Nationwide — The first story of this series concerned a Black family, the Washingtons, seeking justice for the wrongful death of their two sisters. Angela Washington DeBose (a.k.a. DeBose) is the personal representative for her sisters’ estates and has filed a lawsuit against doctors at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.The legal representatives of TGH and USF Health communicated off record with the judge that DeBose was enjoined by court order from suing USF unless the action was brought by an attorney licensed in Florida. The judge, Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe, attempted to enter an order of dismissal but was automatically disqualified and eventually recused herself from the case. Legal representatives of USF have continued to sound the alarm that DeBose cannot sue any enterprise under the USF umbrella in Hillsborough County because she is “vexatious”. In Florida, a vexatious litigant is someone who has a history of filing actions without legal representation that are found to be meritless.
She won her first case against USF by a unanimous verdict rendered by an “all-white” jury
DeBose was the unanimous jury verdict winner against her employer, the University of South Florida, after a two-week trial. However, five months after the verdict, federal district judge Elizabeth Kovachevich overturned the verdict of the all-white jury. In her order, Kovachevich stated that “no reasonable jury” would have reached that verdict. This observation was very different than Kovachevich’s impression when she discharged the jury:
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I first want to express my appreciation on behalf of the Court … for your time and your very attentive presence here in the courtroom. You made a lot of notes. You paid attention in this case. You’re to be commended. We thank you for your time of deliberation and for your service to the Court and to the country. It’s a privilege to be a juror for all the other privileges that we have in this country. I want to thank you for your service.”1
Perhaps more surprisingly, Kovachevich denied DeBose, the verdict winner, a new trial. Studies show the judge’s actions on both fronts are extremely rare. 75-80% of judges generally agree with the verdict. This writer found no universally tracked statistics of verdict winners being denied a new trial. The twisted reversal of the $310,500 jury award plus fees, costs, and other compensation totaling up to $1 million forced DeBose to appeal, not USF.
When DeBose pursued lawful remedies to redress the harmful error by the judge, which deprived her of the constitutional right to a jury verdict and trial, things went awry for her family. Her siblings, Michael and LaVonne Washington, are very vocal about the judges’ misusing their bench or public offices to promote their private bias against DeBose and her Washington family. “I would say that a bill of attainder2 has been put into effect against the Washingtons, but this practice was banned in 1789 and is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution!” DeBose said, being very guarded with her comments.
Loss of Public Confidence in the Judiciary
This family’s story is very interesting and relevant today, not only locally in Florida but nationally. Approximately 80% of Americans believe that the judicial system is corrupt. YouGov public opinion pollsters report that 42% of Americans believe judicial corruption is a serious problem, even with the nation’s highest court. 65% of judges acknowledge or believe there is systemic racism in the justice system. The statistics don’t lie, and public perception is that judicial corruption is rampant across the nation. Most Americans think that nothing can be done to judges who feel themselves by exceeding their judicial powers or constitutional limits.
Generally, judges are immunized from suit, although not in their official capacities, for example, if their conduct violates clearly established statutory or constitutional rights or if they act in the clear absence of all jurisdiction. The public in Florida and across the country objects to this idiom of the fox guarding the henhouse — placing judges in a position of trust or responsibility where they have unbridled power to exploit or harm what they are supposed to protect. A jury verdict is considered sacrosanct. Even a president-elect (President Trump) could not overturn a verdict making him a convicted felon.
LaVonne Washington says corrupt judges should be dealt with at the highest levels of government.
The Constitution says that federal judges shall hold their offices during good behavior. This means Article III judges have lifetime tenure, unless they resign or are impeached. Corrupt judges can and should be impeached; they should lose their ‘JFL’ status or job-for-life appointments! Their courts should be abolished, stripped of their budgets. State judges that are biased or have a conflict of interest should disqualify or recuse themselves or risk impeachment or recall of their elections. This would solve the problem of the judiciary thinking they are above the law or that the law applies to everyone else…”
To provide an opposing viewpoint, USF President Rhea Law was invited but declined to comment. In perhaps unrelated news, Law has announced plans to step down.
2 A “bill of attainder” is a legislative act that imposes adverse consequences or punitive action on an individual or group without due process or a trial.
Our future series will take a deeper dive into Washington’s cases and experiences with the judges overseeing them. “The public will be shocked and disappointed,” says Michael, “but we, especially as black or African American people, must not remain on the sidelines of this national issue. There is a judicial meltdown in America. Black individuals are disproportionately impacted by the judicial system, facing harsher sentences, longer incarceration rates, and systemic biases that affect every stage of the justice or ‘just us’ process.” The Washingtons emphasize that awareness is key.
C. Dashe Dunn is a freelance writer and former podcaster. She can be contacted at ch395197@gmail.com