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, June 07, 2011

WHITHER WEINER?

Congressman Anthony Weiner (NY, horny) has been in the news for using his twitter account for sexting, i.e., sending provocative pictures of himself to young (over age 18) women around the country.

We arranged for two well known attorneys, one a prosecutor and one a defense attorney to engage in an email conversation. With very light editing, here is their discourse:

For the Prosecution:
Weiner is a liar. He lied to his constituents and the public in an effort to cover up his stupid mistake of using his twitter account (instead of the direct message feature) to send a woman a picture of his crotch. He has exhibited troubling and morally questionable behavior. He needs to resign.

For the Defense:
The prosecutor is an idiot. Weiner did not break the law. He does not need to resign. He will have a chance to explain his conduct to his constituents in the next election and they can decide if he is fit to represent them. Morally questionable behavior? Weiner didn't cheat on his wife. He flirted, electronically. If we asked every elected official who flirted, or who for that matter cheated on their spouse, Washington would be an empty city.

You know who should resign? Senator David Viiter of Louisiana. Vitter's name was found on two madams' lists. Vitter engaged in prostitution, a violation of the state laws of Louisiana. And yet this criminal was re-elected by his constituents who may be the only idiots dumber than the prosecution in this case.

For the Prosecution:
There is precedent for demanding Weiner's resignation. Before this scandal, another married NY Congressman Christopher Lee (is it something in the water up there) resigned in February, 2011, after it was revealed he sent a topless picture of himself to a woman he met on craigslist.

For the Defense:
There you go again. If flirting by sending a revealing picture of yourself is grounds to disqualify an individual to serve in elective office then you need to be prepared to argue that the following individuals should not have served this country: President Franklin Roosevelt; General Dwight Eisenhower; President Eisenhower; President John Kennedy; President Bill Clinton.

If flirting is the standard of disqualification, therefore cheating must mandate expulsion. You just threw out of office the top two decision makers who guided this country and the free world through world war II: President Roosevelt and Ike. Are you happy now with a country led by mediocre dolts like Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney?
Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Disqualify Newt Gingrich as well.

For the Prosecution:
You miss the point. Like Nixon, it's not the crime (3rd rate burglary, direct messaging, flirting, etc.) It's the coverup. Weiner looked into the camera, held a press conference and lied. How could he ever be trusted again? By the time Rumpole posts this the Weiner scandal will be worse. His sex/texting messages with a Las Vegas blackjack dealer will have hit the media making this scandal grow hotter (excuse the pun).
And there are likely more shoes to drop. All house members are prohibited from engaging in conduct that brings disrespect to the house. Weiner is becoming a poster child for mid-life crisis men acting like fools. He will never be effective again. Even members of his own caucus are disgusted with his behavior and will not work with him. He is a radioactive pariah. Worse- he is a bad joke. And the joke is getting worse and worse. Only his resignation will end this. The press is in a feeding frenzy and there's lots more texts for them to find and report.

For the Defense:
To quote the late, great Neil Rodgers, "You have a point and it's on top of your head." Clinton survived receiving oral sex in the oval office and lying about it. Sure Weiner will have trouble ahead. But he is a talented congressman and he should be given a chance to recover from this. Let he who has not flirted cast the first stone. If in two years his district votes him out, then so be it, the people will have spoken. But until then, lay off the guy and see if something good can come out of this.

Rumpole: We get the final word. Thanks guys/gals for your help in this difficult case. At the request of both of you we will keep your names secret. We may call upon you for help in the future.

See You In Court.



30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Transcript of the text messages:
http://www.radaronline.com/sites/radaronline.com/files/Wiener-Facebook-Transcript-Watermarked.pdf

old guy said...

Two biased persons making AD HOMINEM arguments about which person in Congress is the worst -- what a useless waste of your time, Rumpy.

Anonymous said...

Have you seen this Rumpy-

http://www.tmz.com/2011/06/07/donald-trump-anthony-weiner-psycho-congressman-picture-photo-twitter-scandal-video/

Anonymous said...

Um...who cares?

Anonymous said...

If I were him, I would have claimed that it couldn't possibly have been me because of the size of the bulge.

Anonymous said...

old guy is right

2 young to retire, 2 old 2 change said...

Something important-

I have it on good authority that the Dade DUI diversion program will be directly contacting defendants prior to arraignment in an effort to sign up qualified individuals early. If my recollection serves me, it had previously been stated this would not occur.

The program requires the entrants to sign a statement of responsibility without benefit of counsel in these cases.

For those of you who feel this is no big deal, and that this does not effect you because you don't do DUI defense, think- HOW LONG UNTIL THIRD DEGREE FELONIES ARE TREATED THIS WAY?

The criminal defense practice is slowly being whittled away, in the name of cost savings, money making ventures by diversion programs, and the desire to decrease judges dockets.

What is FACDL and the defense bar doing to stem this tide?

Anonymous said...

who cares
DS

Anonymous said...

Another very bright career permanently stained because of an inability to not think with the penis.

Anonymous said...

nice personal attack on the prosecutor. Great legal argument!

Anonymous said...

Dear 2 young to retire, 2 old 2 change:

The Advocate Program, the Court Options Program & the SAO have explicitly agreed that this will not occur. Unless you SEE otherwise, you should not get your panties all in a bunch.

BR

Anonymous said...

RUMPOLE; PLEASE GIVE UPDATE ON APPLICATION FOR REGIONAL COUNSEL. THANKS.

Anonymous said...

The defense bar should finance qualified candidates to run against the elected officials beholden to these diversion programs that have destroyed practice of criminal defense in county court.

Anonymous said...

5:24:00 pm, it's a waste of time to argue about which person in Congress is the worst when everyone in Congress is equally bad.

Anonymous said...

New site format sucks. What gives?

Anonymous said...

I wonder if there is sexting rehab?

Anonymous said...

Holy crap, Rumpled. Your DUI practice must be really drying up if you're spending time on this garbage. What, not enough time in the justice bldg to know what's going on? This blog sucks.

Anonymous said...

what a fuckin joke all clown ass defense attorneys are. you whine about how unfair the system is and then the sao bends over like a little bitch to give away every first DUI and now you are whining because you cant charge 5 to ten grand to defend one of these simple cases anymore.

this program sucks becuase dui defendants are careless, dangerous assholes who shouldnt be treated like shoplifters or people who get caught with a dime bag of pot.

2 & 2 said...

BR-

Not wearing panties because they do occasionally bunch.

I promise as soon as I see proof of this, I will post to FACDL list serve or here.

With all respect to you for your hard work, if that day happens, I may ask you to unbunch my panties for me.

Anonymous said...

Gee what a suprise, there is more bad news coming for Weiner. More photos, more texts, and wife is pregnant.

I do not know that he has done anything illegal, but someone who shows such poor judgement while he is in a position of trust, should seriously consider resigning.

Among the reasons for the resignation is he has shown his willingness to lie and cover up his dirty deeds, and he clearly has the weakness for getting involved with young women. He is therefore a perfect candidate for a Honey Trap. He is a liability. He should be gone.

Anonymous said...

To DS..

A lot of lawyers who practice in DUI courts care. Lawyers like you who never leave the government teat and try to make a living in private practice dont.

Used to think you were just a douche who kissed the asses of circuit judges. Its worse than I thought.

Anonymous said...

LOL. Funny to see some of the same attorneys who claim to be "defenders of liberty" getting all worked up because people can get diversion (a gift) without lining their pockets (and they complain about police corruption!). Another prime example of why people don't like lawyers.

The diversion program is a great opportunity for 99.99% of offenders (let's face it, who wouldn't take a withhold on a reckless on a DUI if the program didn't exist?). I can't believe how many defense attorneys are fighting it for a few bucks. Sickening.

BTDT

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

to 8:17 PM

I am guessing that you are talking about the format when you access via smart phone.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "View Web Version" and you will be able to view the page the old fashioned way.

Cap Out ...

Rumpole said...

10:03 PM you write that this blog sucks- and there you are at prime time viewing reading the blog, just like you aways do, ten times a day. Get a life.

Anonymous said...

Hey Rump,

You get to be wrong twice on the NBA Championship. The series is coming back to Miami and the Heat will win.

Think you better stick to football.

Anonymous said...

1039
The Who Cares comment was about the WEINER TWITTER-GATE. Not about DUIs. Aint my fault where the comment comes in the comment list.
Who Cares about the twitter-gate BS and the ASA and D lawyers comments on it.
DS

Anonymous said...

10:39,
I'm thinking DS said 'who cares' to original weiner post by Rump, not the Adocate issue that was a comment right above his?
Perhaps?

I also think it's funny that rumps and weiners are topics on this blog..get it, Rumpole and Weiner? butts and ding-dongs ... heehee (i know, I'm not in third grade anymore) But it is funny.

Anonymous said...

Haven't seen the DUI power rankings in a long time?
Who's gonna come away with the Flo Rida case?
Lyons? Catalano? Reif?

Anonymous said...

I would care about the twitnergate if Weiner had been charged with some sort of crime and he hired me to represent him.

Since that's not the case, what I care about is how all those pre-trial intervention programs are cutting our weiners off.

Anonymous 10:39 pm said...

DS, if that's really your name, sorry.