Members of Miami-Dade's black bar association want Circuit Judge Stephen Millan thrown off the bench for using racial slurs to describe defendants and others who appeared in his courtroom.

The Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Bar Association also called for an inquiry into the judge's rulings and issued a statement late Tuesday suggesting Millan was unfit for the judiciary.

“We fear that his judgment has been clouded and biased based upon his appalling racist statements,” the group wrote.

The release followed the judge's admission he used a derogatory term, “moolie,” for a black defendant and later called a black family and witnesses “thugs.”

“A judge who refers to people as 'moolies' or 'thugs' has no place on the bench,” the association wrote in a statement.

“Moolie,” a Sicilian term derived from the Italian word for eggplant, is a racial slur for people with dark skin. But Millan used the word while scheduling a hearing in October 2016, according to an unnamed defense attorney who reported the judge for ethics violations.

That same attorney claimed the judge used demeaning language again about a year later during in-chambers discussion. During that meeting, the judge asked the bailiff to return to the courtroom and retrieve his wallet because he didn't “trust it in there with those thugs,” according to the notice of formal charges against Millan. The only people in the courtroom at the time were court employees, corrections officers, the defendant, and the defendant's family and friends.

Now, the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Bar Association wants the Supreme Court to put an end to Millan's judicial career—a harsher penalty than the 30-day suspension, public reprimand and $5,000 fine investigators recommended.

“We've said it time and time again that the bench should reflect the community in which it serves,” said bar President Trelvis D. Randolph, a partner at Cole, Scott & Kissane's Miami office. “There is a danger of having persons who are making decisions not understand or relate to the people who come in front of them… The actions and the words of this judge are a real-time display of what we warned about.”

Millan did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Miami-Dade Circuit Court spokeswoman Eunice Sigler declined to comment and referred all inquiries to the JQC.

Millan serves in the Miami-Dade's children's court division, according to the Eleventh Circuit's website. He rose to the bench after winning election in 2014 for a six-year term that started in January 2015. He admitted to the charges as part of a stipulation with the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates ethics complaints against judges.

The Florida Supreme Court has the final say on judicial discipline and can accept or reject the JQC's recommendation.

The Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Bar Association argued the community expects better from those in public service.

“We cannot rightly refer to that recommendation as a 'punishment' without sounding sarcastic,” the bar association wrote. “It is unreasonable to see how any person of color can stand before this judge and expect to receive a fair hearing knowing how he feels and thinks.”

JQC assistant general counsel Alexander J. Williams declined to comment on the bar's criticism of the recommended discipline.

“It wouldn't be prudent to comment on a pending matter,” he wrote Wednesday in an email to the Daily Business Review.

Meanwhile, the bar association said Milan needs to go.

“We've always heard rumors and whispers about this sort of thing coming from the bench. It's shameful to have to deal with the knowledge that it's not just rumors and whispers,” Randolph said. “We hope that when the Supreme Court hears from the people of Miami-Dade County, they will make a decision about this judge that is fair to the people of Miami-Dade County.”

Read the full text of the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Bar Association statement: