Attorney suspended after posting on the ‘sin of sodomy’ and ‘never trust a Muslim’
It’s not illegal to hold the beliefs of San Antonio, Florida, attorney Donald McBath: That homosexuality is a “mental illness. It’s not love.” Or that a doctor who performs abortions is a “Satanic abortionist.” Or that those who follow Islam are untrustworthy.
But McBath has been suspended by the Florida Supreme Court because he put those opinions on social media after declaring himself a candidate for state circuit court judge. That violated the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct.
He received a 91-day suspension, which McBath is serving concurrently with a year’s suspension for incompetence and laziness in a different case. The 62-year-old’s Florida Bar listing says he’s “retired,” although still a Bar member. He’s one of 15 attorneys in the monthly report of attorneys disciplined by the state Supreme Court, which was released Friday.
The Florida Bar’s complaint said McBath violated the Judicial Conduct code when his social media posts:
▪ “Failed to maintain the dignity appropriate to judicial office and act in a manner that is consistent with impartiality, integrity, and independence of the judiciary...”
▪ “...with respect to parties or classes of parties, cases, controversies, or issues that are likely to come before the court, made pledges, promises, or commitments that are inconsistent with the impartial performance of the adjudicative duties of the office...
▪ “Through his social media postings, Respondent publicly commented on his affiliation with a political party and expressed his position on political issues...”
McBath’s response to the 20-part Bar complaint: “1-20. ADMIT”
The Bar’s complaint says McBath officially became a candidate for the circuit judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which serves Pasco and Pinellas counties, on Sept. 28, 2017. As he had before declaring his candidacy, McBath’s Facebook and Twitter accounts broadcast “his political and religious affiliations and beliefs as well as his personal opinions on several different social issues.”
The Bar’s complaint included McBath’s Twitter posts from Feb. 26, 2017, and March 25, 2017, respectively, “never trust a Muslim” and “Muslims are deranged.”
His Feb. 25, 2018, tweeted thoughts included: “If the homosexual continues committing that sin of sodomy, his soul faces ETERNAL damnation. Abstain, if you really have that mental illness. It’s not love.”
One of his June 18, 2018, Twitter posts said, “Don’t call this satanic abortionist a ‘Christian’ (or a ‘doctor’).”
Just over a month later, on July 20, 2018, McBath wrote, “Liberals are very sick people. They absolutely have no Judeo-Christian values.”
Also, his public Facebook page violated the Judicial Code of Conduct when it “displayed the campaign logo for his preferred presidential candidate as his cover photograph.”
Judging from his Twitter profile on July 20, 2018, (“100%Trump supporter #MAGA; #KAG; proud DEPLORABLE; Pro-God;Christian; Pro-Life; Pro-Gun; Anti-Sharia; Constitutional Conservative; Former Major US Army”) that would be President Donald Trump.
This story was originally published December 29, 2019 at 2:09 PM.
