A brief respite from the politics that is consuming us all these days.
Here are the funeral arrangements for Judge Esquiroz:
A viewing will be held today, Thursday, April 19, 2012 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM at St. Brendan’s Catholic Church, located at 8725 SW 32 Street, Miami, Florida 33165. A funeral mass will take place immediately following the viewing, commencing at 5:00 PM.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Cuban American Bar Foundation, Inc. for the benefit of the annual Judge Margarita Esquiroz Scholarship. Checks should be made payable to “CABA Foundation” with “Judge Margarita Esquiroz Scholarship Fund” in the memo section, and mailed to: Vivian de la Cuevas-Diaz, 2 South Biscayne Blvd., Suite 2100, Miami, FL 33131
Rumpole says: We have asked others who knew the Judge better than us to write a few words. As soon as we receive them we will post them. But we can say this: for almost as long as we can remember, Judge Margarita Esquiroz was on the bench serving the people of this county. She did it with grace and dignity and a dedication to the law. We know she was well respected by her colleagues and the lawyers who practiced before her. And we know she will be greatly missed.
25 comments:
Nice lady and always nice to me.
Rest in peace.
Mike Catalano
I had a motion before her as a pro-se litigant, she ruled against me but did it with class and with the law on her side. Very smart and had a great demeanor towards litigants, even a pro-se litigant. Wish we had more respectful jurist like her. Rest in peace.
The lady had class, simple as that. Like so many in the Cuban-American legal community, she was quick to reach out to help an Anglo colleague. She certainly was of great assistance to me in a quiet and dignified way. And what a beautiful photo of a beautiful soul.
The Captain Reports:
BREAKING NEWS .....
MIGUEL da la O has no opponent.
We have been holding our Thursday post out of respect to Judge Esquiroz.
However, we did want our readers to know that Greer Elaine Wallace is OUT of Group 42 of the Circuit Court, Miguel de la O currently has no opposition, and Wallace is looking at a County Court incumbent to file against.
Will de la O become the next Milt Hirsch and win without facing any opposition?
More happenings today. Wells is OUT and will not be running for anything this time around. Artie Speigel is IN against Wolfson. Cambo is IN against Cohn.
And Rick Yabor has not made a final decision on whether to run against Charlie Johnson or someone else.
Finally, still no solid word on the intentions of Mr. Padilla and his possible show down with Judge Miller.
More to come/
Captain Out ....
Damn Cap, you are good.
BTDT
A great trial judge. A great lady. A trailblazer. A friend. RIP.
Miguel de la O will make an excellent judge
Captain dufus! Ya, just could not wait and/or post the info on the previous post.
When you are memorialized one day - I hope coupons for Pizza hut are the hot topic.
F---ing moron!
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-john-goodman-lawsuit-settlement-20120419,0,1557714.story
Before I became a lawyer, I was selected for a jury in a civil trial that Judge Esquiroz presided over. Judge Esquiroz was fair to both sides. She gave both sides an excellent trial. And, she knew the law. After now practicing law for several years, from my experience, Judge Esquiroz was an excellent judge.
4:09 here and angry again.
A truly disappointng turn out by the membership and leadership of CABA for Judge Esquiroz's funeral.
No respect from those who have followed her for her trail blazing and making much of what they have accomplished possible. Especially you Cuban/Hispanic women judges.
You all should be ashamed of yourselves. Sending in contributions to a scholarship fund is nice, but very impersonal.
You owed it to her to take an hour out of your self-absorbed "busy" lives and pay homage to, and show respect and gratitude for, someone who helped make it possible for you to be what you are.
INGRATES.
4:09 here and angry again.
A truly disappointng turn out by the membership and leadership of CABA for Judge Esquiroz's funeral.
No respect from those who have followed her for her trail blazing and making much of what they have accomplished possible. Especially you Cuban/Hispanic women judges.
You all should be ashamed of yourselves. Sending in contributions to a scholarship fund is nice, but very impersonal.
You owed it to her to take an hour out of your self-absorbed "busy" lives and pay homage to, and show respect and gratitude for, someone who helped make it possible for you to be what you are.
INGRATES.
4:09/12:07
You are right. I'm trying to decide whether the right thing to do is start listing all the people who weren't there and should have been.
But understand that the Mommy Bench doesn't think it owes anything to anyone. It's viewed as an entitlement.
4:09 here
and grateful to 12:25. I have found a kindred spirit on this issue.
I can name on one hand the judges who made and appearance for the services. John Thornton (naturally because he always knows the right thing to do), Betty Butchko, Maria Korvick, Celeste Muir and some really old-time retired judges.
I want to know where were:
Gloria Gonzalez-Meyer
Patricia Marino Pedraza
Nuria Saenz
Gladys Perez
Michaelle Gonzalez-Paulson
Maria Ortiz
Cristina Miranda
Victoria del Pino
Gisela Cardonne (Ely)
Pedro Echarte
Peter Lopez
Maria Espinosa (Dennis)
Reemberto Diaz
Antonio Marin
Jose Rodriguez
George Sarduy
Marcia Caballero
Rosa Figarola
Samantha Ruiz-(Cohen)
Maria Sampedro-Iglesia
Antonio Arzola
Jorge Cueto
Jose Fernandez
Rosa Rodriguez
Jorge Rodrguez-Chomat
Migan Sanchez-Llorens
Berti Soto
Barbara Areces
Angelica Zayas
There are a large number of "retired" judges who should have been there, too.
But more over, where was the leadership of CABA? Why was there not an urging from CABA for its membership to present a huge turnout to honor this wonderful roll model (and we forgive her for that DUI problem, because everyone makes a mistake in their lives) for the modern Cuban/Hispanic woman lawyer?
I repeat, you are all a bunch of ungrateful snots.
You have a lot of 'splaining to do.
the CABA crew was busy protesting the Marlins or something reallly important like that.
Stephen Talpins said.......
I wasn't going to say anything about Judge Esquiroz's DUI, but since someone else brought it up, I can't let it go.
I was the prosecutor on the case. I have to say, she earned my eternal respect by the way she conducted herself. I was a second year lawyer and totally intimidated.
I quickly learned that I had nothing to fear. There would be no retribution. In fact, she and her attorney, Jack Denaro, were not just professional, they were gracious. In fact, when she saw how intimidated I was, she actually consoled me! It was unbelievable.
Because so many judges recused themselves in Miami-Dade and it took so long to get a trial judge appointed, I was concerned that the case would be dismissed on speedies. But, that's not how Judge Esquiroz and Jack played it. She showed the kind of person she was by accepting responsibility for her mistake immediately, patiently waiting for the new judge to be assigned, and taking a plea.
In 12 years as a prosecutor, I never saw anyone handle a case the way she and Jack did.
Not only was she a great judge; she was a wonderful human being. She was one of kind; her passing is a huge loss to the community.
Stephen Talpins
Your list is incorrect. I saw many judges who are on your list at the church including:
Antonio Arzola
Gisela Cardonne (Ely)
Pedro Echarte
Rosa Figarola
Maria Ortiz
Cristina Miranda
Jose Rodriguez
Jose Fernandez
Rosa Rodriguez
Berti Soto
Angelica Zayas
and there may have been others that I missed.
CABA was tooooo bisssssy protesting the Marlins and planning their 5k instead of standing and honoring a pioneer who gave them what they have today...FYI no one would have cared about your stupid CABA if it hadn't been for people like Judge Esquiroz she opened the door for your ungrateful and egotistical members for the lack of respect you showed...but I'm sure they'll be taking time off to campaign....again they ought to banish you from existence!!!
The comments about CABA are unfair. The President, Vivian de las Cuevas-Diaz, was there. As was its Treasurer, Annie Hernandez. And those are just the two I saw and recognize.
409, 1225 and 106:
No Gordo or Manno Schurr either.
How could these folks you listed, and I will say especially the women and most especially the Cuban women, not be there, unless there was some very good excuse? Do judges like Gonzalez Paulson, Gordo and Ruiz Cohen who all just got onto the bench by winning elections not understand what they owe Judge Esquiroz? How is that possible?
This is unseemly folks. There are any number of reasons why an individual was unable to attend, having nothing to do with a lack of gratitude or respect. It is also inaccurate, considering I spoke with Judges Gordo, Caballero, Fernandez and Arzola at the church. I'm sure there were others on this list that I didn't see because there were so many people there paying their respects. We should focus more on positive remembrances like Stephen Talpins, which give insight into Judge Esquiroz' true character.
To some of the negative posters on this thread, I am a Cuban American Judge and I was there. Obviously, the person who reported the "non attendance" of certain judges lacks basic reporting skills or, what is more likely, is that he or she is what i would call a "hater". Though unreported, CABA members were there in droves but since you are NOT PART OF CABA you wouldnt know. CABA has a scholarship named after her. The funeral was at 4pm in West Dade on a Thursday which made it difficult for both Judges and Attorneys to be there. Think for you speak! RIP Margarita. You were an amazing trailblazer and you will be missed by many.
Miranda, Figarola, Soto, Caballero, Jose Fernandez, Cardonne Ely, Pando, Reemberto Diaz, Del Pino, Ivan Fernandez, Bloom, Kelly,Thorton all were there...thats just off the top of my head
I'm sorry people. I was there. The turn out at the service, which was in a not so large church, was disappointing. The church was not even half full. If some of the judges I named were there, they came in, signed a book and left after shaking a few hands.
I would love to see the condolence book and see if those who claim to have been there, really were.
Really, the Presdent and Treasurer of CABA were there? Wow!! Where were all the other members of the Board? Where were the other officers? Where were all the past presidents? Where was the membership?
CABA claims to be this large, homogeneous organization dedicated to Cuban and Hispanic attorneys. How many still know that Judge Esquiroz was one of the first, if not a founding, member of CABA? How many know or even care how she set an example and fought the battles that made their lives better and this profession possible for them?
I don't want excuses. I don't want explanations. I think CABA owes Judge Esquiroz better than a scholarship fund.
I think it owes her family an apology for not making a statement of the love and respect she earned from them by turning that service into standing room only and sitting and praying for her soul. The President of CABA instead of making excuses, should chastize her own constituency for not doing the right thing.
Yeah, right, that's going to happen!
Went to school with her, at the Merici Academy, Biltmore, Havana, Cuba. Classmate, always nice, smart, good friend. RIP
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