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, April 06, 2011

NO SHUT DOWN OR FURLOUGHS

The following is an actual re-creation of the scene in Tallahassee on Wednesday.
(Justice Canady is pictured holding the bowl.)





The Governor and his henchman- Florida House Squeaker Dean Cannon- having successfully reduced the judiciary and Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles Canady to a Dickensonian English waif begging for some more, have agreed to "loan" the judiciary some money to keep the courthouses open and the JAs and Bailiffs fully employed through the end of the fiscal year, which in Florida happens to be June in years in which the sum total of the digits are divisible by an even number. In all other years, the fiscal year begins between October and July, depending upon leap year, El Nino, and whether Speaker Boehner cries when Phil the Groundhog sees his shadow. See how easy that is? Finance is fun! The Sun Sentinel has the story here.

(FYI- "fiscal year" is technically defined as "an arbitrary time period invented by an accountant in the 1950's named Norman, designed to confuse anyone who is not an accountant.")

The loan will be made by "an outfit out of Chicago" and will be delivered by two guys named Vito and Sal and interest(technically called "juice" in these transactions) has been negotiated to "three points a week."

In plain English- we keep working and trying cases, and your favourite JAs and bailiffs aren't forced to take furloughs they can ill afford. To quote a great governor: Now lets get to work! (10:00 am to 2:00 pm for those of you in county court. ).

Has there ever been a better time for the old Neil Rogers drop of Larry King: "Loan me fifty dollars." ?


24 comments:

Anonymous said...

its the vig not the juice

Anonymous said...

I want to bash Rick Scott, but I won't. Nancy Wear, despite her usual condescending tone, had a point in her email today on the FACDL listserve. Voting at the polls is the best way to voice our opinions, not through resolutions that the governor and legislature will wipe their ass with. Think about it. The Cuban-Americans in our community are among our ranks as lawyers, judges and the electorate. Yet they voted for Scott and the rest of these yahoos. It is disgraceful that the Democratic Party has to rely on Blacks and Liberal Jews just to have a chance in this state and our community. Not to go on a rant, but seriously Cubans, wake up, the people who steadily support (Republicans) are decimating this State and our Judiciary.

Anonymous said...

The only thing republicans are REALLY good at, the ONLY thing they NEED to be really good at is:

Convincing millions of people to vote against their own interests. (No better example than most Cubans, with a nod toward JFK, of course. By the way, any time now we'll see those "Embargo Successful" headlines, huh?)

Oddly ironic, from a party whose main trait is simple selfishness.

augusta national said...

Tomorrow begins the 25th anniversary of the greatest four days in golf culminating with The Golden Bear's scorching 65 on Sunday to win his sixth and final green jacket at the age of 46. (side note. Jack's check for first place was $144k, about 1/10 of what this year's winner will earn).

Anonymous said...

To 8:44, as a "reformed" Cuban who now votes liberal, I wholeheartedly agree. WAKE UP PEOPLE.

Anonymous said...

Brennan to Tunis, Tunis to ROC

Anonymous said...

Min Mans to Expensive?
DS

Florida reconsiders minimum mandatory sentences for nonviolent crimes

The idea of throwing every criminal in prison and throwing away the key is being reconsidered in the wake of Florida’s growing budget problems.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/06/2154365/florida-reconsiders-minimum-mandatory.html##ixzz1Ipv5oEU2

Anonymous said...

We recalled Alvarez; now we should try to recall Scott

Anonymous said...

I am a little bit puzzled,

WHERE HAVE YOU ALL BEEN FOR THE LAST 6 MONTHS?!?!?!?!

KFR, thanks for waking up right before the atomic bomb hits the ground. Seriously, thanks for taking time from that busy social schedule to do your job. Bravo.

Carlos Martinez- very astute to bitch at the 23rd hour. Its kind of you to stop re-configuring your office like a damn chessboard and actually give a hoot about the players.

Maybe if these politicians who run their respective government lawyer offices reprioritized so that the advocacy of their employees wellbeing was first, the practice and advocacy was second and self agrandized politiking came in a far 3rd, then we would not be in such a predicament.

The entire thing makes me sick.

The PDs and ASAs should both get together and kick out their bosses. Time for BIG change.

I don't remember either of these two in headlines during the election.

I cannot recall any interviews or calls for support of the public regading their employees wellbeing until........ONE FREAKING MONTH AGO.

Pathetic, embarrassing and unfortunately they both deserve what they get, the problem, the attorneys do not, they are the victims in this.

Anonymous said...

Why should Cuban-Americans support a party that, through its own ineptness and incompetence, has helped make Florida into, basically, a one-party state? Why not support the ruling party so that you can at least have a voice in the government?

Anonymous said...

Hey 8:44: Great to see that you're not painting with a broad brush, or stereo-typing, or anything like that. I did not vote for Scott. Not a single Cuban-American (lawyer or non-lawyer) with whom I am friendly voted for Scott. So instead of sounding like the Hillbillies that DID vote for Scott (that’s the reason he’s in office), and being angry, and blaming entire groups of people, do something positive, educate people about why our courts, and our profession and our system are important. Explain to people why what Scott is doing is wrong. You might change someone’s mind. Leave the ranting to the t-baggers unless you want to continue sounding like them. Oh, and as to the email to which you refer in your post, I don’t know the sender, but it sounded pretty pathetic and defeatist; not an attitude well-suited for criminal defense lawyers, since the odds are usually stacked against us, our clients are treated unfairly, and we have every reason in the world to be pessimistic. It’s one thing to vent, it’s quite another to just say f–k it. I was really disappointed reading it.

Anonymous said...

Im not going to say that Cubans have not traditionally been a republican voting block, but that is changing. Anyways, last time I checked the governer's election is State wide. I know it might seems that Cubans are everywhere when you live in Dade, but they are actually a small minority in the State. Believe me the Cubans who voted repulican had lots of help from many diffrent groups through the state. I was just at a prison upstate, all the correcitons officers where saying how much they regret voting for Scott, even though they vote republican because its a vote for Law and Order. They were black. I know plenty of republican Jewish people and christians and everything else. Bad judgment knows no color or ethnicity.

Anonymous said...

my mother in law is cuban. she voted for scott because she thinks his hospitals are the best run of any group of hospitals. that was the reason she gave for her vote.

on another note, with the governor seeking to cut money from the courts, and social services, I wonder what services (legal, mental health, etc.) will remain for our young men and women who are experiencing the trauma of war.

although the link below concerns a British soldier, it is very relevant to American soldiers as well.

http://duckrabbit.info/blog/2011/04/it-was-afterwards-that-we-heard-the-whispers-about-the-oil-and-thats-when-i-thought-fuckinghell-i-might-be-on-the-wrong-side/

Anonymous said...

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/06/2154365/florida-reconsiders-minimum-mandatory.html

Anonymous said...

Have you heard?

Judge William Thomas is coming back to criminal!! Yipee and all the congratulations to Judge Thomas for whipping down some of these large case loads!!

Anonymous said...

Neil.......God.

P. Nis said...

Wake up white people!

Anonymous said...

8:44 here, let me clarify. I am not saying all Cubans voted for Scott or all blindly support Republicans. Not at all. But here is the simple electoral truth; a Republican can NEVER, EVER, EVER win statewide without substantial support from the Cuban electorate in South Florida. There is no path to victory for a Republican in this state without Cuban support. Period. And yes, you are partly right. I know many Cuban lawyers who despise Scott and didn't vote for him. They are educated and understand the system. But, who did Abuela vote for? Or Tio and Tia? Maybe now you get my point.

Anonymous said...

WAIT JUST A SECOND!

8:07--Martinez stopped reconfiguring? Really? When was that??

It's not over til we say it's over said...

Don't forget to get to LOT 26 early on Monday. Take all the parking spots. The cops will have a shit fit.
Be there by 7:45-8:00.

Thank You

Anonymous said...

8:07:

I totally agree. This is BS, because the State Attorney and Public Defender have been/are so out of touch they have no idea how miserable their offices are for normal line PD/ASA.


Martinez and KFR are two peas in a pod, they both are self serving and make decisions that benefit their image.

Anonymous said...

RUMP ET AL:

PLEASE CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING IDEA FOR A POST SUBJECT-

A POLL TO FIND OUT THE "CONTENTMENT FROM ASAS/PDS WITH MARTINEZ AND KFR"

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. Rump,

As a fairly new employee of the State of Florida - I have a couple of questions that i was hoping you wouldn't mind answering candidly for me. I am reluctant to ask these out in the open, as they are probably rude, sensitive or otherwise inappropriate. But anyway, here we go:

- Upon leaving the PD or ASA office, how difficult is it to "open up shop"? What in the hell sort of paperwork is involved? Is it just a matter of opening up one of those fancy bank accounts and getting some clown on the internet to make you a "PC" or "LLC"?

- How do people figure out how much to charge their clients? Everything we do as an ASA or PD is done on a fixed salary. So when I "hang my shingle" and Joe Meathead walks through the door saying "Uh, I have a DUI" or "I was on the beach after sunset," how do you know what to hit him up for?

- Why isn't everyone plastering their sexy bodies on billboards and holding up citations with a caption that says "DON'T PAY THAT TICKET" underneath? Can't we all get a slice of the Ticket Clinic / Traffic Ticket Office / Alex Hanna pie? Is it really that difficult? How in the hell do they have so much volume? Aren't they all rich?

I guess that's about it for now. Please enlighten us.

Tom said...

The most powerful and effective way to open a business, any business, is as a sole proprietorship. A professional cannot limit her own negligence. Nobody will loan money to a PA without a personal guarantee from a living person. Creating a corporation for a one man law office is a waste of time and money.

Suntrust knows how to open an IOTA account. Go see them, tell them you want a checking account and an IOTA account.

Keep your trust records on paper. DO NOT COMPUTERIZE YOUR TRUST ACCOUNT. Every month, balance the trust account.

Hang a shingle and go.