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, November 05, 2008

OBAMA / BIDEN WIN


We wrote this at about 7PM Tuesday night. We have the ability to schedule posts even when we are not at our computer.  Either we will be correct or this is another Dewey/Truman headline. Not likely. 

Martin Luther King said these words in a speech the day before he was killed:

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!


Maybe....just maybe, we have arrived on the shores of that unexplored promised land. We shall explore that land for the next four years.



True fact: McCain and Palin spent the evening in the Barry Goldwater suite at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix. Wasn't  it a bit of a jinx to wait for a republican candidate for president to watch the returns in the Goldwater suite?  I mean, that's really tempting fate. 


LOCAL ELECTIONS: 
Yvonne Colodny is your newest Circuit Court Judge and Harvey Ruvin retains his job as clerk. No surprise in either of those two races. Congratulations to both. 

OBAMA'S FIRST DECISIONS: It should come as no surprise that having won the presidency, Obama has announced that 1) He is indeed a Muslim; 2) That he intends to pass a law prohibiting people from standing during the national anthem or wearing an American Flag pin in their lapel; 3) He will be appointing most of the surviving members of the 1960's Black Panthers leadership to his cabinet; 4) And in the most outrageous move of all, because he believes in a socialist form of government, he will spend almost a trillon dollars of US Taxpayers money to bail out failing banks and businesses on Wall Street. (Wait....that has already been done by a Republican administration.) Well, anyway, lets not let facts get in the way of Republicans calling him a Socialist. 


21 comments:

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

Congrats to Ms. Colodny. In January, six new Judges will join the Circuit Court bench:

Cueto
Sanchez-Llorens
Colodny
Glick
Cynamon
Caballero

The face of the judiciary continues to change - and that is a good thing. The good old boy network of "white males" is gone forever.

Of the six new judges, five are female, three are hispanic - none are white males.

Good luck to all of them. Please remember where you came from, remember what it was like to be a practicing attorney, and most of all, remember that putting on that robe does not annoint you as any better than the people that come before you - use your power wisely and maintain a sense of compassion as you carry out your jobs for the next six years.

Cap Out ....

Anonymous said...

As a McCain supporter, and a devout conservative (on economic issues - libertarian otherwise), let me say congratulations to Obama. I think it is amazing that the most powerful country in the history of the world will turn over the keys to the kingdom, not to mention the keys to the most powerful military force ever in the history of the world, to one leader from another with narry a peep. God, I love this Country. God Bless President Obama.

Anonymous said...

Amazingly, the presidential polls were relatively accurate. They overstated Obama's support in Virginia, which I thought he would win by about 5 or 6 percent. They also made the race seem closer than it was in Georgia and Arizona (although McCain won both by narrower-than-expected margins). The pollsters correctly predicted that Missouri, Indiana and North Carolina would be nail-biters. On the whole, the results were well within the range that was expected.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

Good job Rump on your coverage and predictions.

On the information you quoted about the fact that in over 70% of three party races, the second place finisher in the primary ends up winning the general election - I can only cite the facts here in Miami Dade County for Judge:

Since 1994, there have been eight races with three or more candidates in the primary where the final winner was decided in the general election. In nearly 63% of those, the numbers were opposite of your studies. The winner of the primary won the general election for Judge in five of the eight races.

Now tell us - who are some of the likely members of the Obama Cabinet, (any Republicans-?), and who will be the first Obama appointee to the Supreme Court?

Cap Out ....

Anonymous said...

God save the United States from Obama.

Anonymous said...

It's a good day.
That's all I have to say.
It's a damn good day.

Anonymous said...

Harvey Ruvin returns as Miami-Dade clerk
BY REBECCA DELLAGLORIA
rdellagloria@MiamiHerald.com
Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin easily beat back challenges by a trio of unknown challengers Tuesday, holding on to the post he was elected to in 1992.

With two-thirds of the precincts reporting, Ruvin, 71, cruised past attorney Al Perez, concert promoter and Julio Valido, a Hialeah air-conditioner contractor, capturing nearly 75 percent of the vote.

It was Ruvin's first challenge in 16 years.

Ruvin's closest competitor, Perez, picked up 15 percent of the vote, while Valido came in with single-digit returns.

Ruvin is probably best known to voters as the name on traffic tickets, but the clerk of courts is also responsible for preparing the minutes at County Commission meetings and receiving and processing initiatives, referendums and recall petitions.

The clerk's office has a staff of 1,500 employees and oversees the collection of $1 billion a year.

In addition to strong name recognition and endorsements from groups like the United Teachers of Dade, Ruvin also held a sizable fundraising lead over his competitors. He had amassed more than $275,000 in campaign contributions, compared to his next closest competitor, Perez, who had just $34,500 in his campaign coffers.

Before serving as clerk, Ruvin spent 20 years as a county commissioner and four years as mayor of North Bay Village.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008 1:57:

Anonymous said...

MORE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SPOTS

Joely Denaro- Secretary of Boogieing down.

Bill Barzee- Assistant Secretary of Hung Juries.

Miami Loves Migna- Attorney General for County Court

Roger Elkind- Assistant Secretary for Some head knocking.

Kenny Wesiman- nothing

Alex Michaels - Assistant Secretary of "DIS IS BULLSHEEEEEET"

AND YOUR VERY NEXT US SUPREME COURT JUSTICE...THE RIGHT AND HONOURABLE ....

MR. JUSTICE


DON COHN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

My final analysis on this election:

The Republican Party that Ronald Reagan, among others, changed from a bastion of "bluebloods" to a conservative populist party during the 1960s and 1970s is dead. Love him or hate him, President Reagan transformed the Republican Party to one that was very conservative on economic issues, conservative on social issues yet also possessed a bit of a libertarian streak (a la Barry Goldwater). The approach of Reagan's GOP was smaller government, lower taxes, less government spending and, to a large extend, keeping the government out of Americans' personal affairs (although the party espouses many conservative social causes). Foreign policy was based on America's strength, but was pragmatic when necessary. This drew a broad coalition of voters, including the so-called "Reagan Democrats," who were largely white, working class, socially conservative and had a distrust of government.

Somewhere along the way the Republican party morphed into a mass of those who were very socially conservative, most of whom are Evanglical Christians, and many of the very wealthy, who enjoyed the perks and wealth they gained during Republican rule. Government spending increased, the national debt spiralled out of control. Extreme socially conservative positions were advocated. And foreign policy became U.S. interests only--screw what the rest of the world thought. Our relations with many of our allies are in worse shape than they have been in years. The party of Reagan has been transformed into a party of misfits.

After 2 elections where they have taken substantial beatings, it is time for the GOP to reinvent itself. How and in what form? I don't know. But I will say this much. If Sarah Palin (or a similar candidate) is the GOP nominee in 2012, I predict an Obama landslide a la Reagan in 1984, Nixon in 1972 or FDR in 1936.

If anyone wants to debate this, I will be happy to do so. Otherwise, I will crawl back under my rock and re-emerge in September 2010.

Anonymous said...

Voted for Obama, but am very happy to see Republicans virtually uniformly respond with grace and congratulations to the new president and the history that has been made. No allegations of cheating, or blaming others, or lawsuits, or saying they want to leave America,or that they hate or are disgusted by their own nation. A very different response than when the Dems lose.

So, congrats to our new President, and to the graceful way the opposition took their well-deserved defeat.

Oh, and rumpole, that day has arrived!! We don't have to wait 4 yrs for that. A black man has been elected president of the United States! Now, he must be judged by his actions, his content. Just like Dr. King would have wanted.

Anonymous said...

Obama turns Texas courts from Republican strong holds since 1994 to Democrats.

November 5, 2008, 12:36 pm
Obama’s Coattails Stretch to Texas Trial Courts
Posted by Nathan Koppel
If plaintiffs lawyers in Houston are a little groggy this morning from too much partying, please forgive them. They’ve got much to cheer about: Last night, Houston trial courts underwent a massive face lift, as 22 Democratic judges swept into office.

Harris County, where Houston is located, had been a Republican stronghold since 1994, resulting in a trial bench that was almost exclusively Republican and, according to critics, too favorably disposed towards corporate defendants in civil cases and prosecutors in criminal cases. A WSJ article over the weekend looked at the partisan battle underway in Harris County, with Democrats hoping Obama would be popular enough to carry Democratic judges into office.

He did his job; Democrats won 22 of the 26 district-court races in Harris County. In Dallas County, which also used to be a GOP bastion before a partisan shift in 2006, Democrats won all six district-court races.

Of course, we’re still left with the hot-button issue of whether partisan elections are a good way to select judges. Many lawyers and good-government types say judicial elections can bias outcomes, with judges possibly inclined to favor big contributors. Spending on judicial races has climbed dramatically across the country. In Harris County, trial lawyers on the left and tort reformers on the right kicked in substantial sums to elect judges perceived as like-minded.

Even Houston lawyers, who wanted fresh blood on the bench, worried that a Democratic partisan sweep could oust some competent Republican judges. “I don’t know if we want to go in the direction of discouraging qualified people from seeking the bench, because they may be just swept out in 2, 4, or 6 years even though they have done an outstanding job,” said Houston plaintiffs lawyer Randall Sorrells.

Anonymous said...

the gop showed what a bunch of classless losers they are when they booed obama during mccains otherwise classy concession speech

Anonymous said...

You're right. He's not a pure socialist. He's a National Socialist, which is known as a Nazi. You're perspicacity is on a par with Michelle Obama.

Anonymous said...

Ahhh, the Captain continues to value anything but intelligence and ability. In other words white males not apply, even if you are qualified. What a complete ass you are.

Anonymous said...

Captain,

You forgot to remind the new judges that they are not lawyers anymore and that their job is not to help their former colleagues win or get favorable results. Also, you forgot to remind the former colleagues that they should not expect the judge to be co-counsel on their cases.

Anonymous said...

Down with Whitey!

Anonymous said...

"the gop showed what a bunch of classless losers they are when they booed obama during mccains otherwise classy concession speech"

Anonymous said...

Should we prepare for Obama 2012, or am I getting ahead of myself?

Anonymous said...

I meant to add a little something but I was distracted by the new outfit I bought for my princess.

2pm, agreed.

Anonymous said...

1:03, until he takes office we will not know what type of progressive change he will bring about to this country. As they say, don't put the cart in front of the horse.

Anonymous said...

Ummm...