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.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

THE CLUB

VOTE IN OUR MUSIC POLL. Turn it off or crank it up? You decide. 
Update- 89% say "can it". People people...there's U2. There's The Beach Boys. And if you haven"t listened to Pink's "So What" you're missing a funny tune. 

Spin the "wheel of prison" with a Broward Judge....below.  

And don't forget to check out the hottest new recipe sweeping the nation- THE BACON EXPLOSION. Below.

Details for the funeral of former Dade PD Michael Glickstein:
The funeral will be held graveside at Beth David Memorial Gardens located at 3201 NW 72nd Avenue, Hollywood, Florida; (just north of Sheridan on 72nd which is between the Turnpike and University Drive) at 1:30 PM on Friday, January 30, 2009.


One of the most elite legal clubs to be an alumni of?  Yes, those who practice in Hialeah Branch court are an elite group, as are those who gather for coffee in Au Bon Pain at 7:30 AM. However, when you surpass those elite groups, you ascend to the stratosphere of legal intelligentsia: former AUSAS and United States Attorneys for the Southern District of New York. 

Rudy Giuliani. Springs to mind. But lets get real serious. There was Henry Stimson,  secretary of War during WWII;  former Supreme Court Justices Felix Frankfurter and John Harlan and our personal favourite- Elihu Root who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1912 and was appointed US Attorney by Chester A Arthur. 

The title of the post links to the NY Times article on the Office and who President Obama will appoint to run it. 

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE
Broward SAO asked for eight years on a plea to the court. North of the Border Judge Dale Cohen gave the defendant.....lets play a game:

  THE WHEEL OF PRISON!!!!

8......10.......15.......20.......25.......30. (round and round it goes and where it stops only Judge Cohen knows.)

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ANSWER courtesy of our friends at the Broward Blog. 


Illinois has a new Governor- Pat Quinn. The Illinois legislature convicted Governor Blagojevich of the articles of impeachment and voted unanimously to remove him from office on Thursday. 



We start breaking the Super Bowl down tomorrow with the Arizona Cardinals surprising defense. 

BACON KABOOM!
Planning a Super Bowl Party? Don't forget the hottest recipe sweeping the nation:

5000 calories and 500 grams of fat. And the web has gone so crazy for it, the NY Times has "weighed" in. 

We'll stick with broccoli and tempeh rolled with some brown rice in a sushi roll.

GLASS MORTGAGES. 
This week we all read  that the Wall Street Bonuses were out, and 18 billion later, people are a bit upset. That includes Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd. 

One problem- people who got glass mortgages from Countrywide shouldn't throw stones, as the Wall Street Journal points out here, in a thorough spanking of the Senator.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

You sadist bastid. Whyinhell you makin' me listen to JOHN DENVER? Stop the music now!

Anonymous said...

SAN DIEGO – A San Diego judge has declared a mistrial in a kidnapping and assault case after the defendant smeared excrement on his lawyer's face and threw it at jurors. The judge boosted defendant Weusi McGowan's bail from $250,000 to $1 million after the Monday incident.

Prosecutor Christopher Lawson says McGowan was upset because the judge refused to remove public defender Jeffrey Martin from the case.

McGowan had smuggled a bag of feces into court and spread it on Martin's hair and face before flinging the excrement at jurors. No jurors were hit.

McGowan has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping for robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and other counts in connection with a 2007 home invasion.

Anonymous said...

Turn off that annoying music or I'm out. WTF?

Anonymous said...

I have grown evermore intemperate of what I perceive as a systemic problem in the State Attorney’s Office. Too many of the new breed of ASA’s seem to ignore their obligation to do justice, instead acting as pre-programed instruments, adhering blindly to “policy,” oftentimes side stepping common sense while acting under fear of sanction should they question the arresting officer pr purported victim. They seem to lack intellectual honesty whenever they are called on the mat on a complex issue, specially one involving discovery, with some thinking Brady refers to the Presidential Assistant shot by John Hinkley! ASA’s who seem more hell bent on a pound of flesh than achieving a fair and just result.

The script is complemented by judges who do nothing to discourage the practices of the State, for too many of them are likewise motivated or inhibited by fear - fear of the public opinion stirred up by the vocal minority.

I was recently venting (ranting actually) to an old friend about the systemic problems plaguing the justice system, focusing on the State Attorneys Office and comparing the quality of some judges, explaining my concerns of how the interaction of certain judges (prosecutors in a robe) with certain ASA’s compromises justice. My friend chastised me, telling me I was being hypocritical and missing the point. She pointed out that it is us, the defense bar, that is ultimately responsible for allowing the cancer of injustice to fester. She poignantly said the defense bar, motivated by economics, frequently elects an expedient resolution to a case, rather than a laborious fight. Her point, the profession as a whole is compromised in one way or another, some by fear others by economics. She made her point by quoting some idealist who said that “law and justice are not always the same. When they aren't, destroying the law may be the first step toward changing it.” Concluding that if we, the defense bar, really wanted to make a difference, we could. We posses the power to modify the conduct of the ASA’s and those on the bench who still think they are prosecutors, rather than judges. In her words “there are only so many of them (ASA’s and judges) and they have a finite budget, which is evermore diminishing, you figure it out.” “Is the defense bar willing to compromise economics in the short run to gain respect in the long hull?”

Idealistic, foolish, naive, perhaps, but my friend made a point! At least food for though.

Rumpole said...

you have to summarize long articles and print the link. I will not just allow you to repost the whole thing.

Anonymous said...

Please can the music! It slows down my computer even tho I have high speed Internet. I'm no longer falling in love with you due to your music selections even tho my tastes are highly eclectic and include multiple genres. I wonder what wines you enjoy. I hope it isn't Carlo Rossi!

Hilda said...

Rump likes the wine I give him and the music is just fine.

Rump can you play the one I like?

http://www.televisiontunes.com/Rumpole_of_the_Bailey.html

Anonymous said...

Rump, if the homicide detectives played that music in their interrogation rooms, they'd break every suspect and get a confession every time, even from the innocent ones. It's like water-boarding, only worse.

Anonymous said...

My dearest Rumpole, you surprise me. You claim to be a runner but you never mentioned last Sunday's Miami Marathon/Half Marathon. There were local Judges/attorneys who ran, and you missed the boat. Or the sneakers, so to speak.

Anonymous said...

I love the music. You can select the songs you want to hear people! The FUCKING RISING while I work!!! YEAH!!!

Anonymous said...

STOP SNITCHING: Flip, cooperate, and receive 12 years? This is compelling evidence why Reverend Al's plea to stop a "no snitching" mentality is infirm. Cooperate, but do so before a career prosecutor who happens to wear a robe and claims to be "neutral", and a dirty prosecutor, and get hammered worse than if you'd gone to trial. Try the case.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/879351.html

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

BREAKING NEWS NORTH OF THE BORDER

About fifteen minutes ago a man ran from Judge Imperato's courtroom. He was to be taken into custody for a revoked bond. He ran down the stairwell. He was chased by law enforcement. He got outside, took his shirt off, and dove into a canal. He never came back up, and is reported to have drowned.

Anonymous said...

I don't think you can call the New River a Canal. Dat is deep.

Anonymous said...

See 33 Fla. L. Weekly D1869b.

3rd DCA case where State offered 7 years one day, but increased the plea offer to 10 years the following day. Unable to discern a reason for the three year increase, the defendant pled open to the court and ... judge gave him 30 years. 3rd DCA reversed, however.

Anonymous said...

MMmmmm, Bacon. Bacon Explosion sounds so good. gonna make me some on sunday.

Anonymous said...

Do you get points for 'shortest visit to blog'? Why else would you have the awful music?

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why the San Diego judge declared a mistrial. Why should the defendant be rewarded for his misconduct? He chose to act up in front of the jury; how can he complain about the perceptions that might (rightfully I'd imagine) create?

Is there more to this story? I assume so.

BTDT

Anonymous said...

10:13:00 AM---------That's RIDICULOUS. Reverand Al Sharpton's point is that children are being slaughtered while their killers remain free because people won't come forward. It has nothing to do with plea bargaining.

The "No Snitch" movement started to protect people who were running from slavery or fighting oppressive laws. You cheapen the effort (as Sharpton pointed out) when you use it as a shield for child killers, rapists, etc. who are destroying neighborhoods and people's lives. Of course, he explained it far more eloquently that I'm stating it here. I suggest you give it a listen and try to understand his point. It's a good one.

http://www.miamiherald.com/508/index.html?media_id=2994730&genre_id=4216

BTDT

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

I believe that was the Davalos case and Phil Reizenstein argued the case, successfully, before the 3rd DCA.

Cap Out ...

Anonymous said...

Jon Blecher update please. When he did DUIs the prosecutors called him "the master of disaster" because the havoc he wrecked on them. Now, I call him the master of illusion because no one ever sees him anymore. Did he win the lottery or marry that heiress he was seeing?