‘Grim reaper’ attorney in hot water over comments
Dara Kam, Senior reporter, News Service of Florida
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Attorney Daniel Uhlfelder brought his morbid message to Jacksonville Beach. (WJXT 2020)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Days after asking The Florida Bar to consider sanctioning an attorney who made national headlines by dressing as the Grim Reaper to criticize Gov. Ron DeSantis’ response to the coronavirus pandemic, an appeals court took the rare step of ordering a state prosecutor to pursue discipline against Santa Rosa Beach lawyer Daniel Uhlfelder.
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal on Friday asked the Bar to consider imposing sanctions against Uhlfelder because of an appeal he filed in a lawsuit that sought to force DeSantis to close the state’s beaches during the pandemic. The panel said there was “no good-faith basis” for the appeal and accused Uhlfelder and his lawyers of using “this court merely as a stage from which to act out their version of political theater.”