An appeals court has vacated Rep. Randy Fine’s contempt of court finding after he was accused of making obscene gestures and mouthing curse words during an online hearing in August of 2024. Fine, now a U.S. congressman representing Florida’s 6th congressional district, will not have to complete an anger management court and will have the contempt finding removed from his record as a result.
Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled the trial judge erred by denying his attorney a recess to prepare a disqualification motion. They issued their decision June 19.
“The ruling speaks for itself,” Fine said via text message on June 22.
“This is the strongest rebuke of a sitting judge I have seen in my time in office. I am fortunate that I had the means and ability to stand up to an out-of-control judge. Not many Floridians can, and I hope the Legislature keeps that in mind when they consider his future on the bench,” Fine continued.
Robert Burns, publisher of online news outlet The Space Coast Rocket, and Fine took part in an August 2024 hearing over whether Fine was qualified to hold the Brevard County Republican State Committeeman seat.
Judge Scott Blaue held Fine in civil contempt, citing the T-shirt Fine wore during the Aug. 19 hearing, which was outside the court decorum policy, and saying he’d seen one of the gestures Fine made.
“For at least 33 minutes during the hearing, Mr. Fine was making those gestures and mouthing those words, which included ‘Eff You,'” Blaue said during his ruling. “The court is convinced those gestures and those comments were directed at (plaintiff Robert Burns) and not the court. If the court believed it was directed to the court, it would be a criminal contempt proceeding, not a civil contempt proceeding.”
Fine represented South Brevard County in the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2024, when he ran and won a Brevard County State Senate seat.
Fine, who has long been known for his brazen firebrand style in Florida, went from state fixture to nationally known combative defender of Israel when he resigned from state legislature to run for Florida’s 6th congressional district in 2025. He now represents the Daytona Beach area in the U.S. House of Representatives. Fine remained the area’s Republican state committeeman, the fuel for Burns’ original dispute, until November of 2025. Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus Josiah Gattle took over his position.
Burns’ attempt to have Fine’s qualification negated failed after a judge determined Burns didn’t have standing as he was not running for the Committeeman seat himself. Screenshots provided to the court showed Fine making the middle finger at his camera on the call. He was also described using an “L”-shaped finger gesture to indicate “loser” and mouthing “eff you” over the video call hearing.
The committeeman dispute ended but Fine was quickly found in contempt of court over the hearing, which he appealed. Fine’s appeal was granted on technical grounds as a result of a procedural error during an Oct. 1, 2024 contempt hearing. The Fifth District judges found unanimously that Fine’s request for a recess to file a written motion was not granted by Judge Scott Blaue, who had been presiding over the case.
A 1993 Florida Supreme Court ruling established that such a recess must be granted in cases like Fine’s.
The three-judge appellate panel has now completely reversed the contempt finding, declining to send it back to the trial court.
Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. X: @tyler_vazquez.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Appeals court clears Rep Randy Fine of contempt charge
Reporting by Tyler Vazquez, Florida Today / Florida Today
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By Tyler Vazquez, Florida Today | USA TODAY Network
