Advertisement

Haitian judges targeted, leaders claim as one race turns ugly over attack flier

South Florida judicial races are normally staid affairs. But as Election Day nears, the race between longtime Miami-Dade County Judge Fred Seraphin and challenger Renier Diaz de la Portilla is turning ugly — and ethnically charged.

Haitian-American elected leaders on Tuesday held a press conference to blast a political ad mailed to voters’ homes that published Seraphin’s cell number and falsely suggested he’s hiding his “arrest record” over a decades-old brush with the law for which he was cleared. An elections lawyer also announced he’d filed complaints against Diaz de la Portilla with the Florida Bar and the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission.

“There is no room in this election season for hateful and non-factual information to be spread about candidates,” said Linda Julien, a Haitian-American councilwoman in Miami Gardens.

Diaz de la Portilla, meanwhile, has sought to distance himself from the political mailers. But his brother, whose political committee created the misleading ads and sent them to voters, says it was Seraphin who crossed the line when he recently told members of a Cuban lawyers association that the “only good thing I can say [about Renier] is that he’s Cuban.”

“Injecting ethnicity into a race is unbecoming of a judge,” Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla said in a text message.

Early voting has already begun for Miami-Dade’s judicial election. Voting day is Aug. 23.

The race for County Court Group 5

Campaigns for Florida judicial seats are generally muted by design. Under state judicial canons, candidates cannot badmouth opponents, criticize legal rulings or project how they might rule in certain cases. But the race for County Court Group 5 has strayed from the norm.

The challenger is Diaz de la Portilla, a former Miami-Dade School Board member who has worked as a private lawyer and a Miami-Dade assistant public defender. He’s also lost his last three election bids.

The incumbent, Seraphin, is a former Miami-Dade assistant public defender who became the county’s first Haitian-American judge when he was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2001.

Seraphin’s brush with the law has never been a secret. The governor knew about it, and Seraphin has spoken openly over the years about how it shaped his desire to become an assistant public defender.

He was a senior at New York’s City College when police arrested him on allegations he robbed someone in Brooklyn. He spent a night in jail. As outlined in a 2001 South Florida Business Journal story, Seraphin said a legal-aid attorney helped clear his name, and a grand jury declined to indict.

“I was falsely accused and was the only light-skinned in a highly suggestive lineup; everyone else was taller and darker than I was,” he told the newspaper. “I was the one who stood out.”

That story — without the explanation of the case’s outcome — was cited as a reference in a flier put out last month, posing the ominous question: “Should someone arrested for armed robbery be a judge?” and saying Seraphin “refused to release his arrest record.”

North Miami Beach Vice Mayor McKenzie Fleurimond speaks during a press conference in front of the North Miami Library in North Miami on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. Haitian-American officials in Miami-Dade County held a press conference to denounce the attacks on Haitian-American judges in the 2022 elections.
North Miami Beach Vice Mayor McKenzie Fleurimond speaks during a press conference in front of the North Miami Library in North Miami on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. Haitian-American officials in Miami-Dade County held a press conference to denounce the attacks on Haitian-American judges in the 2022 elections.

The flier, which also listed Seraphin’s cellphone number and urged people to call and “tell him to come clean,” was put out by a political organization, “Proven Leadership for Miami-Dade County,” which supports Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla.

“I had nothing to do with that flier,” said Renier Diaz de la Portilla. “My brother has the right as a citizen, as a political figure, to do whatever he wants.”

This week, the organization doubled down, releasing a second flier describing the Fraternal Order of Police as demanding Seraphin release his arrest record.

Renier Diaz de la Portilla added it “sounds reasonable” that the FOP police union wants the release of Seraphin’s arrest records.

“If Mr. Seraphin was the victim of profiling and discrimination, then we will see that in the reports somewhere,” he said. “We don’t know what that victim’s experience was when she was at the other end of a gun in an armed robbery.”

Diaz de la Portilla also said he did not want to “disparage” his opponent, but said he was running against Seraphin because of the incumbent’s style in court, which included his once refusing to allow a female attorney to take a break during a trial to pump breast milk (Seraphin has since apologized.)

“I’m running against him because he has horrible judicial temperament and horrible judicial demeanor,” Diaz de la Portilla said.

Seraphin, in an interview, said the fliers were “extremely disappointing” and likened them to something that might be produced by governments run by dictators such as Fidel Castro or François “Papa Doc” Duvalier. “It’s like people are assumed guilty by the government that accuses you,” Seraphin said, adding: “Sadly, not everyone believes in presumption of innocence.”

A poll worker for judicial candidate Lody Jean tries to get a voter’s attention in front of the North Miami Library on Aug. 9, 2022, as early voting continues in Miami-Dade County. Haitian-American officials in Miami-Dade County held a press conference to denounce attacks on Haitian-American judges in the 2022 elections.
A poll worker for judicial candidate Lody Jean tries to get a voter’s attention in front of the North Miami Library on Aug. 9, 2022, as early voting continues in Miami-Dade County. Haitian-American officials in Miami-Dade County held a press conference to denounce attacks on Haitian-American judges in the 2022 elections.

The Haiti-born Seraphin — whose father was a Duvalier opponent and murdered in Haiti — laughed when asked about his cellphone number appearing on the fliers.

“I represent the hopes and dreams of many who have come from other countries to this wonderful nation,” Seraphin said. “My story can only be written in the United States. I don’t mind them having my number.”

The tension has only escalated in recent days.

The two candidates appeared at a judicial luncheon last week sponsored by the Cuban American Bar Association. Asked to say something positive about his opponent, Seraphin said the only “good thing” he could say is that Diaz de la Portilla is Cuban.

Diaz de la Portilla said he believed the remark was a “racist slight.”

Seraphin stood by his remark. “I don’t know him. The only thing I know about him is he’s Cuban,” Seraphin told the Herald. “I have great respect and admiration for the Cubans. What else am I supposed to say? I don’t know the guy.”

Complaints Filed

On Tuesday, elections attorney and former state lawmaker J.C. Planas said the dust-up over the flier led him to file a complaint against Renier Diaz de la Portilla with the Florida Bar and the state’s Judicial Qualifications Committee.

“This is lying against a specific member of the judiciary,” Planas told reporters at the press conference with Haitian-American leaders. “It is a violation of the Florida Bar rules which prohibit an attorney making false and malicious statements against a sitting judge.”

He also filed a similar complaint against Teressa Maria (Tylman) Cervera, a white civil lawyer who only began professionally using her husband’s Spanish last name with the Florida Bar just before running. She is running against another Haitian-American judge, Lody Jean.

In Miami, Spanish surnames are widely seen as a competitive advantage because the county is overwhelmingly Hispanic. Planas said he’s also filed a Bar complaint against Cervera, who has repeatedly denied changing her name only to run for office.

If the Bar or Judicial Qualifications Commission find probable cause against either candidate, the Florida Supreme Court could ultimately decide on a punishment. (Planas says he is not working with Seraphin or Jean.)

The group of Haitian-American leaders who gathered outside the North Miami public library on Tuesday said Seraphin and Jean are proven judges who deserve to stay in office.

“These judges who are under attack are some of the best jurists that we have in Miami-Dade County,” said state Rep. Christopher Benjamin, a Democrat who represents Northeast Miami-Dade. “This is discrimination because of an area of the world in which they come from.”