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.

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

YOUR PAPERS PLEASE

This is what parking in Lot 26 has come to: Police Officers bullying patrons:

Anonymous said...

So I was lucky to find a parking spot in Lot 26 @ 9:30 in the morning (I was stuck in a line of cop cars when the guy right in front of me backed out of his space to which I quickly pulled in) only to be confronted by one of the county's finest in a marked patrol car blocking my car and asking if I was an 'offica'. I indicated that I was a paying customer and went on my way but it was quite clear she wanted me to move my car and let her park there.

The invasion continues...

Monday, April 04, 2011 3:27:00 PM



Hi-Tech Lynching and Blogging:


Roy Black continues to entertain us with his blog. His current post, entitled "The High Tech Lynching Of Barry Bonds" careens from Bonds to Nixon to Clarence Thomas, but ends with a thoughtful discussion on the method of cross examination. Black finds fault with the female defense attorney who crossed examined Bond's former paramour. The lawyer apparently shouted and sneered and tossed papers and eyeglasses in disgust until the Judge told her to tone it down.


We agree that such remonstrations should rarely be used in court, and even more rarely used against civilian witnesses. However what caught our eye was the makeup of the jury: 8 females.


We wonder what do our expert attorneys think about having 8 females on a jury where one of the main witnesses is a kept woman? Good idea or bad?



Leonard Weinglass passed away last month. We initially missed the NY Times Obit, but here it is.

You kids who studied for the bar in your local Starbucks, go take at look at what it meant to be a lawyer when being a lawyer meant something.


The Pentagon Papers; The Chicago 8; Abbe Hoffman and Daniel Ellsberg; The Weather Underground. Pick a big case with criminal law overtones and social unrest underpinnings during the 1970's, and Leonard Weinglass was there in the middle of it.

Talk about knowing how to cross examine a witness without losing your cool. Weinglass was a master. So put down your Cafe Latte and click away on your Ipad or Iphone and read about a real lawyer.


See You In Court.


PS- to the idiot yesterday, who in the comments section wondered what Dr. Martin Luther King did for a living. He was the Pastor of The Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, carrying on a tradition started by his grandfather. He was also the Pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He was on the executive council of the NAACP and he was president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. At age 35 he became the youngest man to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He donated the prize money. He left a widow and four young children who lived in a modest home. His wife was suddenly left as a single parent for four young children without any support. You insinuated he was some kind of slacker or thief. I would wager he worked harder and spent more time traveling and working to better the lives of others in one year than you have worked in your whole, sad, miserable, petty excuse for a life.







20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good idea. Women judge women way harder than men judge them. So great idea.

Anonymous said...

Rock On Rumpole. Love the MLK JR. P.S.

Anonymous said...

Bad idea: women on jury will dislike 'kept' woman and dislike Bonds even more for being a slimeball.

Anonymous said...

To the idiot who asked Dr. Martin Luther King did for a living......Crack open a history book, google his name.

Anonymous said...

I can not wait for the first lawyer to hit a police car and how the police will make up all kinds of shit to make it look like the lawyer is at fault.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

The Captain Reports:

Finally, some good news out of Tallahassee .....

from the DBR:

The Senate Judiciary Committee appeared to tap the brakes on a sweeping overhaul of the states court system Monday, delaying a measure that would stiffen requirements for judges seeking re-election and expressing hesitation about several other bills changing the relationship between the judicial branch and the Legislature.

The committee’s grumblings about the court proposals --- and its willingness to temporarily shelve the measure on judicial elections --- seemed to slow momentum for the kind of broad revamp of the judiciary sought by House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park. And the Senate still has no companion bill for a House measure that would split the Florida Supreme Court in two, by far the most ambitious part of Cannon’s judicial reform agenda.

“This is an issue that’s important to the speaker of the House, and so we want to be sensitive to his priorities,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Anitere Flores, R-Miami, after a meeting where several of the bills were considered. “But, at the same time, we’ve taken our own Senate approach to several of these issues. So I imagine this is something that’s going to continue to be negotiated until Day 60.”

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Flores did little to revive the judicial retention bill, which would require incumbent judges to get approval from 60 percent of voters to continue in office, or explain why she decided to temporarily postpone the measure.

The Senate seemed more open to the concerns of the Florida legal establishment, which has largely opposed most of the measures that have sprung up overhauling the courts.

Collectively, this legislation --- along with the others --- could have a traumatic effect on what has been a very, very balanced system between the three branches of government,” said Bob Harris, representing the trial lawyers section of the Florida Bar, while speaking on one of the bills.

One proposal (SJR 1704), which would open up Judicial Qualifications Commission proceedings after the panel finds probable cause, decides not file or a charge or enters a settlement with an accused judge, drew lukewarm support from the panel before it passed.

If this bill weren’t to change between now and the floor, I don’t think you can count on my vote on the floor,” Flores told the sponsor of the bill, Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla.

Some Republicans were also hesitant about a measure (SPB 7222) cutting out the Bar’s role in selecting some members of judicial nominating committees and terminating the current members of the boards, giving Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who would inherit the picks the Bar suggests to the governor, a freer hand in reshaping the panels.

One of the reasons we have such a good and excellent judiciary here in this state is because of the nominating commission and the methodology that includes the bar in the nominating commission process,” said Sen. David Simmons, R-Maitland.

About the only measure that didn’t run into significant resistance from the GOP lawmakers was a constitutional amendment (SJR 2084) lowering the level of support needed for the Legislature to overturn a court rule issued by the Supreme Court, from two-thirds to 60 percent, and limiting how quickly the court can reinstate it. And that measure even drew tepid opposition from some legal groups.

If you feel like you have to make a change,” said Steve Metz, chief legislative counsel for the Bar, “the way you are going about it in this resolution is the way to go.”

Cap Out .....

Anonymous said...

MLK loved Jesus and that's what matters, not all this other stuff.

LOT 26 Protest said...

OK, here's an idea for a Lot 26 showdown:

On Monday, April 11, 2011 EVERYONE with a valid permit for Lot 26, should park their car in a legal spot at 7:30 a.m., effectively filling the lot before most cops get there for court. Keep your cars there until 10 A.M.

They can't tow you and the cops will be tweaked. This will get someone's attention.

Peaceful Protest a la Dr. King.

Anonymous said...

The State Court Trust Fund has insufficient funds to support the Court for the remainder of this fiscal year. This is despite the fact that the Eleventh Judicial Circuit has operated within its allocated budget. The problem is that the Legislature directed that the allocation come from filing fees and with the substantial decline in foreclosure filings, that funding source has not met earlier projections.

A plan was proposed to fund the Court through the end of the fiscal year which was approved by the House, the Senate, and the Governor's budget office. The Governor rejected the plan and instead approved a temporary transfer of mediation and court education trust fund dollars to cover through the month of April.
To date, the Governor has not approved additional funding for the remainder of this fiscal year.

Our Court system teeters on a high wire in the balance.

Anonymous said...

Lenny Weinglass also co-counseled with Vincent Bugliosi the successful defense of Stephanie Stearns in the infamous Muff Graham/Palmyra Island murder trial.

Anonymous said...

that proves my point. he inherited his"flock" from his father. never studied anything meaningful in school. traveled to screw other woman, spent his money on ho's and not his family. he never worked an honest day in his life. i refuse to rest on mlk day. a holiday for john edwards would be as fitting. this is not a racial comment, just the facts, Jack.

Anonymous said...

When are those damn cops going to move to a pig pen to park their pigmobiles?

Anonymous said...

Breaking news....
http://www.flgov.com/2011/04/05/governor-scott-appoints-judge-victoria-r-brennan-of-miami-to-the-eleventh-judicial-circuit-court/

Anonymous said...

And your first new Circuit Court Judge is...Judge Victoria Brennan. No word on the second appointment Congratulations to Judge Brennan.

Anonymous said...

12:24 totally rocks. I think that's a great idea. I say we take it further. Get out of the car (weather permitting) and just chat with your next-parking slot buddy and just hang around and around and around. if the weather sucks, just just in the car reading newspaper, drinking coffee with lights on. that will definitely piss some people off.

Anonymous said...

If the Courts can not pay to operate themselves, we must as a business close them down...LOL
DS

Anonymous said...

"MLK loved Jesus and that's what matters, not all this other stuff."


He apparently did not love Jesus enough to give up his adulterous behavior. After all, the Bible proscribes adultery as a sin punishable by death (Deuteronomy 22:21). In the scheme of things, one may not view adultery as that big a deal and that is a perfectly acceptable opinion to which you are entitled. But to be a man of God, a Reverend no less, that, I'm sorry, is the height of hypocrisy.

Anonymous said...

As Rick Scott dismantles the courts, this blog stands fixated on parking perks and nostalgia from days of yore.

I'm torn. Who disgusts me more? The populist crack-pots who cheer for a shutdown? The loathesome private firms whose navel-gazing blinds them to the courts' systemic decay? Faith in our courts, hard-earned, will not be easy to regain from either the public or the public servants.

Time to make the donuts said...

Great idea, 12:24 pm!
Even better....
We should get to Lot 26 early every day that week and fill the spaces. It will be madness, I tell you.

I'm so down with this.

Anonymous said...

DOWN WITH GOVERNOR SCOTT!!!!!