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.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

COURT CRISIS CONTINUES

Rumpole has received the Memo from the “Trial Court Budget Commission” (who even knew there was such a thing? Maybe if they did away with the commission they might have enough money to staff the courts. Just a thought. )

A Mr. Belvin Perry Jr. has written that we can expect the following belt tightening changes:

1) GOOD BYE TRAFFIC MAGISTRATES! Funding ends Friday March 14, 2008. Judges will now be required to work (gasp!) and handle these calendars. Coincidentally, for all our readers who are duffers, there was a completely coincidental canceling of 10 tee times at the Coral Gables County Club golf course for the afternoon of Friday March 14, 2008.
Rumpole says, the next time you see a County Court Judge, offer to buy them a cup of coffee and pat them on the back. Working Friday afternoons was not what they signed up for when they sought to be a Judge.

2) GOODBYE SENIOR JUDGES.!! Yes, your favourite Judges from yesteryear will now just be a fond memory as County and Circuit Court Judges will now be expected to handle their own calendars without exception or a well deserved break beyond the 152 days a year they are at a conference at the Ritz Carlton on the West Coast of Florida. Also, the State will no longer reimburse those Judges at conferences for “more than two orders of shrimp cocktail per conference.”

3) GOODBYE ACTING CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES.!!! No, we’re not talking about judges pretending to be judges (although we have a lot of that.) We’re talking about your favourite County Court Judges sitting in Circuit Court and getting to say something other than “you must pay court costs and complete traffic school within two months of today.”
Rumpole wonders: What does that mean for the contingent of County Court Judges in domestic violence court?

There is also some mumbo jumbo about "terminating all OPS employment”, and so if you are employed OPS, it is time to pack your things and head out for greener pastures.


So there you have it: life in the courts in an era when government money is sparse (other than our federal government spending a BILLION DOLLARS A DAY for a war started because of a lie. And yes we know the difference between federal and state dollars. But somehow, if we had no war, we think the government could have saved 200 billion and distributed 150 billion to the States to use as they saw fit.)

QUICK NOTE: COURT CARE FUNDRAISER TOMORROW. This is a great program for a great cause. 1111Brickell Avenue, 30th Floor. Mingle, drink, contribute to a great cause-there is a silent auction as well, and see how civil lawyers work and live.

See You In Court; maybe we'll stop in and watch a few traffic calendars just for laughs.

Woops: we almost forgot: Go HERE to see the channel ten report including our now famous photo of the lines around the building.

And as always, Great Job El Capitan.

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Getting rid of the traffic court hearing officers is so counterproductive. They get paid the least, they handle the most cases, and raise lots and lots of money...

Anonymous said...

Have you ever seen Hague or Seraphin go through a traffic calendar? We are all F'd! Think of the Peanuts. Remember when the adults talked? S L O W as hell and more interested in the sound of their own voices.

Anonymous said...

Is's 'Judge' Belvin Perry, Jr. He's Chief of the Ninth circuit.

Anonymous said...

Speedy Trial Motion

Anonymous said...

Quick before the funding expires, have Cobitz train the Judges. Line 'em up!! Hey moron, do you know what I mean by stand by the podium!

Anonymous said...

Okay, who takes Milss-Francis place if there are no more senior judges?

Anonymous said...

the county judges in civil should have to help

Anonymous said...

TRAFFIC COURT IN COUNTY COURT:

Judge, this is a speeding case.

A speedy case?

No, a speeding case.

Are speedies running?

No, he wasn't running, he was speeding.

Where's the state?

The state doesn't come to these.

Does the state know speedies are running?

He was going 80.

Oh, ok, speedies dont run till 90.

Anonymous said...

Pardon me bloggers but I was the one who suggested that they get rid of the traffic magistrats.

Yes you heard it first on Rumpoles blog.

I am just wondering how the DV courts will do without a County Judge acting as a Circuit Judge? I mean the Clerks have DV offices at all branch offices and County Judges hear them. What will happen now?

Anonymous said...

BELVIN PERRY IS A WELL LIKED AND WELL RESPECT CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE IN ORLANDO. HE IS ALSO BLACK AND VERY SHORT SO NOW THE BLOG HAS SOME AMMUNITION TO ATTACK HIM.

Anonymous said...

Keep laughing...When your motion for a deposition on a misdemeanor case is set for 4pm on Thursday or 3pm on Friday because of the infraction calendars being handled by the judges, I suspect it will be the lawyers cancelling their tee times and happy hour plans.

Anonymous said...

speedies for speeding run after 180 days not 90..

Anonymous said...

Young asa: And then what happened officer? I saw the defendant smile. Was the Ddefendant smiling before the dog sniffed his crotch? No. What happened next? The defendant knelf down on one knee and the dog then licked the face of the defendant. Did you interview the owner of the dog? yes. Did the owner tell you that she had never seen this person before nor had her dog? That's correct. Your witness counselor. Young pd. Officer did this occur at a dog park? yes. Was the defendant at the dog park with a dog? yes. Did the defendant solicit the lick? Yes, in my opinion he did because he gave the dog a pat on the head before the lick and did not discourage the lick after the initial snifff and he did solicit the lick by going to the knee. Redirect; Officer have you ever seen the combination, sniff then knee then lick without the intervening head pat, the pat did occur after the lick, correct.? Object to the form of the question. You many answer. In my opinion the order of events justified the arrest for sexual contact between a person and dog in a public place. Verdict; guilty. sentence. probation. I must warn you that if this persitsts you may qualify as a habitual misdemeanant and possibly lose your driver's license. I also order you reimburse the sao for costs of prosecution and the police department for 80 hours of surveillance at the park to build the case. case closed.

Anonymous said...

Mills-Francis got out just in the nick of time. She gets a new lucrative TV gig while the other judges will be hearing Sunpass cases at 5:00 p.m.

Anonymous said...

Even for our "part time" judges that's a lot of traffic tickets. Do the powers to be realize just how many ticket pre-trials and trials there are these days? Plus all those toll cases too.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if this means that the county court judges will now have to handle those new traffic sensor tickets that Captain mentioned in that new bill?

Batman said...

Think you have a problem getting an Arthur Hearing or a bond at one now. Wait. Good Luck in front of the trial judges who will now have to hear them themselves. Been a long time coming. They gave been ducking this bullet for a long time.

I guess being a County Judge won't be so easy and such a part time job anymore. Maybe the "Mommy Trackers" will think twice.

Some of the Senior Judges can hardly make it through a calender. I would not worry too much. The real problem will be coverage when a judge is on vacation or sick. The doubling of calenders for some will make things really slow. Judges will be forced to abandon some accommadations to private counsel just to keep order and move the calenders faster.

Lastly, watch out for DECERTIFICATION of some seats when terms end or judges retire.

BUT WE HAVE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BUILD A 34,000 SEAT STADIUM SO CANADIAN JEFF LORIA (not even an American or Resident Alien) CAN MAKE MORE MONEY. Go figure.

Anonymous said...

Why did Judge Slom in the channel 10 piece keep talking about cases being "lost" by not going to court. I think this shows a lot of prosecutorial thinking. A case is not 'won' simply because the state goes forward with it.

I think he should have said that cases would be dropped, or that the state wouldn't be able to prosecute, or something like that.
I know it sounds like spilitting hairs, but maybe it means that the state will finally begin using some discretion and be selective about cases that really need to be prosecuted versus those cases that they go forward with solely because some guy in a uniform made an arrest.

Anonymous said...

The Traffic Bar should unite. Instead of $500 to all the Judges, let's suppliment the Hearing Officer funding shortfall.

Anonymous said...

The THO's will be financed by Miami Dade County. They are just off the State Payroll. cool your jets.

Anonymous said...

Here's a wonderful solution to the alleged "court crisis":

FS 876.05 provides that any employee of the state, county, or local employee who has not executed and filed a sworn loyalty oath must be terminated. Failure to do so is a crime.

The US Supreme Court held Florida's law in this constitutional.

Dozens of court employees have most likely not signed these oaths,so let's fire them. That will cut the payroll a bit, no?

I have no idea why the Wizard of Oz, Howard Roark aka the dead Rumpole won't report this scandal. I thought this blog was supposed to be about what's going on in the courts rather than pimping for Ben Kuehne?

Jack Thompson (see letter below to Farina)

March 6, 2008

The Honorable Joseph Farina
175 NW First Avenue, Room 3045
Miami, Florida 33128 Via e-mail to jfarina@jud11.flcourts.org

Re: Florida Statutes, Chapter 876, Sections 876.05 through 876.10


Dear Judge Farina:

Apparently I wasn’t clear, although I believe the attached January 20 and February 13 letters seem reasonably clear: I want copies of all loyalty oaths of all Eleventh Circuit judges and of all court employees in this Circuit, pursuant to the Public Records Requests that you have been sitting on.

Please do not continue to ignore these requests, as to do so is a violation of the law. Consider it a quaint notion, but I think even judges ought to obey the law.

Regards, Jack Thompson

Anonymous said...

John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law
1172 S. Dixie Hwy., Suite 111
Coral Gables, Florida 33146
305-666-4366
amendmentone@comcast.net

March 6, 2008

Harvey Ruvin
Clerk of Court
Eleventh Judicial Circuit
Dade County Courthouse, Suite 242
73 West Flagler Street
Miami, Florida 33130

Re: Florida Statutes, Chapter 876, Sections 876.05 through 876.10

Dear Mr. Ruvin:

As you should be aware, all court employees must, upon being employed, execute in front of a notary and then file a State Loyalty Oath, per the above-noted statutes.

Failure to do so is to result in their termination. The failure of the ultimate supervisor of these noncomplying employees to terminate them is a criminal act. I think that supervisor would be you as to any employees in the clerk’s office.

Please provide me with a date and time at which I can come to the courthouse and compare a list of all court employees with copies of all loyalty oaths on file.

This request is made pursuant to Florida’s Public Records law. Please comply with it immediately. Thanks.

Regards, Jack Thompson

Anonymous said...

The Dade County Bar Association is sponsoring a lecture tomorrow, March 7th, at noon in the Public Defender's office - "Everything You Need to Know to Defend a Direct File Case: Representing Juveniles in the Adult Court." Judges Rodriguez, Thomas and Ward will give their views; as well as the two assistant public defenders who handle the direct file cases will talk about procedural issues and mitigation preparation. All are welcome to attend. Contact the Dade County Bar at 305-371-2220 for more information.

Anonymous said...

Watch, the 11th circuit won't take a direct hit. This will be somewhat mitigated...not as doomsday as elsewhere. Della

Anonymous said...

Judge Farina,
Please photocopy the oath and have all the clerks sign it. Give it this guy and be done with him. If you'd like, we can do it on the photocopier in the law library... oh wait...

Anonymous said...

Could someone please involuntarily commit Jack Thompson...please?!!! Pretty please?

Anonymous said...

Congrats to our own Twin BB-dollar Bill Barzee for being one of those elusive democratic super delgates!

Anonymous said...

Quick run down of blog signings:

1) Fake Peckins was signed by the West Palm Beach blog as "Fake Wihthrop Davies". He will be replaced here by "New Fake Peckins."

2) Both Fake Blecher and Real Fake Blecher have re-upped.

3) Fake Alschuler was tapped with a franchise tag- he ain't going anywhere.

4) And now we can announce- it's official- FAKE ROGER ELKIND!!

WOW!!

Anonymous said...

JT is back pissing people off. I am starting to get peeved at the Supreme Court for dragging its feet on this show cause proceeding. Please get this looney tune disbarred ...

Anonymous said...

scott hidnert must be very upset

Anonymous said...

THEY NEED a seminar on how to handle a direct file?

i can tell you in one word "whine". all you have to do is whine and whine and get some pd social worker bullshit artist and everyone gets bootcamp. raped someone--boot camp--armed robbery boot camp.

seminar over

Anonymous said...

Rump,

Would you be kind enough to bump Thompson from this Blog? We do not want to see his BS.

He is crazy and belongs in a hospital.

Jack, Please, please go bother someone else.

Anonymous said...

Hey Rumpole, what is your take on this story out of Illinois?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/06/60minutes/main3914719.shtml

Anonymous said...

The problem with Jack isn't that he thinks too big, it's that he doesn't think big enough.

When Farina is asked to conference in with the folks in Alabama, Tallahassee and speaker Pelosi's office, you know Jack's going to need more than a few public records requests if he's going to make headway.

Meanwhile EA is already meeting with Dava-Tunis and Keuhne to stop Jack from squelching their merger with video game developer Take-Two. The amusing thing is that the money behind EA is tied up with Prince Bandar, Bush's closest friend in the Saudi royal family.

The Florida Bar, the Colombians, the Saudis... they all want Thompson's head on a platter. Poke a hornet's nest and you get bit, I suppose.

Anonymous said...

AS to who is nuts, Dava Tunis has a forged loyalty oath, so clearly so that Judge Farina has instituted a criminal investigation of the forgery. Contact his office to confirm.

As to the issue of oaths generally, six of the seven Supreme Court Justices have similarly not complied with the oath statute, which requires their removal.

I didn't pass the law, the legislature did, and it was held constitutional here in Florida by the USSC.

I have informed Rumple, whoever he is, that I will be securing the identities of those posting here who are asserting I am mentally ill.

Jack Thompson

Anonymous said...

"get some pd social worker bullshit artist and everyone gets bootcamp. raped someone--boot camp--armed robbery boot camp."

Kids belong in prison. The sooner the better.

Anonymous said...

Thompson,

Are you afraid that there are traitors employed by the clerk's office?
Are you so paranoid that you think the failure to sign a loyalty oath by a clerk means that the clerk is trying to do something to subvert the system?
Or are you really just trying to find some way to embarass and cause problems to the clerk's office?

Have you heard about this budget crisis? Perhaps the clerk's office has better things to do, even if you were to offer to pay for it, then to go into every single clerk's personnel file and pull a copy of their oath to satisfy your perverse whims.

Yes, laws are there for a purpose and the clerk's office should be following the law. But perhaps you should be setting your sights on things that make a difference.
Unless of course... there is a traitor in our midst... that clerk on the 5th floor does look kind of shady.... I wonder if she's really going to stamp in my pleading...

Unknown said...

"I have informed Rumple, whoever he is, that I will be securing the identities of those posting here who are asserting I am mentally ill."

Wow, for someone who has such a hard on for defending his right to criticise other people, you seem to have a massive problem with accepting the fact that other people are as just free and entitled to criticising you. Pot to kettle, come in kettle, you are black...

What you are saying is that it's fine for you to criticise (and insult, and threaten and make false allegations about) the legislature and your opponents, but the second that they show the truth about your activities and actions, it's unconstitutional and infringing on your rights?

Please do me a favour. You who are so keen on citing and quoting the APA on studies that you claim support your opinion, please read and consider a definition of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Sorry don’t know how to link properly here, but that’s a link to a description of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

1. has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
2. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3. believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
4. requires excessive admiration
5. has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
6. is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
7. lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
8. is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
9. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

Wow, how familiar is that?

Anonymous said...

Jack Thompson,

You are not mentally ill, you are pure, bonechilling evil. Ted Bundy with a law degree. The spawn of Satan himself.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

Anonymous said...

Is it just me but does the narcisstic personality list characterize just about half of americans ; lawyers, surgeons, network news, actors, athletes, models, politicians. that leaves people in the water/sewer dept., nurses and teachers.