You may recall John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, from his involvement a few years back as the Rifqa Bary saga was being played out in Florida, when he used short-lived role as Bary’s attorney as an opportunity to recklessly sling allegations that her Muslim parents had ties to terrorist organizations and that she had been physically and sexually abused by family members.
Because of his actions, Stemberger is facing a $10 million lawsuit from the attorney who represented Bary’s parents and is now looking at being disciplined by the Florida Supreme Court for misconduct:
The Florida Bar asked the state Supreme Court to discipline Orlando lawyer John Stemberger for his conduct in the high-profile case of teenage runaway Rifqa Bary, according to documents released Tuesday … According to a complaint mailed to the Florida Supreme Court on Monday, that action would have ended Stemberger’s representation of Bary.
But Stemberger went on Fox News on four separate occasions and said or implied during the ongoing dependency case in Ohio that he remained Bary’s attorney, the complaint said.
Stemberger also accused Omar Tarazi, the attorney for Bary’s parents, of being paid by terrorist-associated organizations.
At the time, Tarazi was under a gag order in the Ohio case and couldn’t refute the accusations, the Bar’s complaint said.
Tarazi, in his complaint to The Florida Bar, accused Stemberger of making false and damaging statements about him.
…
On Tuesday, Stemberger responded to the complaint, by saying in a statement: “I have talked with several former members of other grievance committees who have stated that this complaint should have been closed down by the Bar immediately after it was filed as being without merit …In time, the facts presented, will cause this frivolous complaint filed by a disgruntled, opposing lawyer who lost his case to be dismissed.”
