Former judges file Florida bar complaint against top DHS attorney over 'worst of the worst' list

A group of former judges filed a formal Florida bar complaint Wednesday against James Percival, the general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, for his “Worst of the Worst” list of federal jurists.

Percival has used social media in recent weeks to criticize judges who have made unfavorable rulings on the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

The group of more than 130 judges alleged in their complaint that Percival violated Florida Bar rules, which prohibit making unfounded attacks on the integrity of judges under its rules of professional conduct, according to The Hill.

“Mr. Percival comments that the judges were the ‘Worst of the Worst,’ issued ‘crazy opinions,’ engaged in ‘judicial sabotage,’ were ‘micromanaging’ the department, had gone ‘rogue,’ and were engaged in ‘naked politics,’ all lack a sound basis in fact,” the former judges wrote in the complaint, which also stated the defendant “appear[s] to have ignored or mischaracterized important aspects of the orders." 

The complaint largely focused on Percival's initial July 23 post attacking four federal judges but also included posts related to two federal judges whom he accused of intentionally disregarding a Supreme Court ruling regarding Temporary Protected Status for migrants.

“There is no indication in the record that Judge [Allison] Burroughs ‘set a deliberately sluggish’ schedule to avoid compliance with the law in a ‘transparent attempt to delay’ the deportation efforts of DHS,” they wrote.

The Florida Bar prohibits an attorney who has a bar license in the state from making statements he or she “knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.