Broward County Judge Jay Hurley refuses to speak with the local media even though he uses them to promote his website. Last week, WSVN Channel 7 reported Hurley “ignored” their questions about bias complaints filed against him by the Broward Public Defender’s Office. On Friday, WSVN interviewed Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein in front of the Broward County courthouse. Hurley was standing a few feet away. REDBROWARD spotted the media circus while attending a judicial robing ceremony.

Hurley was accused of bias against homeless defendants appearing before him in bond court. Finkelstein “singled out Broward County Circuit Judge John Hurley in particular, saying he tossed out a public defender after going back and forth with her on several occasions. The defender has filed two complaints with Broward Chief Judge Peter Weinstein.” Hurley later attended the judicial robing ceremony.

While Hurley ignore the television cameras outside the courthouse, he appears to have no problem using the media to promote his name. Hurley has a become a household name thanks to his over-the-top antics in Broward bond court. Hurley reads the charges for maximum dramatic effect which usually gets airtime on the local news.

The bond court drama plays out over a courthouse feed viewed by law enforcement, bail bondsmen and the media. On Hurley’s website, the bond court feed from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is prominently displayed.  The spartan site contains little else. Oddly enough, if you click the “sample video” link on his website, you will find a Twitter post where Hurley is refererred to as an “asshole.”

Hurley, a fraternity brother of former Governor Charlie Crist, faces re-election in 2016. Hurley has not filed any campaign paperwork. Some courthouse observers wonder why Judge Hurley has a website. The website is operated by local Democrat operative Ron Mills of RainbowUsa hosting.

When contacted by REDBROWARD, Mills said Hurley is “fully aware of the website.” He said he is operating the website as a volunteer. Mills said Hurley is “definitely aware of the site….it gets lots of hits.”

Judge Jay Hurley was unable to comment. His judicial assistant said he was in court.

Jillian Pim’s recent hunger strike over Fort Lauderdale homeless feeding laws is her latest performance on behalf of radical causes tied to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Pim gained national attention for her hunger strike protest against laws restricting public feedings in Fort Lauderdale. Pim told the Sun-Sentinel her hunger strike would not end until Fort Lauderdale stopped enforcing the law. “My friends, when they look at me, they hold back tears because I’ve gotten so frail and tiny,” Pim said. “I’ve not only had to tighten my belt, I’ve also had to tighten my wristwatch.”

Pim and her husband, Nathan Pim, appeared in videos describing the medical horrors of a hunger strike. Last week, Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Dean Trantalis said one of the goals of his homeless town hall was to get Pim to stop her hunger strike. She refused his request at the Fort Lauderdale City Hall meeting, but hours later, Pim ended her 24 day hunger strike. “I was experiencing symptoms that should not take place until Day 30 [of a hunger strike] and I was only on Day 20,” Pim said. “I was experiencing muscle pain, like excruciating muscle pain, which means my body had started to feed off of muscle mass earlier than it should have.”

Despite her sincere words on video and in print, Pim’s history as a performance artist for radical causes tied to the Occupy Wall Street movement, calls into question her role in the Fort Lauderdale homeless drama.

In addition to homeless feeding laws, Nathan and Jillian Pim use their puppetry skills to protest numerous radical left-wing causes. Pim’s Autonomous Playhouse has protested foreclosure laws, Mitt Romney, George Bush, climate change, GMOs, capitalism and more. In 2012, the Pim’s joined other radicals in Tampa to protest the Republican National Convention. Nathan Pim told CNN that he and Jillian quit their jobs to protest in Tampa.

“I can lecture about helping end discrimination against the homeless all the time and no one will listen,” Pim said. “If I do it dressed as a panda, for some reason people listen.” Pim posted a YouTube video showing protestors’ plan to dress as clowns to taunt Republicans and the local police.

Photographs posted on Nathan Pim’s Facebook page document their countless performance art protests across the USA. The Pim’s carried posters of George W. Bush and Adoplh Hitler on Fort Lauderdale beach. Pim dressed as a anarchist Panda. Jillian Pim dressed as Captain America to protest Gitmo at SouthComm in Miami. They even traveled in an old school bus during their “Homeless Apocalypse Tour 2012.”

The Pim’s have every right to protest. But the local media should provide full information on the motives of the protestors when sensationalizing a local story. Right?