Florida Supreme Court removes judge for running ministry from the bench

Florida Supreme Court removes judge for running ministry from the bench

By Scott Kaufman
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 9:07 EDT
RAW STORY

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/02/florida-supreme-court-removes-judge-for-running-ministry-from-the-bench/

The Florida Supreme Court handed down the most severe available penalty to a judge accused of having used her courtroom to advertise her for-profit ministry.

Leon County Judge Judith Hawkins was accused of running Gaza Road Ministries out of her offices at the county courthouse. According to court documents, Judge Hawkins sold ministry products in the courthouse, both to lawyers and her employees — one of whom she tasked with helping her sell her wares.

“Your involvement with [Gaza Road Ministries] caused you to devote less than your full time and full attention to your judicial duties,” the court found, noting that she would also “take trips” without informing “the attorneys or parties in advance of [her] absences.”

She was also found to have “maintained an idiosyncratic system of justice, inconsistent with generally accepted law and procedure, known as ‘Hawkins Law.’” One of the tenets of “Hawkins Law” was that she need not pay attention to matters in her courtroom unrelated to her side business.

More at link above....

Oh my, how dare they impose on her religious freedom?