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.

Friday, May 14, 2010

THE NEWS YOU NEED (including Fatty Cue info)

While heading into the Weekend.....

It's Friday May 14, 2010. It's the 134th day of the year, with 231 fun filled and sun splashed days remaining.

In Broward it turns out that soon to be former Judge Ana Gardiner lavashed over $600,000.00 in legal fees on her new firm, not the $300,000.00 we reported earlier in the week. Just a coincidence we're sure. Along the way she flirted with the lawyers during the trial and basically had a grand old time. Here's a neat riddle- what happened to the Plaintiff in that civil trial that didn't happen to the judge (that we know of) but that the Judge wanted it to happen?
**Answer below.


We hear that newly minted Circuit Judge Joe Fernandez will take over Judge Soto's calendar now that Soto is chief Judge for criminal courts. Soto can now turn her attention to more "Blake like matters" like.....well, something will occur to us.

Celtics knocked the Cavs out of the playoffs last night.

There's still an oil spill in the Gulf that's heading this way.

And US Senators were shocked...just shocked to learn yesterday that Supreme Court Nominee Kagan clerked for former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
As if working for a giant in the history of this country and the history of Supreme Court Jurisprudence automatically prevents Kagan from becoming a Judge because Marshall is considered to have been "an activist" Judge.

We guess if Marshall wasn't such an "activist" as a lawyer and a Judge then maybe, in the view of these Senators, precedent would have been respected, Plessy v. Ferguson would still be good law, and little children of different colours would be going to separate (but equal) schools.

And finally, if the worst thing these moronic right wing nuts (and senators) can come up with is that Kagan shouldn't be confirmed because she has never been a judge and it's a dangerous thing to put someone without judicial experience on the Supreme Court, then lets all agree to go back and vacate every decision Justice Rehnquist participated in because he was the last Justice confirmed without prior judicial experience. (Update and erratum- A loyal reader informs us that Justice Lewis Powell was the last Justice confirmed without prior judicial experience. Wikipedia reports that Nixon nominated Powell and Rehnquist on the same day. Certainly Powell was the most reluctant nominee in recent history, turning down Nixon's request to serve in 1969. Our point about Rehnquist was that as a judicial hero of the right, the right has no right to throw stones at Kagan on her lack of experience. Right?)

We started out writing this in such a good mood. Not sure what happened.

WHAT IS FATTY CUE?

Last week as we had a 24 hour layover in NYC, a fetching acquaintance enticed us to spend an evening at an unlikely named place called "Fatty Cue". Here is the NY Times review yesterday- but we leave you with a recipe for a drink appropriately entitled a "Recession Special":

a shot of rail bourbon, a shot of spicy pickle juice and a tallboy of Pabst. The drink is best consumed in that order, pausing only to thrill to the way that pickle juice refracts the flavors of first the whiskey and then the beer.

Rumpole sort of remembers that a few of those (especially the bourbon shots) turns any acquaintance into a "fetching" one; any evening into a "fun" one; any food into "great food"; it's just hard to remember most of the specifics.


**Answer: She got screwed.

27 comments:

word of the day guyz said...

Rump and readers- there's a lot of controversy at the courthouse and it's high time we stepped in and settled it:

FETCHING: very attractive; capturing interest; "a fetching new hairstyle"; "something inexpressibly taking in her manner"; "a winning personality"

Anonymous said...

Miami loves Petey
Petey loves Miami....

no wait wait.

Miami loves Adrien
Adrien loves Miami
Oh sam can't you see?
Miami loves Adrien
Adrien Loves Miami
He'll be elected by September 3.

Pretty neat huh?

Anonymous said...

You(and the alternative blog/media in general) are missing the real issue in this Gardner saga. The fact that she awarded the fees means nothing. Such fee hearings are bread and butter stuff. The jury rejected Plaintiff's theory not Gardner. The other accusations are baseless and the source is a disgruntled litigant. But here is the real story: Gardner hires a big time lawyer to defend her in the JQC matter, the same lawyer who represented Ken Jenne. From what I read, she starts sleeping with him and they now live together, he having left his wife for her. The JQC trial will be a slam dunk. She is guilty and will be found guilty and it will be extremely embarrassing. To defend herself, she would have to lie in the face of overwhelming evidence and force the lawyer she communicated with to lie. It would be a real mess. She has no choice but to resign. So where does she work? Let's be realistic. No firm worth a damn is going to hire her. She has too much baggage and has no discernible legal skills other than having worn a robe. But wait. The guy she is sleeping with was co counsel with Tom Scott on the Jenne case. In fact, Scott was brought in at the last minute to negotiate a plea with the feds, an office he used to run. I am sure Scott collected a very large fee for his work. I wonder if Scott hired Gardner to return the favor of having been brought in on the Jenne case by Gardner's now live in boyfriend. This is the angle that never received any attention. And it sort of confirms people's worst suspicions about Broward politics: an old boy (and girl) network each stroking the other's back. It is just a thought but it does make sense.

Anonymous said...

Rump:

As the debate about the “Arizona Law” (a/k/a “Protect Our Race and Sovereignty Act,”) with the concomitant political posturing continue at an amazing hypocritical pace, I felt I had offer a quiz to our brethren. If nothing else, perhaps it will cause some to think, deliberate, and put the asinine in perspective. So, here goes, what “great” mind in history said the following:
(1) All great movements are popular movements. They are the volcanic eruptions of human passions and emotions, stirred into activity by the ruthless Goddess of Distress or by the torch of the spoken word cast into the midst of the people.

(2) All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.

(3) By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise.

(4) Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.

(5) The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.

(6) The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.

(7) How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think.

Bonus clue, the same genius said:

I don’t see much future for the Americans.... Everything about the behavior of American society reveals that it’s half Judaized, and the other half negrified. How can one expect a State like that to hold together?

Cast the historic quote in terms embraced by those whose disdain for all whose looks, culture, attire, or language may differ is embodied in the likes of the “Arizona” law, I offer the restated quote:

I don’t see much future for the Americans.... Everything about the behavior of American society reveals that it’s . . Judaized, . . negrified and latinoized. How can one expect a State like that to hold together?

Let me help you, these words were spoken by “Adolf Hitler.” Perhaps he was a "main stream Republican."

And I leave you with an opinion for though, as offered in 1968 by one of our greatest Supreme Court Justices, or at least for those of us who value all our parents lost, and feel driven to do what we can to preserve what little remains of the fundamental rights which distinguish our adopted homeland from that which we lost.

"There have been powerful hydraulic pressures throughout our history that bear heavily on the Court to water down constitutional guarantees and give the police the upper hand. That hydraulic pressure has probably never been greater than it is today."

"Yet if the individual is no longer to be sovereign, if the police can pick him up whenever they do not like the cut of his jib, if they can "seize" and "search" him in their discretion, we enter a new regime. The decision to enter it should be made only after a full debate by the people of this country."

Justice William O. Douglas - Dissenting, Terry vs. Ohio

If he had Judges with substance, rather than political correctness, what a different country we would be.

Go for it folks!!

Anonymous said...

Rumpole, Lewis Powell, not William Rehnquist, was the last confirmed Supreme Court justice who had no prior judicial experience before taking his seat on the high court.

8:25 AM, don't quit your day job.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

to 8:25 am .....

The election takes place on August 24, 2010. If they are still counting votes on September 3rd, then it will have been an extremely close election or a hurricane will have hit South Florida (on the 18th anniversary of Andrew) slowing the entire process down.

Cap Out ....

Anonymous said...

'then lets all agree to go back and vacate every decision Justice Rhenquist participated in"

I'm all for it! That's a GRRRRREAT idea!

Anonymous said...

9:05 am, you are right on the mark! It astonishes me to see so many Cuban exiles supporting these Castro-style police measures and forgetting where they came from and why they came here in the first place.

Fake Kenny Wiseman said...

Ate at Fatty Cue.
Overrated.

Richard Hersch said...

Have eaten at Fatty Crab a bunch of times on the Upper West Side. Totally excellent (and a great selection of brews, too) Looking forward to Fatty Cue, too.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

TO 9:14 AM .....

Powell and Rehnquist were both nominated by President Nixon on the same day to serve on the Court. Powell took over the seat of Hugo Black. Lewis Powell served from January 7, 1972 until June 26, 1987, when he resigned.

Nixon nominated Rehnquist to replace John Marshall Harlan II on the Supreme Court upon Harlan's retirement. Rehnquist took his seat as an Associate Justice on January 7, 1972, the same day as Powell.

So, 9:14, keep your night job, and in the daytime, learn how to read Wiki.

Cap Out ....

Anonymous said...

I am not a lawyer, but I find what is discussed on this blog very interesting.

I have an inquiring mind, and I want to know if it is alright for a prosecutor to have an intimate affair with a police officer who is involved in a pending case that the prosecutor is prosecuting. Anyone know if this is acceptable behavior?

Sir Eaton Beaver said...

Rumpole and Captain (although Captain, in my book you are now a LEFtenant), I was the poster at 9:14 A.M. (Yank time, of course). It is my belief that Justice Powell was confirmed after Justice Rehnquist. And Rupole, you need to learn to spell, my chap. I am on cider and black number four and my spelling is quite good, thank you.

Kenneth Weisman said...

...have eaten at Fatty Crab. Outstanding.

Anonymous said...

Rump--I hate Bill Rehnquist has much as the next guy but try and spell his name right.

Anonymous said...

What do you think of this?

From the New York Times:

"WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s decision to authorize the killing by the Central Intelligence Agency of a terrorism suspect who is an American citizen has set off a debate over the legal and political limits of drone missile strikes, a mainstay of the campaign against terrorism.


Muhammad ud-Deen/Associated Press
The C.I.A. has placed the American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki on a list for killing.

Related
Times Topic: Anwar al-Awlaki
Imam’s Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad (May 9, 2010) The notion that the government can, in effect, execute one of its own citizens far from a combat zone, with no judicial process and based on secret intelligence, makes some legal authorities deeply uneasy.

To eavesdrop on the terrorism suspect who was added to the target list, the American-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is hiding in Yemen, intelligence agencies would have to get a court warrant. But designating him for death, as C.I.A. officials did early this year with the National Security Council’s approval, required no judicial review."

Read the entire article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/world/14awlaki.html?hp

Needs the work... said...

Well, what I don't find amazing is that no one cares to comment on defense counsel Cole representing the screwed plaintiff's lawyer in a then-pending malpractice suit. From here the conflict seems obvious and invokes rule 4-1.7 re: undisclosed personal interest of plaintiff's lawyer. Nobody comments because nobody sees a conflict. Y'all so cozy you don't see a conflict when it hits you upside the head. No wonder you work so hard to keep outsiders OUT. With all of @ three M-D judges having out-of-state law degrees nothing is changing anytime soon...

Anonymous said...

From the "Comedyscene Blog" this morning:

"Those patrons who waited long enough last night- and the wait was well into the wee hours of the morning- at the Hard Rock comedy Club were rewarded when just after 2am a rumpled Rumanian figure wandered on to the stage and grabbed a microphone and simply stated 'let me tell you what else is bullsheeeet." And with those simple words the long awaited "Dis Is Bullsheeet too" comedy tour of cult hit Alex Michaels began...."

Anonymous said...

To:

I have an inquiring mind, and I want to know if it is alright for a prosecutor to have an intimate affair with a police officer who is involved in a pending case that the prosecutor is prosecuting. Anyone know if this is acceptable behavior?

Friday, May 14, 2010 2:36:00 PM

NOT OKAY

Anonymous said...

From the show:

"Dis BP...what is Dis company? A bunch of idiots? They deeestroy the gulf wit dieees old drilling and deeen dey say da way to stop des spill is to put garbage and golf balls into deee pipe spilling oil.

GOLF BALLS WILL STOP AN OIL DISASTER? DIS IS BULLSHEEEET!! Dees idiots are dolts. ....and let me tell you another tiiing....

Anonymous said...

9:10 - If having an intimate affair with an officer is wrong, than most female B ASAs don't wanna be right. Those narcotics cops can get a search warrant into the female B's pants faster than into a grow house.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole
If Gardner is living w/ a married man both are guilty of Adultary a misdo under FLA law. Old law but it defines living in open adultary as a crime for both parties.
DS

Anonymous said...

Rumpole
Isn't Immigration and Natralization , per the Constitution ( you all in ARIZONA remember it dont you?) controlled ONLY by the Feds not the States? Or did Arizona miss out in that civics lesson?
DS

Anonymous said...

9:10- It'd be easier to find a female ASA who is NOT having an "intimate relationship" with a cop.

Sexy blonde intern said...

Rumpole- you know what's second best to spending saturday night on a hot date with you? Watching The Hangover on HBO and pretending you're with me and you're the super cool good looking guy. Of course I know that can't happen because you can't reveal your identity, but I turned down like 4 dates in order to stay home and fantasize about you.

fake alschuler said...

Just take me there, put the food in front of me and i'll eat it.

IONQ said...

The Q leaves the Gulf Coast today "more concerned about the spill and less optimistic" and flies over to Iraq to help supervise the election recount. Then it's off to Thailand to report on the unrest of the red shirts for the BBC.

From the Q's weekly email itinerary, which you can get by signing up on his new website.