Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling on the Florida House to impeach a Tallahassee judge who briefly released a sex offender onto the streets, resulting in the killing of the man鈥檚 5-year-old stepdaughter.
鈥淭o my friends in the Florida House of Representatives, I don鈥檛 think what you鈥檝e done is enough,鈥� DeSantis said during a Tampa press conference on Tuesday. 鈥淵ou have the power, and you have sufficient numbers in your chamber, to impeach this judge, Tiffany Baker-Carper.
鈥淯ntil you start holding these judges accountable, they are gonna continue to find ways to benefit the criminal element,鈥� he added.
Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper via Florida Second Judicial Circuit The comments were the strongest yet from the governor who鈥檚 long-battled who he calls 鈥�.鈥� Although it鈥檚 the first time DeSantis 鈥� who鈥檚 insisted for years that unruly judges must be held accountable 鈥� has pushed for impeachment, it comes only days after President Donald Trump for a federal judge to be impeached.
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It takes a two-thirds vote from the Florida House to impeach judicial officers, followed by a two-thirds vote in the Senate to remove them. Republicans make up nearly 70% of lawmakers in each chamber.
DeSantis鈥� impeachment call came Tuesday as he signed Missy鈥檚 Law. A priority bill for Attorney General James Uthmeier, the legislation demands judges keep defendants convicted of dangerous crimes in custody instead of freeing them ahead of sentencing.
That鈥檚 what happened in the case of Daniel Spencer, a 35-year-old convicted in an underage sex sting for attempting to meet a 15-year-old girl. Leon County Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper didn鈥檛 lock him up pending sentencing because he鈥檇 already been out of jail for a year without violations and had no violent criminal history, the Tallahassee Democrat .
But a month later, he 鈥� along with the girl鈥檚 mother, Chloe Spencer 鈥� beat and murdered his stepdaughter, Missy Mogle. Both Spencers were charged with second-degree murder in May 2025.
Baker-Carper was elected to the Second Judicial Circuit on Nov. 3, 2020.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a miscarriage of justice, a dereliction of judicial duty,鈥� DeSantis said. 鈥淚f we had this bill in place then, Missy would be alive today.鈥�
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