Florida Supreme Court Issues Reprimand to Judge in Parkland School Shooting Trial

The Florida Supreme Court has publicly reprimanded Judge Elizabeth Scherer for showing bias towards the prosecution during the penalty trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz. The Judicial Qualifications Commission found that Scherer violated several rules of judicial conduct, including unduly chastising the defense team, wrongly accusing an attorney of threatening her child, and embracing members of the prosecution after the trial. Scherer retired from the bench last month, and her handling of the case drew both praise and criticism. The Supreme Court had previously removed her from overseeing post-conviction motions in another case due to concerns about her impartiality.