A Florida judge has been suspended due to inappropriate behavior — but his attorney claims he was simply making “G-rated dad jokes.” Broward County Circuit Judge Gary Farmer spent six years in the Florida Senate before being elected as a judge in 2022, CBS reported. On May 14, 2025, the Florida Supreme Court indefinitely suspended the judge.
An investigative panel claimed that Farmer is unfit ‘to hold office.’
The Investigative Panel of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission alleged that the Florida judge has “damaged the public’s perception of the judiciary and the judicial branch in such a way that he has demonstrated a present unfitness to serve,” per the New York Post. Farmer’s lawyers have said he’s changed and “learned his lesson.” The panel, however, argues that “the damage is already done,” NBC Miami reported.
His sense of humor might be ‘exceptionally bad.’
The panel described Farmer’s misconduct as “egregious and serious.” Meanwhile, his lawyers have suggested he was just making jokes. Per the Post, Farmer’s attorney said in a court filing that the judge “generally admits to having made the jokes or remarks” he was accused of making. But it seems like he doesn’t think they were that serious – at least not based on what his attorney has claimed.
“These jokes were said to lighten tension, reduce stress for criminal defendants, and show a sense of humanity,” the attorney claimed, according to the Post. “They generally are G-rated dad jokes that are corny but not offensive and were not degrading to the solemnity of the proceedings.”
Even though Farmer’s lawyers have compared his comments to “dad jokes,” the panel described them as “discriminatory, offensive, sexually charged, and demeaning,” CBS News reported.
The judge’s lawyers admitted that some of the jokes were ‘somewhat racy.’
The panel pointed to how Farmer “referenced and quoted extensively from a comedy sketch that makes fun of gay people.” Additionally, in August 2024, he allegedly made comments like, “Spring is here. I got so excited I wet my plants” and “What did the shirt say to the pair of pants? Wassup britches!”
Per the Post, Farmer allegedly made inappropriate comments directed at a man who was expecting children with three women. During a proceeding, he allegedly said to the man, “OK, you’ve been busy. You were just shooting all over the place!”
Later, he reportedly said, “I’m going to order that you wear a condom at all times. For your own good, OK? Probation is going to check. No, I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”
Farmer’s lawyers said that after thinking about the “jokes,” Farmer could see that some of them were “inappropriate.” After these issues were brought to his attention, he “has taken these lessons to heart and has refrained from making such jokes,” his lawyers claimed, per CBS.
His attorneys also claimed that some of Farmer’s comments were “taken out of context.” Additionally, they said the judge has “expressed regret, lapse in judgment, as well as shame and embarrassment,” per the news outlet.
