Update # 4.
This so-called General Magistrate ALLANA ROBINSON WOODS is nothing short of a villain masquerading in judicial robes. To rob a child of their childhood, to rip them away from their father, is the act of a true scoundrel. It's no surprise, though, considering her ascent to this so-called throne of justice was nothing but nepotism in action, a gift from her judge parents, particularly her father, who looms like an overbearing shadow three floors above. They're scheming to plant her as a judge as if the court is their personal dynasty.
GM Woods has shown an appalling disregard for justice in her pathetic three-year stint as a judge in the petitioner/father's child custody case. She's consistently ignored the welfare of the child in the father's petitions, blatantly favoring the mother. Issuing cruel, absurd, and corrupt decisions. And why? Because she's been entangled with the mother personally since 2018, a lawyer who's been lingering in the same court for the last five years. Worse yet, GM Woods presided over a case involving the mother in a fraudulent fundraising scheme. GM Woods was well aware of the mother's unethical relationship with her previous coworker's attorney, Richard Conforti, who was also removed from this case. This is a mockery of justice. Woods is a disgrace to the Broward court, undeserving of even setting foot within its walls.
Apple Doesn't FALL FAR from the Tree!
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A Broward judge sees no conflict, but we do | Steve Bousquet
By STEVE BOUSQUET | Sun Sentinel
PUBLISHED: April 21, 2023 at 3:55 p.m. | UPDATED: April 30, 2023 at 3:34 p.m.
The Code of Judicial Conduct for Florida judges is abundantly clear.
“A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially and diligently,” Canon 3 of the code says in part.
That brings us to the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale and a case involving Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Broward County School Board, and a pending vacancy on the Broward bench.
The case of Rod Velez v. Ron DeSantis was assigned to Circuit Judge Michael Robinson, who has been on the bench for 13 years.
The suit was filed by Rod Velez of Hollywood, who ran for and won a School Board seat last fall. He is challenging DeSantis’ December executive order in which the governor declared the seat vacant and appointed a replacement, Daniel Foganholi.
With Velez’s suit against him pending, DeSantis must soon decide whether to appoint the judge’s daughter, Allana Robinson Woods, to a vacant circuit judgeship — a highly prestigious position that pays $182,060 a year. Robinson Woods, a magistrate judge, is among 10 finalists for two vacancies on the Broward bench, recommended by Broward’s Judicial Nominating Commission.
Judge Robinson never disclosed to the parties that his daughter’s professional future is solely in the hands of the defendant — DeSantis.
“This undisclosed information has reasonably put Petitioner Velez in fear of his ability to receive a fair hearing,” Velez’s lawyers argue in a motion for disqualification filed April 14. “The trial court judge’s decisions in this case may be influenced by a desire, perhaps even an unconscious desire, to aid or not hinder his daughter’s pending judicial nomination.”
Lawyers Marc Burton, Richard Burton and Adam Schwartzbaum also argue that the judge had a duty to disclose the facts of his daughter’s application for a judgeship, and that his refusal to disclose it is itself grounds for disqualification.
Velez’s lawyers argue they have good reason to question the judge’s impartiality.
In February, the judge outrageously granted a change of venue motion by DeSantis to move the case to Tallahassee without a hearing, never giving Velez’s side a chance to be heard — “a denial of due process,” they argued. Later that day, Feb. 28, the judge vacated his own order.
Then Velez’s lawyers filed a motion to disqualify the judge for that, and Robinson denied it.
The decision of whether a judge should recuse himself is the judge’s alone to make.
DeSantis sees no problem with the judge staying on the case. Through his lawyers, he told the judge Wednesday he “strongly disputes that Judge Robinson has a conflict of interest in this case and should recuse himself.” It’s deeply troubling that this is the ethical standard espoused by a governor who appoints the state’s judges.
DeSantis has until May 15 to make the two Broward judicial picks, but he said he plans to make them before May 8. He wants a hearing on the motion to disqualify the judge to be held after making the appointments (court hearings are not routinely held on motions to disqualify).
It’s obvious that a reasonable question exists about the judge’s impartiality.
A lot is riding on this case. If DeSantis wins, it could embolden him to be more aggressive in influencing Broward politics. He has already said he would actively try to influence the outcome of School Board races across the state next year.
If Velez wins, he will hold the District 1 School Board seat to which South Broward voters elected him last November, despite not getting his civil rights restored for a decades-old conviction for aggravated battery, a felony.
Like hundreds of thousands of other felony offenders, Velez regained his right to vote when voters passed Amendment 4 in 2018. But under Florida’s confusing clemency system, felons who want to run for office must also regain their civil rights in a clemency proceeding. Velez did not apply for clemency until last fall, in the midst of his election campaign.
This is an important case, and it should be decided by someone other than Judge Michael Robinson. For the reputation of the Broward judiciary, step aside, Your Honor.
Steve Bousquet is Opinion Editor of the Sun Sentinel and a columnist in Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale. Contact him at sbousquet@sunsentinel.com or (850) 567-2240 and follow him on Twitter @stevebousquet.