Judge To Face Suspension Over Facebook Post

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MIAMI (CBSMiami) --  A Seminole County judge was suspended for 30 days without pay over an improper Facebook post.

Judge Debra Krause agreed to the suspension after an investigation by the state Judicial Qualifications Commission about whether she violated judicial canons.

The case stemmed from a Facebook post when Krause's husband, Mitch, was running for circuit judge.

Debra Krause thought that one of her husband's opponents, Susan Stacy, was mischaracterizing facts and asked people on Facebook to "flood" Stacy's campaign site, according to a notice of charges filed last year by an investigative panel of the Judicial Qualifications Commission.

The Supreme Court approved the suspension in a 6-0 vote, saying that Krause admitted that while her husband was a candidate, "she one time used social media to seek the assistance of her friends to help her husband correct perceived misstatements of his judicial opponent. Judge Krause accepted full responsibility for the conduct, admitted that it should not have occurred, and apologized."

Justice James E.C. Perry was recused from the case. Stacy defeated Mitch Krause last year in the race for circuit judge.

(The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.)