Florida High Court Fires Fistfighting Judge

A 120-day suspension and a $50,000 fine was not a strict enough sanction for a judge who challenged a public defender to a fist fight, Florida’s Supreme Court found last week when they voted to remove him from office. The Court called the June 2014 incident a “national spectacle” that was “fundamentally inconsistent with the responsibilities of judicial office. … This is the sort of egregious conduct that erodes the public’s confidence.” Brevard County Judge John Murphy told the public defender, “If I had a rock, I would throw it at you right now,” and then said, “If you want to fight, let’s go out back, and I’ll just beat your ass.” Murphy, a U.S. Army veteran, recently revealed he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and took a leave of absence to undergo counseling.