This is a petition to the Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court to remove Tamara Curtis, the former defense attorney of shooter & murderer Nikolas Cruz who gunned down and killed 14 innocent students and 3 teachers on Valentine’s Day of 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS in Parkland, Florida. 

Curtis was captured on camera prior to Cruz’s pretrial hearing, rubbing her middle finger on her cheek in front of a court camera (“flipping the bird”). Cruz appeared to make a gesture to Curtis, warning her about the courtroom cameras, to which Tamara and the defendant can then both be seen laughing. Tamara Curtis later made an “apology” to the families of the victims, but took little to no accountability, only apologizing for not knowing that the cameras were running. However, this apology was important because it was an unintentional admission by Curtis and acknowledges that Curtis was, in fact, giving the middle finger, and not scratching her cheek. 

This was a despicable, vile and dishonorable act, and extremely disrespectful to the victims and their families who have already endured so much prior to and during trial. Tamara Curtis’ foul actions also go against everything in the Bar's "rules of professional conduct.”  The rules of professional conduct state that lawyers must “have respect for the legal system and for those who serve it." And what Tamara Curtis did in court that day in front of victims’ families was anything but. 

It was later revealed that several family members of the victims either saw the tape online or witnessed Tamara Curtis “giving the finger” in court, according to victim impact statements and social media posts made by the victims’ families. 

"This is Defense Attorney Tamara Curtis, in court, playing with the monster who murdered my daughter & rubbing her middle finger on her cheek," the father of Jaime Guttenberg (14 year old murder victim) tweeted. 

Many family members admonished the defense team for their despicable actions but as of today, Tamara Curtis, to the public’s knowledge, has faced no disciplinary actions whatsoever by the presiding judge, Florida Bar nor the Supreme Court. So we are also asking for more transparency in this investigation. 

The Bar opened an investigation into Tamara Curtis in November of 2022 (according to Jennifer Krell Davis, communications director for the Florida Bar). It has now been over month since then and nothing has been shared with the public in regard to this investigation. We are asking for the Bar to take proper action, act immediately and move forward in disciplining Curtis.

Please remove Tamara Curtis and show  that the US justice system has zero tolerance for mocking victims and their families.