Broward Circuit Judge Laura Marie Watson cannot be trusted on the bench and must be removed, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
In the latest chapter of a saga that began a decade before Watson took office, the state's highest court decided that election to the bench did not allow an attorney to escape allegations of on-the-job misconduct.
In recent cases involving allegations of judicial misconduct, judges have chosen to resign rather than wait for the removal process to play itself out. County Judge Gisele Pollack left office earlier this year, and Circuit Court Judge Ana Gardiner resigned in 2010.