Florida Bar v. Girley

After a state circuit-court judge in Orlando overturned a racial discrimination jury verdict and directed a verdict for the defense, attorney Jerry Girley, who represented the plaintiff, criticized the judge and the legal system on a radio show.

After a state circuit-court judge in Orlando overturned a racial discrimination jury verdict and directed a verdict for the defense, attorney Jerry Girley, who represented the plaintiff, criticized the judge and the legal system on a radio show. His daughter Brooke, who is also an attorney but did not work on the case, also made comments on social media critical of the judge and legal system. Both argued that the legal system discriminates against Black people and does not provide equal justice. The Florida Bar sought to punish both for their speech, and the referee in the case imposed 30-day suspensions of their licenses. On June 24, 2024, the ACLU filed amicus briefs in Florida Supreme Court in support of both attorneys, arguing that the First Amendment protects their speech. While the First Amendment grants the government some latitude to regulate attorneys’ commercial speech, general First Amendment principles apply to a lawyer’s expressive speech, including their political speech, absent special circumstances inapplicable to the Girleys. The Girleys’ criticism of the judge and the legal system was political speech entitled to the strictest First Amendment protections. Merits briefing was completed on September 11, 2024. We await a decision from the Florida Supreme Court.

The Latest: The Florida Supreme Court denied the attorneys’ requests to avoid sanction by the Florida Bar.