Leon County Judge Judith Hawkins is fighting to hold onto her job. She’s filed a response to a recommendation by a state judicial prosecutor that she be tossed off the bench.
In her response, filed Thursday with the Florida Supreme Court, Hawkins said the removal recommendation was a much stronger penalty than what had originally been suggested by the hearing panel for the state’s judicial qualifications commission.
She also cited cases in which some other Florida judges were allowed to keep their jobs after serious criminal wrongdoing. Hawkins said she had only been charged with using public time and resources in support of her religious activities.
She said she’d already admitted what she called her “mistakes” and that the high court should let her keep her judgeship.
