FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – For years, Broward County Judge Gisele Pollack has been the one who offers people, those before her, a second chance. But Thursday, she was asking for one herself.
Pollack is fighting to keep the job she was first elected to in 2004, and she has a couple of heavy hitters in her corner, including attorneys Dave Bogenschutz and Eric Schwartreich.
But first, she has to convince the state's Judicial Qualifications Commission that her recent problems were an exception to an otherwise distinguished career.
The panel suspended her without pay from her $138,000-a-year job earlier this year after numerous incidents.
Last December, Pollack showed up for work drunk. Then, in March, she broke a promise to stay away from alcohol, left a voluntary substance abuse program in Gainesville, and in May, got into a car wreck while driving drunk in Plantation, injuring the other driver.
Pollack owned up to it all, withdrawing her not guilty plea to misdemeanor DUI charges stemming from the car crash.
Thursday's hearing is expected to run through Friday. The six members will then discuss the case and make their recommendation to the Florida Supreme Court, which will make the final decision.
The final decision could be to levy a reprimand, which includes continued treatment, 24-hour monitoring and a public reprimand or removal from the bench.
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