Elizabeth Anne Scherer (born 1976/1977) is an American lawyer who served as a judge in the

Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida The Florida circuit courts are state courts, and are trial courts of original jurisdiction for most controversies. In Florida, the circuit courts are one of four types of courts created by the Florida Constitution (the other three being The Flo ...

from 2012 until her resignation in 2023. Scherer gained national attention in 2022 after being randomly assigned to preside over the trial of Nikolas Cruz, the perpetrator of the 2018 Parkland high School shooting in

Parkland, Florida Parkland is a suburban city, 42 miles northwest of Miami, in northern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Parkland was 34,670. Parkland is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166 ...

, the deadliest high school shooting in United States history as of 2022. Her conduct during the trial was later found to be in violation of rules governing judicial conduct and biased towards the prosecution, resulting in a formal reprimand from the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven members: the chief justice and six justices. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geographic diversity, and one ...

Life and career

Scherer graduated from Florida State University with a B.A. in English and received a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law. She is the daughter of William R. Scherer, a private attorney who was part of the legal team representing

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

during the

2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida The 2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida was a period of vote recounting in Florida that occurred during the weeks after Election Day in the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gor ...

. Before being appointed as a judge by Governor

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. Scott ...

in 2012, Scherer worked as a prosecutor under state attorney

Michael Satz Michael J Satz is an American attorney and politician in the State of Florida, who served as State Attorney for Florida's 17th judicial circuit, covering Broward County from 1976 to 2021. Satz achieved notability in 2022, as lead prosecutor for ...

, who would later lead prosecution in the Cruz trial.

Parkland shooter trial

Judge Scherer had been relatively unknown outside of Broward County until being assigned to preside over the high-profile case of the Parkland shooter, Nikolas Cruz. Her conduct in the case drew both praise and criticism. Scherer permitted the jury to conduct a walk-through of the school building while also limiting the amount of information public defenders were allowed to disclose to jurors regarding the failures of the federal government agencies in handling Cruz prior to the shooting. During the trial, Scherer engaged in heated exchanges with the defense attorneys, accusing them of turning the trial into a "playground" and disrespecting the court. Video footage of the trial was widely shared on social media. Scherer refused to step down after the defense had argued that the judge was biased against their client and was prejudicing the jurors. Following the trial, the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers sent an official complaint to the Chief Judge of Broward County describing her attitude toward the defense as "hostile and demeaning treatment of defense counsel". Scherer, who was further criticized for sharing hugs with the prosecutors following the case, received support from the victims' families, who, in an open letter posted on Twitter said that the judge "conducted herself with patience, professionalism, restraint &, when it was all over, compassion". On April 13, 2023, the

unanimously agreed to grant death row inmate Randy Tundidor's request to disqualify Scherer from his case because of her actions after Cruz's sentencing and during Tundidor's postconviction proceedings. On May 10, 2023, Scherer announced that she will be resigning June 30, 2023. On June 2, 2023, the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission found that Scherer violated many rules governing judicial conduct during Cruz's trial. The Commission recommended a public reprimand for Scherer. The public reprimand was issued the next month.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scherer, Elizabeth 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American judges Florida state court judges Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Florida State University alumni University of Miami School of Law alumni