Pembroke Pines police union’s bid to block text messages release denied by judge
A Pembroke Pines police union’s petition to temporarily protect officers’ private text messages from becoming public record has been denied, federal court records show.
Federal judge Ed Artau’s March 30 decision on whether the union would be granted a provisional stop to city officials’ demands for the messages was clear: “... The alleged public records request is invalid and unenforceable.”
The ruling could mark a turning point in the months-long legal battle between the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police and city officials.
How we got here
FOP leadership filed a federal lawsuit against the Pembroke Pines Police Department and its chief of police, Jose J. Vargas, in August, adding then-Assistant Chief of Police Carlos Bermudez as a defendant in early March.
Both Vargas and Bermudez are being sued in their official and individual capacities.
The legal battle started with a June 5, 2025, email sent by PPPD Officer Joel Cuarezma — then a sergeant with the bicycle patrol unit — and commissioned by his supervisor, Captain Adam Feiner, soliciting volunteers to cover the two-day shift of a new bicycle officer who was attending trainings, according to court documents.
“This option would obviate or otherwise minimize the need for potential overtime payment(s) as the volunteering officer would simply work the swapped shift,” Feiner detailed in a Sept. 4 written statement.
Shortly after sending the email, Cuarezma received a text from PPPD Detective Scott Kushi, the president of FOP’s Pembroke Pines branch, who advised that the call for shift swaps could breach the union’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Cuarezma advised Feiner on his talks with Kushi, adding that he planned to recall the email “to avoid a violation of the CBA,” according to an Aug. 11 complaint, but the captain told him to “leave the email as sent and that he would handle the matter himself.”
The bicycle patrol sergeant retracted the email on June 9, and then Feiner, who disagreed with the interpretation of the CBA, requested that Cuarezma send copies of his and Kushi’s text messages discussing the contract.
Cuarezma “respectfully declined” to do so and was notified he was the subject of an internal investigation two days later by Internal Affairs sergeant Robert Sorensen, who also formally created the records request on behalf of PPPD.
The union claims the city’s request violates Kushi and Cuarezma’s Fourth Amendement rights — which protect individuals from unreasonable search or seizure — and /is gunning for permanent injuctive relief that could put a full stop to Pines officials’ demands for the messages.
While FOP waits for that to be decided, the union petitioned for preliminary injuctive relief or a temporary restraining order that wouldn’t require them to hand over text messages before a final hearing is held.
Temporary stop to text message demands denied by court
Per Artau, FOP’s appeal for a provisional stop to demands for the text messages failed to prove officers would suffer “irreparable harm” if not granted.
That’s because the court considers the city’s records request “invalid and unenforceable” due to being executed by a Pembroke Pines employee on behalf of the city.
“It would be non-sensical for a public employee acting on behalf of his ‘agency’ employer to be authorized to make a public records request because, in this scenario, the ‘agency’ would be making the request from itself, which would mean the agency already has access to the records,” Artau wrote.
That means Cuarezma and Kushi can’t lawfully face criminal penalties for not complying with the request, but it also means their Fourth Amendment rights weren’t violated, the judge said.
The invalidity of the public records request proves the officers were never subjected to search or seizure, per Artau.
PPPD’s ask to see the messages was “simply a request for Sergeant Cuarezma’s consent to search the text messages,” and demands to preserve the officers’ correspondence did not constitute orders to surrender them, according to the judge.
But if the city continues its investigation and orders the two officers to hand over those texts, FOP attorney Paul Daragjati says it would constitute a violation of the Fourth Amendement and believes the court would agree.
The union plans to see the lawsuit through for a permanent stop to the city’s records request, he added.
“We’re not going to stop the case at this point because we still have an allegation of a Fourth Amendment violation. The city has not dropped this investigation against our officers,” Daragjati told the Pembroke Pines News on April 1.
“ ... If the city continues with their investigation ... my interpretation of the court’s order is that the court would also see that as a violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
The City of Pembroke Pines has not requested or attempted to obtain the text messages through other means since the ruling, per Daragjati.
What’s next
The court’s shutdown of FOP’s ask to put a provisional stop on handing over the text messages still leaves plenty up in the air.
Whether the messages are considered public records and if the city is entitled to them is still unclear, as is whether PPPD has the right to discipline the officers for refusing to turn over the texts.
“All of these things remain subject to dispute,” city attorney Christopher Stearns told the Pembroke Pines News on March 31. “The preliminary ruling is narrow: This public records request was invalid. Of course, the City has a right to a final hearing on this issue.”
Stearns has not confirmed if the city will push for a final hearing.
As of March 31, court records show a jury trial to determine permanent injuctive relief is scheduled to take place in a West Palm Beach courtroom in August.
This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 5:14 PM.
