FAIR OR FOUL ?

Breaking Blog news: Homestead Police Officer Jose Villarreal has been arrested for falsifying documents associated with his application for citizenship. The Herald has it here.

When we started this humble endeavor a few years ago, we had no idea of the various and intricate ethical dilemmas that we would encounter. We had a few bright line rules that we thought would be sufficient, (little did we know), such as keeping the personal life of individuals out of comments and blog posts except under very unusual circumstances.

Therefore, we were a bit startled to see this in the Broward Blog, and we wonder what you think of it?

Attention Process Servers - if you're having trouble serving Judge Carney a subpoena for deposition in the civil suit filed on behalf of Frank lee Smith (an innocent man executed by the State of Florida), go to the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six on Thursday night. Carney's "accomplishments and career" are being honored as part of the Broward County Justice Association's "Annual Judges' Night". It'll cost $90.00 to get in, but you'll find him there, being lauded by Chief Judge Tobin, the SAO's Chuck Morton, and Kelly Hancock. ...Word of advice - don't mention Anthony Caravella, John Purvis, Christopher Clugston or Bob Norman to Carney. You don't want to spoil the festivities, after all ...

A couple of Rumpolian thoughts: Broward County has a Justice Association!!!!?

What in the world do they do there?

Dale: "Hey Jimbo, remember when there used to be justice in Broward Courts?"

Jimbo: "Boy, those were dark days, weren't they? Pass me dat jar of pickled eggs and a slim jim. I'm telling the wife I will be late for dinner."

Will there be a rebuttal period during Judge Carney's "accomplishments and career" dinner, and if so, will a seance be conducted so Frank Smith can give the opposing view point?

Have any attorneys been held in contempt recently North of the Border and been sentenced to spending $90.00 to have dinner with the rest of the Broward Judiciary? if so, is that an Eighth Amendment violation (cruel and unusual punishment for you robed readers) ?

While careful readers may have noticed a slight (just slight) disdain we have for the judiciary North of the Border, we're still not so sure it is appropriate to publicize Judge Carney's retirement dinner in this manner. Somewhere buried within all of those wrongful convictions and withheld evidence and innocent men on death row, we imagine the man must have done something right that merits a pat on the back and a hearty good luck as he heads into retirement. But then again, that's more care and concern than the Judge/prosecutor ever showed for Frankie Lee Smith.