The panel recommends removing Hillsboro Judge Nancy Jacobs from the bench

The state’s disciplinary committee recommended that Hillsboro Circuit Judge Nancy Jacobs be removed from the bench on Wednesday, finding that she violated Judicial Ethics Rules in her successful 2022 campaign against Judge Jared Smith.

In a 55-page opinion released Wednesday afternoon, the Florida Judicial Eligibility Committee hearing committee found that abortion had become a key issue, breaking the judicial canon and several statements she and her supporters made in a heavily contested race.

It was also found that Jacobs broke the rules when he encouraged his lawyer to face another sitting judge who she had a bad relationship with, and when she made off-collar remarks about the lawyer she appeared in court.

“The combined effects of Judge Jacobs’s misconduct indicate her ineligible for her current position,” the panel said.

They considered the evidence Jacobs presented in her defense, including an apology letter, but wrote that they were bothered by what they said was her lack of regret.

“Therefore, based on clear and persuasive evidence, the panel reluctantly concludes that removal is, inevitably, the only appropriate discipline justified by the circumstances,” the opinion states.

The document is signed by Greg Coleman, West Palm Beach lawyer who chaired the committee panel. The findings of Guilt and Jacobs’ recommended removal reflect two-thirds of the votes of a six-member panel, but no vote counts have been revealed.

The Florida Supreme Court has final say on imposing discipline on Jacobs.

Her attorney, Ryan Barak, did not reply to his office and remaining messages seeking comment Wednesday.

The panel’s opinions have booked a legal and political odyssey that began with an unusually crazy campaign that saw allegations of anti-Semitism and religious bias over three years ago, becoming a microcosm of the national debate over the right to abortion.

It centered around Judge Smith, who was first appointed as a Hillsboro County judge in 2017 by former government Rick Scott and later promoted to the circuit bench by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Smith has been caught in the attention of National News and faces a flood of criticism after the appeal court overturned a ruling that it refused permission to a teenage girl to undergo an abortion without her parents’ consent. Two members of the three judge panel discovered that Smith abused the judicial discretion in denying the girl’s request.

In early 2022, Jacobs launched a campaign against Smith. She was a longtime Tampa lawyer and had twice before failing to become a judge.

The judicial race is nonpartisan and is usually modest, but the contest between Smith and Jacobs carried a partisan overtone primarily due to abortion issues. It is a landmark Roev that guarantees women’s right to seek abortion. It overturned Wade’s decision and backed up the US Supreme Court’s DOBBS decision.

Jacobs defeated Smith between 52% and 48% in the August election. However, a few months later, DeSantis appointed Smith to the newly formed 6th District Court of Appeals based in Polk County.

Smith and Jacobs denounced each other for fraud related to the campaign.

Jacobs has garnered support from planned parents and abortion rights advocates. The duel campaign ad criticized Smith for his abortion verdict while Jacobs was accused of having a “wake… liberal agenda.”

At one point, a video surfaced showing Smith at a church event. There, his wife told the crowd that Jacobs, a Jew, “needs Jesus,” and that “her heart is extremely difficult for God.” Some people denounced Smith and his anti-Semitic wife. Jacobs later told the court that Smith’s father-in-law made similar comments to her at a campaign event.

In the end, only Jacobs faced a formal accusation of misconduct.

The Judicial Qualifications Committee, a state agency that investigates complaints of fraud against judges, filed accusations against her a year after the election.

The opinion of the Hearing Committee found that some of her actions were wrong.

The comment that someone left on her campaign’s Facebook page reads “send Judge Smith back to his private practice and less harmful to his strict anti-abortion view.” The panel found the statement was “rude,” “ring of fraud,” “unproven,” and an opinion. It was unclear who posted it, but Jacobs was responsible for the content that appeared on her page.

Other comments were also considered problematic. This includes a post by a Tampa lawyer who wrote, “Judge Jared Smith! Vote for Nancy L. Jacobs again. We need to kick this horrible man out.” Such a statement was “unsigned” and Smith was cast in “False Light,” which “may undermine confidence in the judiciary,” the opinion states.

The committee also had trouble with the text message Jacobs sent to the citizens, where he called Smith “biased, anti-Semite… not a good person… he hates me and people like me.”

There was a campaign forum where Jacobs told attendees that court officials had “negative feelings” towards Smith, but were afraid to move forward.

And then there was a comment she wrote on her private Facebook group. It stated that Smith “is a fair judge only if the litigator looks or thinks like him.”

Rittany continues another Facebook statement that Smith “puts his religion into law,” and is “Amy (Connie) Barrett Republican.” It all violated the judicial canon, the panel concluded.

“We conclude that the misconduct of Judge Jacobs’ campaign has inevitably eroded public confidence in judicial integrity,” the panel said.

They concluded the same thing with regard to the two cases that took place after Jacobs became a judge.

While attending an American Bar Association event in Asia and the Pacific in March 2023, Jacobs spoke with lawyer Alicia Whiting Bozic and encouraged him to run with Judge Robin Husson, the panel found. Jacobs was said to have a difficult relationship with Husson.

The panel couldn’t believe Jacobs’ explanation that Whiting Bozic simply encouraged him to run towards the bench, not specifically against Husson.

In another case, Jacobs was said to have been called a “fat, hair removal lawyer” by the lawyer who filed the lawsuit in court. She admitted that her comments were overflowing and she apologized.

The allegations against Jacobs were subject to a three-day hearing in February.

Jacobs testified twice, detailing her perspective on various statements and allegations discussing her background as a lawyer. She said she regretted being told how the campaign was going, but many of the statements claimed they believed free speech was protected.

The committee’s attorneys alleged that her actions erod confidence in the judiciary, but her attorney emphasized that the people of Hillsboro County chose to be their judges.