Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure

What does it mean to recuse or disqualify a judge in a Florida family law case? This means you are asking the court to remove a judge from deciding your case because you can show the judge is biased or otherwise unable to fairly decide a case. This showing cannot be based on your feeling that the judge is biased - there has to be evidence to support it. This was an issue in the case J.R. v. D.C.F., 3D22-1537 (Fla. 3d DCA October 6, 2022).

The father filed a writ of prohibition in the appellate court alleging the trial judge was biased because the judge made comments regarding a domestic violence case in a pending dependency case. The appellate court rejected this argument, holding “Concluding that expression of the trial court’s mental impressions at the conclusion of the hearing did not rise to the level necessary to establish that the trial court has prejudged the case, we deny the petition. In fact, a fair reading of the trial court’s comments clearly establish that the trial court has maintained a neutral and unbiased perspective of the issues before her below.”

Schedule your meeting with a Miami family law attorney to understand how the law may apply to the facts of your case.