Elizabeth Scherer Reprimanded Retired

Elizabeth Scherer, the Broward County Circuit Court judge who presided over the trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, was publicly reprimanded by the Florida Supreme Court after the state's Judicial Qualifications Commission found she showed bias favoring the prosecution throughout the case. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, Scherer stepped down from the bench in her judicial robe and embraced members of the prosecution team, along with victims and their family members — conduct the JQC found improper given her role as a neutral arbiter. The Commission also found Scherer "unduly chastised" the lead public defender and her defense team, wrongly accused one defense attorney of threatening her own child, and failed to stop family members in the courtroom from directing "vitriolic comments" at the defense. Scherer retired from the bench the same month the reprimand was issued.