1) A reader wants to know why are our superbly trained and highly efficient REGJB security people are making people remove their belts?
Q: What’s that?
A: A paper clip.
Q: Code Red! Code Red! Sir. Please stay right where you are. Do not move. You, next in line with the rocket launcher , please move through the machine. You with the paper clip- please put your hands behind your back and go with the police officer.
Why are these people making everyone remove their belts at the security checkpoint? Are they looking for imported protected crocodile skins? Or do they just enjoy making hundreds of people wait in line while they exercise the tiny little bit of authority they have been given?
On to a more legal subject, a reader asks:
Rump: You never addressed the question I posed last week, and none of the contributors seemed to touch it, so here we go again.
Cannon 2, of the Rules of Judicial Conduct states that “A Judge Shall Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in all of the Judge's Activities,” providing that “A judge shall . . act . . in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary”; saying that “A judge shall not allow family, social, political or other relationships to influence the judge's judicial conduct or judgment.”
The test for appearance of impropriety according to the commentaries “is whether the conduct would create in reasonable minds, with knowledge of all the relevant circumstances that a reasonable inquiry would disclose, a perception that the judge's ability to carry out judicial responsibilities with integrity, impartiality, and competence is impaired.”
Would you afford us all the benefit of your opinion, and seek the opinion of our readers and contributors to the following: What is the propriety of a judge who is married or in a “meaningful” or “significant” relationship with a police officer sitting in the criminal division? Would the opinion change if the judge handles cases involving officers who are assigned the mates or significant others unit or section?
Rumpole says: Good question. We have an opinion, but for once we will keep it to ourselves. I know some robed readers have weighed in on this before, and we expect to hear from them again.
But let us start the ball rolling with this : If you are of the belief that a Judge married to a police officer should not sit in the criminal division, then should a Judge with children not hear a child molestation or child abuse case? Should a female Judge not hear a sexual assault case? Should an African-American judge not hear a deprivation of civil rights case? Just wondering how far you intend to go with this.
See you in court.
39 comments:
Stop being fools.
Judges who believe that they may be biased are required to recuse themselves sus sponte.
Marital status, race, gender, religion, orientation are NEVER grounds for recusal -- unless the Court agrees with the assertion that they may be biased.
and yet it is ok to give a judge $500 and raise money for him. no one, not the least of all you phil, ever raises that issue
Umm...Phil's been out of town for ten days, and yet this blog has run right along with local and timely posts and comments. I think the time has come to put that to rest.
To whomever the prosecutor was who wrote that ASAs get into the building without screening because they are LEOs, you must be a baby prosecutor, a moron, or a combination of the two. PDs get in without screening also. Don't inflate that already super ego of yours kiddo.
The screeners do not want to waste time making people remove their belts when the metal detector doesn't even beep. They explained to me that the order came from the building manager, so instead of picking on the screeners, go to the building manager and ask her why she gave such a senseless order.
Would everyone stop being stupid?
The question is: "does anyone see a problem with Judge Butchko sitting in the criminal division when her husband is a homocide detective?"
Not whether a parent who is also a judge shouldn't hear a sex abuse case or whether a black judge shouldnt hear cases involving black people, or whether a woman judge shouldn't hear a case about rape.
You want the answer?
Ask her the following:
"Do you think cops ever lie?"
"Do you believe there are false confessions?"
Would you be able to suppress evidence in a murder case even if you knew the guy did it?"
And ask her one last question:
"Can't you be a little nicer to people?" (Hint: It's not a compliment when people say that a judge is "nice off the bench.")
Messahe to "friend of phil".....Are you aware the local news is on-line, and one can "log-in" from parts unknown".....It's the digital age!
All Judges know who they request (pressure!) into being on their "finance" committee, because they call up all prominent lawyers and ask them. How can a lawyer tell a Judge "sorry"? Every Judge directly knows who is giving and who is not. They make lists with their finance people as to which wealthy lawyers to call. They keep following up and the Judge knows that the lawyer did or did not give. If the lawyer fails to give a check for $500 or gives nothing, good luck to that poor lawyer and his or her client in the future. I personally and sick and tired of receiving calls (and pressure!) every year by 25 Judges requesting me to sign campaign fundraising letters and to personnally donate $500 from me and $500 from my firm and $500 from my spouse, etc. It is legalized blackmail by the Judge. They make me feel that if I say "no", I am not welcome in their court. I know that to be true. If I pay, most of them will always shake my hand and pat my back at Joe's while they are their for their Friday "schnurer" stone crab lunch with a putz lawyer treating them. It is nauseating and the public corruption unit of KFR's office or the u.s. attorney should put an end to this. Don't you think that every Judge knows exactly who pays and who does not when they sign off on their campaign contribution disclosure and list? If you have been getting "overruled" consistently or have been having your well founded motions denied, go back and look at your books - i will bet that you never sent them the maximum $500+ for their campaign! ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THIS CORRUPTION
What does Jack Thomson think about this? What does KFR and Abe Laeser and the U.S. Attorney think? What do all of you "pressured" lawyers trying to make a buck think about this?
Rump:
I received a summons for jury duty at the glorious Gerstein Building.
I am a former State and current defense attorney.
Should I even show up?
What do you think?
We can make a Human a judge. But we can't take the Human OUT of the judge.
The one thing we long since learned was that Humans are diverse and while many desire to be unified, it's simply never going to happen.
There will ALWAYS be bias, even when not intended. Just because one becomes a judge and signs or speaks an oath to not be biased doesn't mean they won't be. No oath will ever take away bias.
And no matter how unbiased an individual acts, there will always be someone who will preceive bias as occuring.
It's naive to believe otherwise.
Who best serves any particular type of case? The best judge, that's who. If you think there will be a judge who is unbiased and/or someone out there who will not preceive the judge as biased, then you are truly naive.
The best judge is the one who sees a defendant, a plaintiff, and an act which has been committed or needs to be judged. Think you'll find such an individual who will do that consistantly every single time, no matter how many times.?
Andrew
11:14......Good news! You can now access the internet from almost anywhere. Yes! It's true. Most hotels provide access. Of course, this service has only been available for 10 years, so I'm not surprised you hadn't heard.
Phil could have run this blog from anywhere with a computer and internet access.
There is no doubt that Phil is Rump.
Someone in the last post mentioned that ASAs enter REG without screener because they are law enforcement. Goodness, what does that make the PDs that also enter through that magical door in the rear of the building? They get the same privileges as the ASAa. Both offices have their employees screened and fees are paid for the privilege. Former PDs should know about this.
rumour is judge Schlesinger granted a motion to dismiss a first degree felony today!
As much as I hate going North of the Border, the security people there move people into the building twice as fast with only half of the metal detectors. I didnt have to strip down to my underwear, either.
Really Phil? So the internet only works locally? I had no idea.....
I appreciate the renewed interest in me-(actually I don't. This is tiresome.)
I guess I could access the internet from Colorado- in fact obviously it is done every day, but I can assure you that I was having way too much fun taking my son skiing on his third birthday to really care about this blog, Miami, work, the Justice Building, etc.
Phil R.
Phil is not Rump. I was present when Todd Michaels went on line and Rump responded and Phil was at the poker table kicking my butt. He's a funny guy and I wish he ran this, but he doesn't.
The Q! runs the blog. Almighty Q....who knew?
This website is traceable and is hosted by FIDA. The president of FIDA is Joel Denaro.
Cobitz runs the blog- and Cobitz rules!!!
I HAVE HAD IT WITH THE BELT THING, I AM SO ANGRY ABOUT IT THAT I HAVE FOSTERED A PLAN TO WIN THIS BATTLE.
I am going in the back door from now on.
This blog is the funniest and best thing to happen to the Justice Building in 20 years. Judges read it. Top lawyers from civil court read it. Lawyers and Judges from around Florida and the US read it. It was mentioned on Slate recently.
If whomever is behind it wants to come forward, he or she would be rewarded with praise for great and funny writing and it would probably advance their career. Therefore, we should respect someone when they deny being Rumpole. I am not aware of one shred of evidence linking this blog to anyone. Rumpole must be an ex-CIA spook because she/he has done a great job keeping this a secret. So I say leave Phil, or Cobtiz, or Q, or anyone alone until the person who writes this comes forward- because this blog is something to be proud of.
Thanks Mom.
Gee our Rumpole is a blast. Funny funny funny. I think I have a crush on him. I'm the type of girl who loves a sense of humor. Rumpole sweetie, if I promised a night of passion, would you reveal yourself to me?
Trust me, I'm worth it.
The comment about why prosecutors skip the screening is off (because they are law enforcement)....PDs skip it too, and some of those jokers are bigger mopes than their clients. Broken process.
(Yawn). Take a number. I get these offers all day long. Blog groupies. It comes with being a blog superstar. I guess you should send a picture with an email (don't break any federal laws) and I will give your offer due consideration. When you get to be as famous and popular as I am, this comes with the territory.
Generally however, at my advanced age, I might need a few nights to really get my engine going and take advantage of all of your promised delights.
FACDL-MIAMI FREE SEMINAR
"ANATOMY OF AN INTERROGATION"
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Brickell Bay Club
2333 Brickell Avenue, Miami
5:00 PM
Sponsored by: Transitions Recovery Program
The evening includes a seminar as well as Cocktails and Hors D'oeuvres
Come learn about the methods used by police during the process of interviewing and interrogating subjects. Edith Georgi and Dr. John Palmatier will be presenting.
JOIN FACDL-MIAMI
The Seminar is only open to current members of FACDL-Miami. If you have not yet paid your 2008 dues ($75 for private attorneys and $25 for government attorneys) please bring your checkbook and renew your membership on Thursday evening.
In order to have enough seats, food and drinks, we would appreciate an RSVP if you intend to come to the seminar.
For more information and to RSVP, please contact us at facdlmiami@aol.com
Look forward to seeing you there.
L&L twins are rumpole. I have Video.
Anonymous said...
The building manager at REGJB is Ellie Ramos whose phone number is
(305) 548-5220. Perhaps all who labor in the REGJB and are required to remove belt only at the entrance closest to the main parking lot should call her.
Monday, March 17, 2008 3:35:00 PM
Call now the 10th caller gets a free 50" Plasma so call now and often.
Avoid conflict, wear suspenders.
Hey 9:12 a.m.!
No criminal defense attorney should fear any Judge. Your there to serve the client not the Judge.
Most of the Judges try to do the right thing, there is an absolute "market value" concerning some expected sentences and it is easy to predict the personalities and how to encounter most of these Judges. It has been a while since a nutjob was on the bench.
My rule of thumb in donations is very simple...
1) I owe nobody nothing. Nobody is doing me a favor in ruling on a case. The Judges are there to preside, that is their job just as it is my job to be an advocate.
2) It does not matter who the Judge is, I will always be there acting as an attorney.
3) If a Judge never tried to form a personal bond with me (ie How is my family? etc.) then it takes a lot of nerve to ask me for $500.
4) If I came up/grew up with the Judge, then that candidate is one of my peers, one of my "homies", and I feel compelled to support my own generation.
Rumpole, please post the building manager's name and number in the front of the blog. The lawyers and the screeners will appreciate your help putting an end to this stupidity.
Judge Butchko is not the only one, how about Judge Soto, whose husband is some sort of detective with the Maimi-Dade Police Department.
It is hard to think or beleive that someone who is married to a cop will fairly decide that against the cop or find that the cop is not crediable.
The issue is that we have an ethical obligation to let our clients know and it is the client who must decide whether to seek recusal, once the motion is filed, the judge may not pass on the merits, only on the sufficiency.
hey, back off of judge soto! She is tough but fair. The bozo that made that comment obviously never practiced before her !
10:18 - are you kidding? if anyone can appreciate that police officers are mere mortals (capable of telling lies and truth), it's a person who is married to a cop.
11:55 hits the nail on the head. End this stupid idea.
It is hard to think or "beleive" that someone who spells this badly is "crediable".
Rumor is that some Miami or Dade Commissioner is being arrested tonight.
Women who are judges who marry cops know better than anyone that cops are human and make mistakes and tell lies.
Soto is a very good judge. Lay off her.
Post a Comment