Florida judge removed from office for promising to support police officers and “sting” those responsible

Blue support and a promise to get tough on crime proved to be a winning message for one Florida judicial candidate, but it also led to his removal from office by the Florida Supreme Court this week.

John B. Flynn was elected to the Polk County bench in 2022 after promising to “support our law enforcement agencies” and vowing that “criminals will not be happy to see me on the bench.” I’m tough. If someone is found guilty, the punishment must be severe enough to make the person understand that criminal behavior will not be tolerated.”

Flynn carried the idea to a decisive victory, beating his opponent by 25 percentage points. But the Judicial Qualifications Commission, the government’s ethics watchdog, launched an investigation and found that the campaign violated judicial canons, rules governing the public and private conduct of judges.

“The job of an impartial judge is to look at each defendant individually and each case individually,” said Jason B. Blank, a Broward attorney who is president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He said the judge’s campaign statements undermined public confidence that he would give defendants a fair hearing.

Blank didn’t particularly object to general pro-police statements, acknowledging that jurors are asked to weigh police testimony the same way as any civilian witness. “We hope that they will give truthful testimony, as every citizen would and should do. A statement of support for law enforcement must be balanced with the fact that not every defendant is guilty.”

Following his election, Flynn was appointed to oversee civil affairs.

A telephone call to the lawyer who represented Flynn before the qualification committee was not returned Wednesday.

The Supreme Court suspended Flynn for 25 days without pay and ordered him to appear before the justices for a public censure. Suspension and reprimand dates have not been set.

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