JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

MONOPOLY

MONOPOLY

A reader doesn’t like us very much:

Rump, are you seriously saying that just b/c your readership hasn't dropped means people like you censoring (call it what it is) their blogs, or waiting for it to pass the Standards Board before its available for public consumption? YOU ARE A MONOPOLY. No one else has a Dade Criminal Court Blog. If Fpl sucks, what can I do? Start my own electric Co? I'm stuck with their service. Similar thing here. No one is realistically going to put in the time to make another blog on the same shit you have. We only have you. Why take away the fun of real-time quotes b/c once a month some asshole writes cruel shit? Why do believe its your responsibility to PREVIEW quotes for publication? What is wrong with a disclaimer( in bold print if you wish)? No more back and forth b/t bloggers. Now, we'll have to wait for you to OK our speech. Yes, its your blog, and its private, and you can do whatever you please with it, including censoring it or ending it. But it just seems, with all due respect to all your hard work, that you fell a little too easily into a kind of Power Trip. You decide what other lawyers (mostly) are allowed to say on a blog that is supposedly an open forum. Can't be open and "moderated" at the same time. No matter how you try to spin it, it just can't be. Go with freedom. Leave the dark forces of control and regulation alone. They don't suit you. There's always a "good reason" to limit speech (and other freedoms) in the minds of those who naturally take a collectivist approach. Hate to see you cross over.


Rumpole responds: We respect your point of view, but point out that you are incorrect in one important point:

We do not censor what people say, or decide what attorneys can or can’t post. Posts that are mean to us, our friends, or Judges we like, are faithfully posted. We have a few simple rules: 1) No posting of personal information: home address, children names, etc. 2) No posting of personal and private matters that do not affect a public office. That means if an attorney is cheating on her husband with her secretary, we do not post that.

For all the chatter and recriminations, we note that the one very sticky wicket that has never been discussed is this scenario: Where a Judge is having a relationship with an attorney who appears before the Judge, and the attorney for the other side makes the disclosure. That would trouble us.

Here is the point: there is apparently a lot of anger out there. People use the blog to just mercilessly attack other people. People criticize Brian Tannebaum for speaking to the Herald on the death of Judge Leyte-Vidal. What was he supposed to do?

“When contacted for a quote about the late Judge, Brian Tannebaum, president of the Miami Chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense attorneys refused comment.”

How stupid would that be?

Be that as it may, while this blog has become a conduit for some people’s frustration and anger, their anger is not our anger. We are pretty happy go lucky. Give us a jury, a defense, and a paying client, and our week is made. Give us a Judge who does something stupid like rule that the issue of whether a statement is voluntary is a jury question (watch for the upcoming post, “A is for….”) and we delight in rubbing that Judge’s nose in their ….ummm…ruling.

But to make this blog a vehicle for trashing people for no reason, and trashing them in an extremely vicious and nasty way is not something we choose to be a part of. This very week, without even being buried, some lowlife wrote a post about Judge Leyete-Vidal and included a very hurtful insinuation. Sorry, but even if it was true, we don’t play with that kind of hate.
Go start the “MetroJusticeIhateeveryone.blog” and have fun.

But your allegation that we decide who can post, and what they can say, is simply not true. Ask around and see if anyone was "censored."


If we are in the marketplace for readers, then we rely on our quick wit, our ability to play with words, and our ability to write an enjoyable piece every now and then.

For instance, former Dade Judge, and current Broward Lawyer, Terri Ann Miller writes in about the lawyer dropping our of the Judge Diaz race in Broward, and give us a nice compliment:

Been there, (Supreme Court), donethat...Article V, Section 8 has beeninterpreted to apply when a person takes office. (See Ari Miller v. Gina Mendez, Miller v. Mendez, 804 So.2d 1243 (Fla., 2001) Newman v. State, 602 So.2d 1351,(Fla. App. 3 Dist., 1992)He knew the law. The reason hewithdrew was he realized the vastsum of $ he would need to spend...Love the blog, Rump, especially the Broward editions...


Finally, one new issue: SHOULD WE INVITE GUEST BLOGGERS? We can invite someone like Jason Grey or The Captain to have bloging privileges and that would allow them to leave headline posts like we do (and no, they could not discern our identity). This has been on our mind ever since our favorite federal blogger David Markus put his career and reputation in federal court in jeopardy by inviting us to be a guest on his blog.

Write in with your opinion.

See You In Court wondering why, if we are a monopoly, we are still kind of poor.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because you don't charge for ad space on your blog...
and with regard to the B.T. ISSUE. I like Brian. He is a hard working capable lawyer. However, he should take care when he injects his views about people in the press. He could have said to the reporter, off the record, I don't feel comfortable giving a quote because I hardly knew the guy. Perhaps that was the point which some of your fans were trying to make.

Anonymous said...

I thought BT was appointed by Leyte-Vidal guardian for Michael Hernandez - the kid from the junior high murder - he must have known him somewhat to make that appointment. I just re-read his comments to the herald - he said he was one of the best, and most respected judges? NOthing about being "friends with him"

Anonymous said...

i guess you have no idea how you become a guardian. and by the way do you really want to go there?

Anonymous said...

I am somewhat amazed by the juvenile way some of you writers sound like on this blog. If I didn't know it was a legal blog, I would have thought it came from my daughter's elementary school.

Anonymous continues to whine and complain about BT. Hey, Anonymous, when was the last time you volunteered for an organization that is dedicated to the criminal defense bar.

Have you been a member of FACDL-Miami or FACDL Statewide. Have you been a Board of Director, have you been an Officer, have you been President, have you been a statewide legislative coordinator?

Do you go to Tallahassee (I think on his own dime) and certainly on his own time to lobby state senate and house members on critical issues affecting our court system and, more importantly, affecting us as attorneys and, even more importantly, affecting our clients?

I am not a particularly close friend of BT's, I have just seen him at work, and while his name and face may be in the paper and on TV every once in a while, it seems like he has earned every minute of the exposure he gets.

It seems to me, anonymous, that you, like my elementary school daughter, (who whines because "Kathy" is the teacher's pet, and not her), ... you are nothing more than a jealous person in need of your own exposure.

Here's my suggestion ... you want exposure .... then sign you name to your next blog.

Anonymous said...

oh christ, ENOUGH ABOUT BT!!!

Some like him, some obviously hate him (some, just for telling the Herald Leyte Vidal was a great judge (go figure))

The guy has his own blog - go over there and leave your fan and hate mail, lets talk about important stuff like who's filing for judge this week.

ACS said...

I'm all for guest bloggers, unless they are lame.

Also, I'm as interested in hearing more complaining about BT as I am in seeing Basic Instinct II. Next thing you know, anon will complain that BT's legal business got off the ground because he unfairly capitalized on that christmas carol!

Anonymous said...

VERY STRANGE POST ABOVE. IS YOUR DAUGHTER A JEALOUS PERSON IN NEED OF EXPOSURE?

Anonymous said...

Praise from Former Judge Terri Ann Miller, I wouldnt be too proud. The courts didnt screw you over, the voters in Broward didnt want a Judge who got ran out of one county and tried to carpetbag into our county.

Anonymous said...

"But to make this blog a vehicle for trashing people for no reason, and trashing them in an extremely vicious and nasty way is not something we choose to be a part of. This very week, without even being buried, some lowlife wrote a post about Judge Leyete-Vidal and included a very hurtful insinuation. Sorry, but even if it was true, we don’t play with that kind of hate."

So why allow the assinine post about Young to stand?

Anonymous said...

Rumpole please take down the above post as it mentions my mothers name.

Anonymous said...

here is the date and time

Sunday, June 11, 2006 7:28:00 PM

Anonymous said...

SO TAKE IT DOWN NAMES MY MOTHER