A former judicial candidate has had his license to practice law suspended for 91 days after the Florida Supreme Court determined that he had violated the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct for posting anti-gay and anti-Muslim screeds on social media.
Donald McBath, a retired attorney and Florida Bar member who lost to Doneene Loar in the nonpartisan primary for for Florida’s 6th Circuit Court in 2018, is one of 15 attorneys in the Sunshine State disciplined by the state’s high court this month. The list of such candidates only just became available, even though the court order suspending McBath’s license was issued on Nov. 27.
In its write-up of McBath’s suspension, the high court wrote that the lawyer “made written and oral statements concerning his political affiliations and his views of classes of parties and issues that were hate-filled, unprofessional and inappropriate.”
In a complaint filed against him by the Florida Bar, McBath was accused of violating the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct when he made comments on social media that “failed to maintain the dignity appropriate to judicial office and act in a manner that is consistent with impartiality, integrity, and independence of the judiciary,” reports The Miami Herald.
The complaint also accuses McBath of opining on certain classes of parties, cases, or issues that “are likely to come before the court,” making promises to rule in certain ways that betray his ability to be impartial in such cases, and of expressing stances on political issues, as well as touting his support for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
McBath responded to the 20-part complaint against him with the following statement: “1-20. ADMIT.”
McBath’s comments include Twitter posts in which he says to “never trust a Muslim” and “Muslims are deranged.”
He also tweeted: “If the homosexual continues committing that sin of sodomy, his soul faces ETERNAL damnation. Abstain, if you really have that mental illness. It’s not love.”
He also made comments calling an abortion doctor “satanic,” and, in another post, called liberals “very sick people” who “have no Judeo-Christian values.”
McBath is currently serving his 91-day suspension concurrently with a year’s suspension he received for what the Herald classifies as “incompetence and laziness” in a separate case.
Fabian Basabe, a Florida Republican lawmaker who supported the state's controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill, is threatening to sue Miami Beach Pride organizers if he is not allowed to participate in its annual parade on April 14.
The state representative claims that organizers' efforts to ban him from marching in the parade infringe on his First Amendment rights.
Last year, Basabe rode atop a convertible along the parade route, blowing kisses, waving, and yelling back at protesters who booed and chanted "Shame!" at him. Throughout, he was flanked by police in riot gear.
Police in West Hollywood are searching for a man who assaulted another while man yelling anti-gay slurs. He is also believed to have assaulted other individuals in the area.
The victim of the anti-gay assault, David Velasquez, told the WeHo Times that, on Sunday, March 17, he was coming back from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he had been treated earlier in the day for severe cold and flu symptoms.
He stopped by the Pavilions in WeHo to pick up medication and was riding his personal scooter home when the altercation occurred.
Velasquez noted that he was riding on the sidewalk to avoid being hit by potentially drunk drivers as he made his way through West Hollywood on a particularly raucous St. Patrick’s Day.
Uganda's Constitutional Court upheld the bulk of Uganda's controversial Anti-Homosexuality Act, rejecting a petition seeking to overturn the law in its entirety.
The five-judge bench did strike down some components of the law as violations of the country's constitution, including the right to health and privacy.
They also struck down sections of the law allowing for the prosecution of Ugandans who fail to inform on others, including friends and neighbors, for committing homosexual acts; punishing those who allow their premises to be used to commit homosexuality; and criminalizing the transmission of a "terminal illness" through same-sex activity.
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A former judicial candidate has had his license to practice law suspended for 91 days after the Florida Supreme Court determined that he had violated the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct for posting anti-gay and anti-Muslim screeds on social media.
Donald McBath, a retired attorney and Florida Bar member who lost to Doneene Loar in the nonpartisan primary for for Florida’s 6th Circuit Court in 2018, is one of 15 attorneys in the Sunshine State disciplined by the state’s high court this month. The list of such candidates only just became available, even though the court order suspending McBath’s license was issued on Nov. 27.
In its write-up of McBath’s suspension, the high court wrote that the lawyer “made written and oral statements concerning his political affiliations and his views of classes of parties and issues that were hate-filled, unprofessional and inappropriate.”
In a complaint filed against him by the Florida Bar, McBath was accused of violating the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct when he made comments on social media that “failed to maintain the dignity appropriate to judicial office and act in a manner that is consistent with impartiality, integrity, and independence of the judiciary,” reports The Miami Herald.
The complaint also accuses McBath of opining on certain classes of parties, cases, or issues that “are likely to come before the court,” making promises to rule in certain ways that betray his ability to be impartial in such cases, and of expressing stances on political issues, as well as touting his support for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
McBath responded to the 20-part complaint against him with the following statement: “1-20. ADMIT.”
McBath’s comments include Twitter posts in which he says to “never trust a Muslim” and “Muslims are deranged.”
He also tweeted: “If the homosexual continues committing that sin of sodomy, his soul faces ETERNAL damnation. Abstain, if you really have that mental illness. It’s not love.”
He also made comments calling an abortion doctor “satanic,” and, in another post, called liberals “very sick people” who “have no Judeo-Christian values.”
McBath is currently serving his 91-day suspension concurrently with a year’s suspension he received for what the Herald classifies as “incompetence and laziness” in a separate case.
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