An Open Letter To Judge Steve Feren
Dear Steve “Da Judge” Feren,
I know you were once the Democratic mayor of Sunrise and a Democratic state House member.
I know people in your party love you.
But Steve, you are a judge now. You’ve got to give up party politics.
It’s in the judicial Code of Ethics.
So when I saw a New Years e-mail from you as part of a Yahoo Democratic Internet group, I was surprised.
Because the Yahoo group for is a members-only Democratic group. You apparently remain a member of this Democratic Internet group.
As a judge, you are not allowed to be part of a purely partisan Democratic group.
You have to be non-partisan…at least publicly.
Maybe this really wasn’t from you, Steve.
Let us know.
Sincerely,
Buddy Nevins
P.S.:
Here is the message:
From: SBFeren@aol.com
Date: Jan 1, 2010 2:32 PM
Subject: [abcdem] Hi
To: abcdem@yahoogroups.com;
Dear Ones;
Sandy and I wish you and yours a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Sandy & Steven (Da Judge)
P.P.S.:
Do you really call yourself Da Judge?
January 4th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Not Da Judge. The Idiot.
January 4th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Judges are politicians because they run for office. Sending a private email wishing certain people a holiday greeting is not inconsistent with what judges could reasonably do to enhance their chances of getting re-elected.
If the appearance of this bothers people then we should stop electing judges and instead establish a reasonable process to appoint them, this way they are beholden to no objective but serving the law.
Until that happens you will have judges distracted by their need to survive in office, no matter what the judicial code of ethics says.
FROM BUDDY: The point is not that he sent out a New Years greeting. The point is he apparently remains a member of a partisan Democratic political group.
January 4th, 2010 at 10:53 am
In case you haven’t figured it out, Feren thinks he’s above the law and certainly above judicial cannons.
I was present at the REC during his campaign when he proudly announced during his speech that he was a REGISTERED DEMOCRAT.
He was booed.
January 4th, 2010 at 11:10 am
It was also sent out from him to other email names, such as me.
Unless there really is a violation, and I don’t know one way or the other, lets try to accept the Holiday Greeting as part of the Holiday Spirit. Can we?
January 4th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Sorry Richard – I’d agree that the greeting itself is not a violation.
But if Steve Feren is still a member of the Broward Cyberdems Group (search Yahoo Groups and you’ll find it), that is a bad bad bad thing.
Seems like a clear violation of Canon 7 of the Code of Judicial Conduct.
And it is clear that this wasn’t inadvertent – like a recently appointed judge still having an old membership floating around from years back — Judge Feren knows he is still a member of the group and specifically sent the group a holiday message.
And more importantly – what kind of douche refers to himself as “Da Judge” — WTF?
1. Steve – you’re like nearly 70 years old — do you need a new nickname every time you get a new job?
2. If you do need a nickname, couldn’t you come up with something better than “Da Judge”?
January 4th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
There is so much wrong with Steve Feren that this is just the tip of the iceberg. He was mayor of the most corrupt city in Broward. He worked for some of the same developers building in Sunrise. He was nasty to any of the public who spoke at meetings. While running for judge, he backed naming his campaign treasurer Stuart Michelson city attorney. He delayed his resignation from Sunrise long enough to allow his hand picked successor Roger Wishner to become mayor without an election. He tried to squeeze an extra $150 a month in retirement benefits out of the city.
So don’t be shocked that he doesn’t have a clue about the Code of Ethics.
January 4th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Like a good judge or lawyer, you don’t jump to an assumption. None of us truly knows what organizations he belongs to at this time. At least you caution it with an “if.”
You might be right, you might be wrong. If right, you have a right to say what you do. If wrong, you have wronged someone on an assumption by you.
What is really clear is that there are a lot of unnamed people who don’t like him. Such is life, especially in politics, and the judiciary is politics too. Just a different format.
January 5th, 2010 at 6:20 am
[…] Buddy: I did send a message to Feren’s e-mail address before the previous post. The address was the same one this e-mail was sent from. I received no answer until after the […]
January 7th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
It is Quite OBVIOUS that DA JUDGE is a Poker Name for when he plays..Bunch of Morons Don’t See That…Like others Poker Players Ie. Moneymaker The Greek The Mouth..Hello !!!!
January 9th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
it’s also obvious “Da Judge” is a political beast who should not be a judge. Bye bye Feren come his next election.