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Even with consistently bad behavior like berating litigants, making angry outbursts, unnecessarily keeping people in jail and allegedly brandishing a firearm in open court, it took Florida’s judicial discipline system 16 years and three separate investigations to finally remove Judge John Sloop from the bench.
Although Sloop had already been investigated in 1991 during his first year in office for abusive comments and again in 2002 for delaying a defendant’s release, the straw that broke the camel’s back was a series of three incidents in 2004 that initiated the most recent investigation. These included not releasing a defendant who had to submit a habeas corpus request to get released; verbally abusing a defendant; and most egregiously, issuing arrest warrants to 11 individuals in court on traffic violations when they didn’t appear in his court, even though it was explained to him by court staff that the citizens had been directed to the incorrect courtroom. Sloop refused to lift the arrest warrants and the 11 people had to wait in jail for another judge to order their release.
Even after this terrible incident, it took a full two years for the Supreme Court to decide to remove Sloop from his position. Florida let John Sloop abuse his authority for over a decade before taking meaningful action.
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