The Florida Supreme Court has again rejected a proposed punishment for an Orange County circuit judge who wrote hundreds of political checks and now wants the judge to be suspended and fined.
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In late June, the court said Circuit Judge Diana Tennis should be fined for her actions, which violate the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct. On July 2, the court said a fine and a suspension were in order.
Tennis made over 900 political contributions totaling over $29,000 while serving as a sitting judge, court records show. Tennis admitted in May 2025 to the Judicial Qualifications Commission — the state’s judicial watchdog agency — to making hundreds of political donations to Democratic political candidates and organizations since 2016. The state’s judicial code prohibits sitting judges from making any such contributions.
The commission recommended a public reprimand.
The court rejected the commission’s proposed sanction June 25, saying it would impose a fine in addition to a public reprimand. One week later, the court vacated its own order and said a suspension should be included, too. The court did not specify how long it thought Tennis should be suspended or how much she should be fined.
The court’s insistence on a suspension mirrors what it did in a Broward County case in July 2025, the closest recent parallel, according to the Florida Bar.
In that case, Circuit Judge Stefanie Moon admitted to making political contributions as a judge, an inappropriate campaign remark to a lawyer in open court, and improper contact with the therapist of a party in a divorce case she was hearing. The commission and Moon struck a deal calling for a public reprimand and a $2,115 fine, an amount equal to the political contributions she had made. She had donated to committees supporting former Democratic presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and to ActBlue, the same Democratic donation-processing platform Tennis used for most of her giving.
The court rejected that deal in April 2025 and said a reprimand and fine were not enough. Moon and the commission went back and added a 10-day suspension without pay. The court approved the revised terms in July 2025, according to court documents.
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The rule prohibiting judges from making political donations exists because Florida elects its judges on nonpartisan ballots, and a judge who writes checks to political campaigns has, at minimum, the appearance of a partisan stake in who holds power, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
The commission’s findings on Tennis described her as “far and away the most prolific offender both in terms of total dollars and number of contributions” it had reviewed, according to court documents.
Hugh Brown, the commission’s counsel for the case, didn’t respond to questions seeking comment in time for publication.
During the May hearing, Tennis told the commission she believed the prohibition against donations applied only to state candidates and races, not to federal ones, court records show.
Tennis has remained on the bench in the Ninth Judicial Circuit, which covers Orange and Osceola counties, since the investigation began, currently assigned as an administrative judge to domestic relations and family court. Tennis has not been previously disciplined as a lawyer since being admitted to the Florida Bar in 1992. Her current term on the bench ends in January 2027.
The parties have until Aug. 1 to accept the new terms or tell the court they cannot agree. If they don’t agree, the case returns to the commission for a full evidentiary hearing.
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Tennis’ attorney, Warren Lindsey, also didn’t immediately respond to questions.