Site focuses on 2021 incident in which the judge released a murder suspect from Osceola County jail on his own recognizance
By Norine Dworkin
VoxPopuli
This story, which originally appeared at Winter Garden VoxPopuli, is part of the News Collaborative of Central Florida, an initiative of independent local news outlets working towards a more informed and engaged Central Florida.
A certain campaign website has been quietly circulating in the legal community for the past few weeks.
But the contents of NixingJustice are explosive.
Headlined “MIKAELA NIX: FLORIDA’S COURT JESTER. TIME TO END THE CIRCUS. JUSTICE ISN’T A JOKE,” the site features four billboard-like graphics, accusing the Ninth Circuit judge of corruption, favoritism, incompetence and massive personal debt.
No individual or group has claimed authorship of the site.
Nix, 43, was elected in 2020 to the Ninth Circuit Court where she currently hears family law cases. A Republican who once ran for state representative, Nix is being challenged for re-election in the nonpartisan Aug. 18 election by Charles Hart, chair of the Orange County Republican Executive Committee, and private practice attorney Temika Hampton-Johnson.
Without naming names, NixingJustice zeroes in on one of Nix's instrumental friendships, suggesting a quid pro quo situation. Nix refused to recuse herself from her friend's divorce proceedings when there were accusations of domestic abuse because this friend had helped her get elected.
“She owed him her career — and she paid him back with favorable treatment in his divorce,” the site declares.
Numbers trouble
The site also claims that Nix is “nearly $600,00 in debt and near the verge of foreclosure.”
Mortgage documents show that Nix and her husband Shands U. Walker took out a $595,200 loan in November 2024 for a home in Apopka near the Wekiva Springs State Park. The site links to court documents, filed in Ninth Circuit Court in February, showing that Nix and Walker ceased making payments on the Apopka home in August 2025 and currently owe $$591,086.84. Documents also show that Nix separately signed a promissory note for the entire mortgage amount in November 2024. U.S. Bank Trust National began the foreclosure process in February.
At the same time, Nix and Walker own another home in the Holden Heights area of Orlando. Mortgage documents show they purchased it for $441,750 in March 2022. In March 2026, they modified that loan, deferring $37,205.83 in payments until the home is sold or the mortgage paid off. The new mortgage on the Holden Heights home is now $400,903.83. The homeowners association liened that property for nonpayment of $1,424.12 in fees. Nix and her husband satisfied that debt in June.
NixingJustice further highlights Nix's numbers troubles, focusing on a 2021 incident in which the judge released a murder suspect from Osceola County jail on his own recognizance. Linking to reporting done by WFTV 9, the site states that Nix “couldn’t do basic math, signing off on a murderer’s release because she failed to verify dates that a defense attorney had clearly miscalculated.”
According to WFTV 9, the defense attorney for Jamond Lamb argued before Nix that his client should be released from jail because prosecutors had not filed charges within 30 days of his arrest as required by law. The attorney claimed Lamb had been in jail for 33 days. Nix released Lamb on his own recognizance while prosecutors fumed that Nix and the defense attorney miscounted the days he had actually been in jail. Prosecutors also said they were not alerted that Lamb had been let go.
Courtroom shenanigans
“She is not a good judge. She does not manage her docket well. She behaves on the bench like a reality TV judge. It’s like a Truman Show situation,” one attorney, who did not want to share their name because they may have cases before the judge, told VoxPopuli. “I was shocked and surprised when I heard she was a judge. She does not have the temperament or understanding of the law.”
Several attorneys, all of whom requested anonymity because they feared professional repercussions, told VoxPopuli they do not take cases if Nix is the trial judge — or they raise their rates as an nuisance fee. Attorneys told VoxPopuli that Nix can be “rude” to those arguing cases before her as well as the clients they’re representing.
“I don’t want to say she has an attitude, but she has an attitude,” another attorney said.
“It’s an open joke, talked about by her clerks and deputies, that she never starts court on time,” said the first attorney. “And it’s not 10 minutes late. It’s 45 minutes to an hour late. I showed up once for an 8:30 a.m. hearing, and the deputy laughed at me and said I could go out and get coffee and still not be late.”
Nix’s courtroom shenanigans have led at least one client to seek to have her removed from their case. According to a “Motion for Disqualification” viewed by VoxPopuli, the client sought a new judge because they believed they were not receiving a fair hearing and that Nix had prejudged the case before all of the evidence was presented.
The motion states that Nix "scoffed," "scowled," and “rolled her eyes no less than 20 times” during the client’s testimony; indicated to opposing counsel when they needed to object; took over questioning from the client’s attorney, interrupting the presentation of the case they’d prepared; and did not allow the client's attorney to fully present their evidence or testimony. During the first day of the two-day trial, the motion states, Nix told the client they were "not credible."
There was also concern that Nix was not fully focused on the trial proceedings. At one point, she was seen talking on a video call during the trial; at another, she talked with her clerk about an emergency motion for a different trial. One afternoon, she brought her young son to court and, the motion notes, appeared distracted by what he was doing in the back of the courtroom “while sensitive 911 calls were being played.”
Motions for Disqualification don’t happen all the time, an attorney with decades of litigation experience told VoxPopuli. “Attorneys take these very seriously.”
Even so, VoxPopuli learned that attorneys are reluctant to complain too much or too loudly about Nix, widely known to be well-connected in Republican circles.
"She's a Black MAGA Republican, and people are not willing to stick their necks out and get in trouble," noted the attorney who showed up to Nix's courtroom on-time. "Ever since [Gov. Ron] DeSantis has taken over the [Florida] Supreme Court and Bar, the legal community in Central Florida is a version of the 'upside down' in Stranger Things. The good people are punished, and the bad people are not only protected, in many ways they are rewarded the worse they behave."
VoxPopuli emailed Nix for comment but has not yet heard back. We will update the story if and when we do.
