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.

Friday, February 22, 2008

WHO WILL YOU VOTE FOR?

As the field of presidential candidiates narrows down to three, just who would you like to see as the next President?

Hillary Clinton?
Barack Obama?
John McCain?


While we’re at it, how about Vice Presidential choices?

Be the first to show your political instincts and correctly predict who the candidates will choose as their running mate.

John McCain’s two closest friends in the Senate are John Kerry and Joe Liberman. You can bet one of them will end up in a McCain Cabinet. It would be more of a reach to see him select one of them as vice president.

Indiana Senator Evan Bayh will be on anyone’s short list for the Democrats. Can you name the last two Democratic Senators to be elected as President and Vice President on the same ticket? This year will see the first Senator elected President since these two slipped in on a last minute rush of Chicago voters (dead and alive) to the polls.

The probability is that candidates of both parties will seek to choose a Governor to balance the ticket. That puts New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson on the Democratic short list, while our own Governor Crist and his ability to deliver one of the key states in the election will have to be on McCain’s short list.

The thinking here is that McCain will be running from behind, and he will need to do something dramatic. Reaching across the aisle and choosing a Democrat to run on a “national unity” type ticket might be the only way he could stop the Obama express. We just don't think that McCain can win this election by moving to the right in the general election despite his problem with conservatives.

The conventional wisdom is that presidential candidates, especially Republicans, need to move to the center in the general election. Ronald Reagan created the blue print to win with his appeal to the "Reagan Democrats." Bill Clinton moved to the right in the general election, and Gore and Kerry's losses can be attributed, in part (because Gore won the popular vote, and Kerry had Illinois stolen from him) to their inability to win over moderate republicans.

Both Obama and McCain have shown the ability to appeal to voters from the other party, and that makes them unique.

We look at Obama and while we’re not sold, somehow, someway, we keep thinking of Lincoln. An untested and relatively unknown man from Illinois, who literally slipped into Washington in the dead of night (to avoid assassins) and guided a nation to a “new birth of freedom.”

Sometimes, the best leaders emerge from the most unlikely places.


See You in court.

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna vote for whomever the Q endorses.

Remember you young county court whipper snappers:

Fear The Q
Respect the Q

close your eyes....become the Q

Anonymous said...

Perhaps JFK + LBJ.

Anonymous said...

please do not put anymore about jack thompson on this blog. it is more boring than sitting through a c sounding calendar.

Anonymous said...

I am still holding out for Bloomberg. One can dream.

Anonymous said...

Obama must choose Clinton or risk pissing off women who could go to McCain.

Remember the Democrats have the convention first and if Obama leaves Clinton out McCain in his convention will have a heads up and could strike with a woman VP to get the vote that Obama will lose by leaving Clinton in the cold.

An Obama / Clinton ticket is a Guaranteed WIN. An Obama someone else win is not a win as he is too Left to get the nod.

McCain's only chance is Liberman VP or a real could shot at a win is Obama leaving Clinton out and McCain picking a woman VP. Can you say VP Rice.

Anonymous said...

JFK and LBJ.

Obama should pick Sen. Jim Webb. His son is in Iraq. He served in the Reagan administration as Secretary of the Navy. Vietnam vet. From Virginia.

Joe Biden is the bulldog anyone would want as a Veep and has solid, solid foreign policy experience.

Anonymous said...

Rump, check out today's DBR

Anonymous said...

The answer to your question is:

Senator John F. Kennedy - President

Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson - Vice President

Batman said...

Someday I will understand what makes the politicians in this town tick. We are in a period of high foreclosures, declining property values, reduced tax revenue and general economic decline and the city and county commissions vote hundreds of millions of dollars for a new stadium for a horrible baseball team with greedy owners who will only pay a lousy 2.6 million dollars a year for its use.

We don't have the money for court staff (the clerk will be making more cuts this year). We don't have money for adquate court facilities (how long have we needed new courthouses (civil and criminal). Our affordable housing authority wastes and steals money. Where is this money coming from? Don't tell me the bed tax, because tourism is down. Miami is not such a hot place to go anymore. This is incredibly irresponsible.

If the Marlins, Loria and Samson want to leave, I will call Gomez Movers and pack a lunch for them so they don't get hungry during the trip. I really would not miss them. In fact on average only about 5000 people a day would miss them.

I don't care much for Norman Braman, he is as greedy as they are, but in this case he is right. Let the voters decide on this issue. I will bet the ranch that it will be a landslide for a quick "goodbye".

Rumpole said...

JFK and LBJ are the correct answers to the quiz.

I did not post comments that 1) listed a person's home address; 2) crused gratuitously.

Webb would be a great VP pick for either party. Again, it just seems risky to have two senators running on the same ticket. We shall see.

Anonymous said...

If McCain picks Lieberman there will be a third party run from the right.

Batman said...

x

Anonymous said...

1:11--I think an Obama/Clinton ticket is a loser. Despite the progress made in race relations in recent years, there are still some out there who won't vote for Obama because he's black. Also, as someone who is fairly liberal, he's going to need a more moderate VP choice. Jim Webb would be a nice pick. So would Evan Bayh.

As for McCain, while I think he will be running from behind, the gap won't be large. He needs to pick a running mate who is a bit more conservative than him, but someone who is known as a maverick. If he chooses Huckabee (who I think is a very good man but his right-wing views frighten me), he is toast. McCain should be able to make some inroads amongst independent voters during the general election.

I think we're in for another close one.

Anonymous said...

As of February 21, Denise M. Martinez-Scialini moved County Court seats, and is now running against Eric Hendon, in County Court Group 17. She had filed in Group 34, which won't be up for election in 2008 because of George Sarduy's appointment to the circuit court.

Anonymous said...

Obama/Zinni or Obama/Webb

Anonymous said...

Ask and ye shall receive, courtesy of the DBR: Fla SC's Show Cause Order.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to vote for Ben Kuehne, because I am phobic about germs, and I think the US currency should be completely laundered. Thanks for asking.

Jack Thompson, Attorney despite the Supremes

http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/02/25/story10.html?b=1203915600^1594191&surround=etf

Anonymous said...

Dear Batman:

Norman Braman is not greedy. He gives so much of his time and money away. Are you calling him greedy only because he is a succesful businessman?

Anonymous said...

Thompson filed more than 46 items with the court that have been forwarded to Tunis, dismissed or denied, the court said. The latest have been "repetitive, frivolous and insult the integrity of the court."

The court described one of Thompson's recent filings in detail. He dubbed it a "children's picture book for adults," interspersing images with text in his motion due to "the court's inability to comprehend" his arguments. Images included "swastikas, kangaroos in court, a reproduced dollar bill, cartoon squirrels, Paul Simon, Paul Newman, Ray Charles, a handprint with the word 'slap' written under it, Bar Governor Benedict P. Kuehne, a baby, Ed Bradley, Jack Nicholson, Justice Clarence Thomas, Julius Caesar, monkeys, a house of cards," the order said.

Anonymous said...

Here is the 3 page order of SCT on JT in detail.


http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/images/news_photos/47268/ThompsonShowcause.pdf

Anonymous said...

Obama won't pick Clinton. To do so would alienate as many independents as it would shore up support among women. Just as important, it's not as if women are going to suddenly flock to John McCain.


If he wins, he needs a VP with strong foreign policy experience. Few Governors have that. Bill Richardson fits the bill. Perhaps Wesley Clark. But my dark horse candidate for Obama's VP is Republican Colin Powell.


McCain has a lot more flexibility in picking his VP. I think he'll pick a young conservative to shore up the far right and balance a McCain post-primary move toward the middle.

Anonymous said...

Rumor has it that the Judicial support staff is holding an awareness rally Monday and Tuesday morning February 24 & 25 in front of MJB & DCC. The organizers would like us all to wear something white to show our support.

Power to the People!
(or in this case Power to the J.A.'s)

Anonymous said...

Q is for the way you quote my fee,U if for the unbelievable county court results you bring me, E is for the exceptional way you represent me, E is for the extraordinary time you devote for me,R is for the referral I happily send to thee. Fear the Q, retain the Q, worship the Q

Anonymous said...

The Lesgislators have shown their total lack of judgement and respect for the judicial process.A four percent decrease in Judicial Assistant salaries is about to become law.Judical Assistants will be place on "furlough"for 58 days(11 plus weeks) in County Court and twenty-eightjust under 6 weeks) in Circuit Court.Hearings will not be scheduled thru the J.A.'s during this period.
Two plus million reduction has suggested to me needed.
Why do the Legislators not look at their own expenditures,both for staff,expenses and projects.
The public,and all should be outraged at such prospect,since it will all but close the judicial branch of government.
YOU HAVE A SAY;CALL LEGISLATORS AND VOICE YOUR DISGUST AND OUTRAGE NOW.lATER WILL BE TO LATE!

Anonymous said...

Rump where have you been all day? Are you on your yacht in a drunken stupor?

Rumpole said...

I remember that Thompson Picture Book filing. It was very innovative. Totally inappropriate. But very innovative.

Anonymous said...

Friday, February 22, 2008 12:12:00 PM

I would rather watch paint dry all day than to hear another boring speech from Bill Richardson. Nice gut but he can suck the excitement out of the obama campaign within hours.

Clinton is the choice as Obama already has the win as more voters have taken to him in the primary than ever for any democrat running for office. Why fix it if its not broke. We already know the voters like both Clinton and Obama and me personally find it hard to pick one from the other.

He wins with Clinton and loses big with BR.

Oh JT do us all a favor and just fall off a building.

Anonymous said...

The legislature is treating the judiciary like just another government agency. The fools in Tally do not realize that the judiciary is a co-equal branch of government.

They have no right to impose these hold backs / budget cuts on the judiciary. Not only is it bad public policy, but it is in bad taste. Perhaps we need to have a constitutional amendment setting the budget of the judiciary at a percentage of revenues (like many of our neighbors in Latin America).

Unfortunately, there is nothing sinister behind this disregard for the institutions of justice -- just mere incompetence. Governor Crist has already demonstrated that he will not lead on any of these issues, merely regale us with obnoxious platitudes like "I believe in Florida".

We elected them!!

Anonymous said...

Rumpole here is your detailed post on JT's adult picture book that the Supreme Court just loved...:

http://justicebuilding.blogspot.com/search?q=Thompson+Picture+Book+

My favorite part was his certificate of service line that said "...as well as to The Bar’s designated blogger/libeler/public relations hit man/John Berry wannabe Barnaby Min."

Mr. Min no offense to you from me I just thought it was funny as written.

Anonymous said...

Jack, in that quiet place you go occasionally, do you sit and think now how pathetic your career has become? Do you have any friends, colleagues, persons in the legal community who respect you, clients, anyone? Anyone Jack?

Ya coulda been a contenda.

Unknown said...

So Man Coulter is choosing to comment with his usual hate I see.

How baout you stop being a craven, massacre-chasing coward and answer a question directed to you for once.

How does being a bigot and a hate-filled human being make you a good christian?

Anonymous said...

Circuit Court judges make $185,000 a year. County Court judges make $150,000, yet the Judicial Assistants who work their asses off for a fraction of that must bear the brunt?

Why don't the judges split the difference? With a judicial furlough (evened out over a few months, a handful of judges a month with the other judges covering their calendars) the JA's won't shoulder the entire burden. Most of our judges have either made their money in private practice or married well. A few days off sans pay won't hurt as much as the 23-year old single mother JA.

Better yet...let all the County Court judges take their furlough on the same day and let Bloom stay and handle the calendars. Betcha she'll still finish by lunch.

Anonymous said...

Everyone keeps saying Jacky's wife works at Carlton Fields.

There are 2 Thompsons at Carlton Fields - Patricia and Kenneth.

So which one is Jack's wife?

You never know with these conservative right-wing types.

Anonymous said...

People dont pay too much mind to the bottom of the ticket in casting a vote for the top of the ticket.

Bayh would be a nice choice, but even his pull will likley not swing Indiana which is a solid red state. And a VP that cannot bring home his/her home state is a real drag. See Gore (2000) and Edwards
(2004).

Although unlikely, Clinton would be a good choice for Obama as she can fill in the experience factor. And although Obama is hot right now, he lost all the major states (NY, NJ, MASS, CAL. and hypothetically FL and MI). And if he loses Texas, Ohio and Penn, he will have not carried a single large state, other than Illinois. The Dems are a party divided right now and pairing the two up would do some good rebuilding.

Anonymous said...

the question was asked and not answered weeks ago. Is this man dying, does he have a fatal disease, uncurable cancer, inoperable tumor? what else other than meth or crack addiction can explain such pathetic behavior?

Anonymous said...

TO 10:08p.m.
ATLEAST GET YOUR NUMBERS CORRECT.CIRCUIT JUDGE MAKE APPROXIMATELY 145 AND COUNTY
MAKE APPROXIMATELY 137.THIS IS LEGISLATIVE AND STATATORY.
iF THIS "FURLOUGH"COULD BE DONE OVER ONE YEAR IT COULD BE TOLERABLE;BUT THE LEGISLATURE ABOUT TO SAY MUST BE COMPLETED BY JUNE.SUGGEST THEY LAY OFF THEIR LEGISLATIVE STAFFS(AT LEAST 3-5 PERSONS)REDUCE THEIR EXPENSE ACCOUNTS,AND REDUCE MONIES FOR THEIR FAVORITES SUCH AS "SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS',

Anonymous said...

Jack Thompson should look at the case of Mylward v. Weldon, Reg Lib-A 1596, fol. 672, Monroe's Acta Cancellariae 1545-1625, vol. 1, p. 692 to see the manner in which English chancellors dealt with filing abuses.

Anonymous said...

The Betting Markets are predicting the following VP candidates in order of likelihood:

Republican:

Tim Pawlenty
Giuliani
Huckabee
Romney
Condoleeza Rice

Democratic:

Wesley Clark
Hillary Clinton
Jim Web
Bill Richardson
Evan Bayh
Joe Biden

Anonymous said...

Judges are elected and cannot be furloughed. There salaries are set by the legislature and have no impact on the shortfall. Even so, many judges have already volunteered to take pay cuts for their J.A.'s.

For real movement, shut down the Civil Courthouse for a month. Screw the corporate and tort plaintiffs. The civil firms aren't pulling their share lobbying wise.

Anonymous said...

Blogs are reporting a link between Jeb Bush and McCain's lobbyist friend, and implications about relationships in Florida (with that Abramoff fella's co-workers) that could doom McCain when the dots get connected. See
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/seafan/1848

Anonymous said...

Shut down the civil courthouse for a month? Have you been to the civil courthouse? After 11:30 a.m. it looks shut down. Those judges have it made. All but a few do absolutely nothing and are stealing paychecks.
The Herald (or the New Times) should do a story on these judges and make them account for their time. It would be very revealing.

Let's see- a two week trial docket with no trials b/c you granted continuances at the calendar call. Motion calendars only two days a week. Judges that simply never try cases. Too many 12:30 tees times, shopping at Macy's on Flagler, two hour lunches, coming in at 10:00 a.m. I did civil defense and we made a living off of lazy judges. Prep the case to evaluate it for potential settlement, if necessary, but you could pretty much count on the lazy judge to never really push you to try the case.
It's pretty sad that JA's, clerks and bailiffs now have to take the hit and go with no pay.

Anonymous said...

I challenge anyone on this blog to name ONE accomplishment of Obama since he has been a U.S. Senator.

He's a dyed in the wool liberal who just happens to be a great public speaker.

He will be exposed during the general election after the Republicans do the mainstream media's job and actually probe this guy's record.

Anonymous said...

5:25 - I take your challenge. But I'll bet you most Americans can't tell you what McCain has accomplished in the 24 years on the Senate other than maybe McCain-Feingold. That's not to say he's done nothing; truth is he has done a lot. But most folks don't have a handy list of their favored candidate's accomplishments. If you were standing in front of me and I put you on the spot, you'd blather on about McCain-Feingold, which you and your fellow wingnuts opposed and hate, immigration (don't get me started on the wingnuts and immigration), and POWs (which -- again -- some of your fellow wingnuts hate McCain for because they think he sold out the POWs).

Here's my answer to your challenge:

He sponsored or co-sponsored a series of bills on ethics reform. The resulting legislation was called -- by the Washington Post -- "the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet."

He passed a bill creating a database of recipients of federal grants and contracts that can be searched by citizens or muckrakers.

The Lugar-Obama initiative strengthens the Nunn-Luger framework for securing loose nukes, and extended it to secure and destroy stockpiles of conventional arms (e.g., shoulder-fired missiles).

He passed bills concerning Hurricane Katrina. For example, one was an amendment that limits the use of no-bid contracts after disasters. Another created a National Emergency Family Locator System. Yet another requires planning for the evacuation of people with special needs, such as senior citizens.

Those are the bills he passed. Here is some of the legislation that he worked on but couldn't pass because of your friendly neighborhood GOP:

He proposed legislation creating quality standards for genetic testing labs. It would be nice that those tests pregnant women take for genetic defects were subject to regulation so they are accurate. Obama is working on that in the Senate.

He worked on the bipartisan, compromise immigration bill.

He proposed legislation on Avian Flu when you hadn't even heard of it.

Has proposed legislation for reducing the number of medmal lawsuits by requiring hospitals to do a better job of reporting errors. Hillary is a co-sponsor of this bill.

He proposed creating an independent Congressional Ethics Enforcement Commission.

He has proposed legislation prohibiting tax preparers from selling personal information of their clients.

He co-sponsored a bill with Tom Coburn of Oklahoma (super right winger) that all bills be made available to members of Congress at least 72 hours before they have to vote on them.

Proposed legislation to increase security at chemical plants. Did you know right now there are no requirements for security at chemical plants; it is strictly voluntary.

Proposed a bill called "Health for Hybrids." Basically, US automakers claim they can't invest in energy efficient tech because they have to pay for retiree healthcare. Obama wants to relieve them of that burden if they in turn invest the savings on energy efficient tech. He wrote an an op-ed piece in 2006 about it. Read it here.

He has a pending bills to criminalize deceptive election tactics, like deceptive robocalls, providing misleading information about where to vote or what conditions you have to meet to be eligible to vote, etc.

He proposed a bill to force the EPA to implement regulations for the disposal of lead in older homes when they are being renovated. In 1992, Congress required the EPA to write regulations relating to the dispersal of lead paint by contractors during home remodeling by October, 1996. As of June 2005, these regulations still have not been written. Senator Obama's amendment would stop the EPA from spending money on actions that are contrary to Congress' mandate, including delaying the creation of these needed regulations.

He has also proposed legislation to raise CAFE standards so that US made cars are more fuel efficient.

We haven't even started discussing his record in the Illinois Senate. Criminal defense lawyers should be pleased that he fought for a bill that requires police to videotape interrogations and confessions. He not only got it passed, he did so unanimously. If you think this was easy, think again. From the Washington post:
"The bill itself aroused immediate opposition. There were Republicans who were automatically tough on crime and Democrats who feared being thought soft on crime. There were death penalty abolitionists, some of whom worried that Obama's bill, by preventing the execution of innocents, would deprive them of their best argument. Vigorous opposition came from the police, too many of whom had become accustomed to using muscle to "solve" crimes. And the incoming governor, Rod Blagojevich, announced that he was against it.

Obama had his work cut out for him."

He passed it 35-0 in the Senate and the Governor signed it. The guy is special. Read the Post's account of how he did it. By the way, no political payoff for this. He did it because it was the right thing to do.

There's a lot more, but I'm tired and you won't read it. You don't care. You read GOP talking points and believe them because they slam a Democrat. Enjoy your ignorance. Despite your vote, Obama will win in November, and you will get a better country in spite of yourself.

Good night and good luck.

Anonymous said...

Obama.. Since You couldn't pay me to vote for such a pathetic puppet like Hillary Clinton. If you do, be ashamed. Very ashamed.