Jacqueline Schwartz
Jacqueline Schwartz was a county judge for the Miami-Dade County Court in Miami-Dade County, Florida. She joined the court in 2003 and resigned effective July 31, 2016.[1][2] Click here to read more about the circumstances of her resignation.
Biography
Schwartz earned a B.S. from the University of Florida and a J.D. from the University of Miami. Her professional experience includes work as an attorney in private practice.[3]
Elections
2014
See also: Florida judicial elections, 2014
Schwartz ran for re-election to the Miami-Dade County Court.
Primary: She was successful in the primary on August 26, 2014, receiving 49.4 percent of the vote. She competed against Frank C. Bocanegra and Rachel Glorioso Dooley.
General: She defeated Frank C. Bocanegra in the general election on November 4, 2014, receiving 57.7 percent of the vote.
[4][5]
Endorsements
- The Miami Herald[6]
Noteworthy events
Resignation from office
Schwartz resigned from office effective July 31, 2016. In April 2016, she was suspended for alleged intoxication on the bench and impairment during a confrontation with waitstaff and police officers at a Coconut Grove restaurant.[1] She announced her resignation while under investigation for the alleged violations, saying "unfortunately, as a consequence of a condition I suffer, I can no longer fulfill the requirements of the office for which I was elected."[2][7]
The 2016 investigation was the second disciplinary action against Schwartz in two years. The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission filed formal charges against her on February 19, 2015, for removing her notes from an official court file and for her conduct during an exchange with convenience store owner Firas Hussain. On June 2, 2014, Schwartz entered Hussain's store to inquire about an opponent's campaign sign hanging in the store window. After Hussain declined to display her campaign sign, Schwartz allegedly got into an argument with him in which she used profanity and threatened to take legal action against him.[8]
Schwartz accepted responsibility for her conduct in February 2015 and agreed to write Hussain an apology letter and receive a formal reprimand in order to settle the misconduct charges.[9] On April 29, 2015, the Florida Supreme Court rejected the settlement, stating that Schwartz should be suspended without pay for 30 days and fined $10,000 in addition to writing the apology and receiving the reprimand.[10] The court approved a new settlement, which included the apology, reprimand, suspension, and fine, in September 2015.[11]
Apology for election night comments
Schwartz defeated opponent Frank C. Bocanegra in the general election on November 4, 2014, to win re-election to the Miami-Dade County Court. Following her victory, Schwartz communicated to the Miami Herald via her campaign manager that voters seemed to have "gone past the days when any nondescript Hispanic could go on the ballot and defeat any Anglo sitting judge."[12]
Schwartz subsequently apologized to the board of the Cuban American Bar Association for her comments and issued an apology letter to the group on November 15, 2014. "I fully understand my comments could readily [be] seen as offensive to the community, something I never intended and that pains me greatly," she wrote. "I should have never issued the post-election statement that has, understandably, caused [so] much concern. I retract the statement completely."[12]
Recent news
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Florida Politics, "Miami-Dade Judge Suspended Over 'Impairment' Allegations," April 19, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Daily Business Review, "Miami-Dade Judge Resigns Amid Ethics Probe," July 13, 2016
- ↑ Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, "Jacqueline Schwartz," accessed October 31, 2017
- ↑ Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections, "Reporting Group (Election/Committees) : General 2014," accessed June 11, 2014
- ↑ Miami-Dade County Elections, "August 26, 2014 Primary Election Results," accessed August 27, 2014
- ↑ The Miami Herald, "The Herald Recommends," August 4, 2014
- ↑ Law360, "Fla. Judge Resigns Over Allegations of Taking Bench Drunk," July 15, 2016
- ↑ Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, "Inquiry Concerning a Judge, the Honorable Jacqueline Schwartz," February 19, 2015
- ↑ Miami Herald, "Florida Disciplines Miami-Dade Judge Who Told Store Owner, 'Go F--- Yourself,'" February 24, 2015
- ↑ Supreme Court of Florida, "Re: Jacqueline Schwartz," April 29, 2015
- ↑ Daily Business Review, "Tougher Sanctions Issued for Miami-Dade Judge Schwartz's Freakin' Profanity," September 10, 2015
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Miami Herald, "Miami-Dade Judge Apologizes for Saying She Defeated 'Nondescript Hispanic,'" November 17, 2014
Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida
State courts:
Florida Supreme Court • Florida District Courts of Appeal • Florida Circuit Court • Florida County Court
State resources:
Courts in Florida • Florida judicial elections • Judicial selection in Florida
