a manner consistent with the impartiality, integrity, and independence of the judiciary,' as outlined in the state judicial canons. 'Artificially created deepfakes are a tool for misinformation and digital impersonation used to influence elections and spread disinformation,' the Judicial Qualifications Commission wrote in its announcement of formal charges. 'Your campaign theme was to restore the public's trust, but your behavior did the opposite and brought harm to the dignity and integrity of the judiciary.' Peffer acknowledged the problems with the book in an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel in July and promised to stop referring to it in her campaign. She won the election with 52.5% of the vote. But according to the JQC, she should never have cited the book in the first place. She admitted she never spoke to the author of the tell-all, never spoke to any of the judges involved in the accusations, and never tried to authenticate the recording before sharing it. 'Rather than promote public confidence in the judiciary, your actions eroded public confidence by perpetuating a false perception of illegal, unethical, or immoral conduct by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court, a Chief Judge, and others working within the judicial branch,' the JQC wrote. Peffer has 20 days to file a written response to the charges. She released a statement Friday afternoon pointing out that she had no ties to the author of the Ninth Circuit book, whose website also posted the deepfake recording. 'My sole intent was to provide an example of the scrutiny a judge faces and why the judiciary must hold itself to the highest moral standard,' she said. 'While unintentional, I take responsibility for my actions and apologize for the unfortunate effects my reference may have caused my fellow judiciary members.' Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@ or 954-356-4457. Follow him on
