Broward County Criminal Defense Attorney: Dad Jokes No More

Broward Judge Gary Farmer resigned Friday August 1^st. It was sad ending for Farmer who was elected to the bench back in 2022. Farmer, a former Florida senator and minority leader had been suspended for what the Judicial Qualifications commission “JQC” called “grossly inappropriate comments.”

Farmer had been suspended without pay since 5/19/25. Before that he had been removed from his criminal courtroom and relegated to handling civil foreclosure cases.  Farmer and his lawyers had fought the suspension arguing that what was said was “dad jokes” or “bad jokes” and that “it was never his intention to do anything other than to be respectful while also making them feel a bit more comfortable in his courtroom. His poor attempts at humor were not intended nor designed to show disrespect or disdain to those defendants.”

Having practiced in front of Judge Farmer, I can say that he certainly tried to keep his Courtroom loose and less intimidating than some others. Either way, it appears that he took his joking style a little too far and has now paid the price for his actions. It looks like the anonymous prosecutors that filed the complaints against him got the last laugh.

If you are interested in reading about Farmer’s conduct, please click here and here.