Supreme Court rejects appeal from suspended Florida judge

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court is leaving in place the suspension of a Florida judge for using a 20-year-old newspaper endorsement on a flier during her campaign in 2014.

The justices offered no comment Tuesday in rejecting an appeal from Judge Kim Shepard. She was suspended without pay for 90 days by the Florida Supreme Court.

Shepard said the suspension violated her right to free speech.

She was punished for using an endorsement she received from the Orlando Sentinel during her 1994 campaign for re-election to the Florida House of Representatives when she successfully ran for election as an Osceola County judge in 2014.

The newspaper had endorsed candidate Norberto Katz in the 2014 race.

Shepard is now a judge in Orange County.