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.

Monday, June 11, 2012

1960...AGAIN.

"Treat failure as a teacher, not an undertaker." 
Spain rescues its banks;
Greece fiddles while Athens sinks under a mountain of debt; 
If you do not have plans on how to proceed if or when Greece sinks the European Union, then you only have yourself to blame. 


When will Joel Brown be implementing 1960? It's a fairly apt title for a bill, since it returns Florida to indigent criminal defense circa 1960 in terms of attorney pay and indigent representation. 
Giddeon shmiddeon!


The question has arisen as to whether the blog should print the names of attorneys who sign the limited registry? The issue is that the majority of attorneys opposed to the limited registry believe those attorneys who do sign are undermining the profession, are selling out, are the Bar's equivalent of scabs. 


We are 100% opposed to the limited registry. How can any attorney provided adequate representation in a murder case for $2,000.00?
That being said, being the sole owner and operator of a blog so popular and widely read (not to say admired) brings with it a set of responsibilities we never imagined. Using the blog to attack an attorney's legal/business decision, no matter how wrong in our opinion, does not sit well with us.* What are your thoughts? 


SODA UPDATE:
Sugar-sweetened drinks accounted for at least 20 percent of the increases in weight in the United States between 1977 and 2007, according to one study cited by the institute [of medicine]."


See You In Court. 


*This decision is limited to the special set of facts of this case, and this case only, and does not carry any precedential value whatsoever regarding those who wear black robes while at work. 


68 comments:

Secret Judge said...

Never run from the truth. It should and must be the foundation of all that we, as lawyers, do in our professional lives. Print the names and let the chips fall as they may.

Anonymous said...

Print the names.

Rumpole said...

Interesting article in the WSJ today about law schools considering shrinking the size of incoming classes because they don't expect the weak job market for lawyers to get better any time soon.

mikal said...

Ah yes Rumpole, with great power comes great responsibility.

Anonymous said...

public record-- print, don't print.... it matters not..

Rumpole said...

Respectfully you're missing the point. How many people file public record requests? How many people read the blog? Just because the names are public is not the same as publicly ridiculing an attorney at a site colleagues and the public read. FYI. Our biog routinely is in the top of any google search. Try it and see.

DS said...

Next Someone will open up the FELONY CLINIC. Taking Court appointments on 2nd & 3rds and advertising to Public: $1000 for a
3rd Degree and $ 1500 or $2000 for a Second Degree Felony.

Those Attorneys could soon be driving a Jaguar. People laughed at the Ticket Clinic and Alex Hanna. But they are cleaning up.

A couple PDs could clean up, esspecially those recently retired. They would make more then my $39.18 an hour , the State pays me......

DS

DS said...

OK its really $49.25 w/ benis ( Health Insure & Retiement)

old guy said...

Ridiculing? They chose to place their names on the registry. You can now choose to make their peers aware of those names. How can that be wrong -- unless self-censorship includes running from the facts?

Anonymous said...

Printing the names does not equal public ridicule. Although they may very well be ridiculed after the names are printed, the two still do not equate. As one comment says above, print the names and let the chips fall as they may.

Anonymous said...

DS, for quite a while there have been attorneys taking 1-pbl's for $2,000. I've also seen attorneys charging $1,500 for the misdemeanor and doing the companion felony for free. Unfortunately there is a race to the bottom out there with no self-respect for their own work.

Anonymous said...

Didn't Paul Pollock do something similar in the 1970s ($500 for felony, $1000 for serious felony, etc.)?

Anonymous said...

All it takes is one person to file a public records request. You realize how fast news/gossip travels in the building, don't you?
While many do get info from you, Rumpole, one copy of the public list and everyone will soon know who is on it anyway.
Your putting it out here, or a link to it, is simply gonna save lots of fax paper. Think green.

Anonymous said...

Too late DS, Elortegui, and about 50 others who use mailers already do that

Anonymous said...

what if i want to represent poor people not because i need the money but because i like trials and i like to help the poor? should i be held up to public scorn because you feel i can not do the job unless i am paid? shit when i was a public defender if i got 1000 bucks per case i would have never left because i would have made a couple 100k per year. when i left i was making 50k per year.

Anonymous said...

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom,must,like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it."
~Thomas Paine~ 1777


Stick together,and oppose SB1960.

Anonymous said...

While driving along the highways of this great state I noticed a few Morgan & Morgan billboards that had a sunsent and only two sentences: "Love God. Love People." Underneath was the Morgan & Morgan logo. Thoughts?

Green Eyeshade said...

Does Jonathan Schwartz still send a dollar bill in his mailer? Cause that would really cut into the margins.

Anonymous said...

What ever happened to "hamentashen Harry" the guy who ran intake for all those years?

BTDYW said...

A few years ago in my mid 40's I turned my attention from college girls to milfs and I haven't looked back. These hot, frustrated 30-40 yr olds drop the kids off at school, spend 3-4 hours in the gym in the morning, and are so frustrated that their husband's are bored with them. Well I am not bored with them. And they are so damn more grateful than some snotty 20 yr old, not to mention a 100X easier to nab.
Let me tell you something guys, you don't know what you're missing at home. Pay em a little attention, put em in some high heels and a short skirt and hop out to a motel (she knows the ones to go to, I showed her) and have yourself a ball.

Anonymous said...

When Jonathan Schwartz sent those dollar bills with his ad he got into all kinds of trouble with the Bar. He actually had a runner show up at the house of the prospective clients. (Ambulance chaser)

One does have to wonder when the Bar will actually do something about that guy.

Fake Johnny boy Schwartz said...

Back off flat-head! I told the bar very clearly that I sent that money to show people I care and that money doesn't mean all that much to me. I've had bigger lawyers than you beg me for a job. Right Barry?
Now if you'll excuse me, it's 3 pm. We turn off the phones and all gather in a circle for 15 minutes and meditate. Ohmmmmm..

( ps. i still don't have a tv)

Anonymous said...

2:43pm, I will jump over five young girls, to get to one beautiful cougar. That's nothing new, I'd advise against entertaining married women though,that something you just don't do, besides karma is a bitch. They must be single for me. BTW, Nina Hartley crowned me King of the cougars, and I have to pictures and video to prove it. We rendezvoused at the Shellborne, and we keep in touch. Aww Nina.... She was everything I anticipated, too bad I can't and wont describe are little private encounter. Lets just say she keeps in touch with me when she comes to Miami. Watch the hate comments, I would be mad too if I were a WG, and this minority got the woman I often fantasized about, but you gotta remember this is one of the many reasons why I call myself ~"A.M."~

Anonymous said...

If you want to know who gets on the list, just go to court, you will see who is getting the cases.

The more I think about it, the more I think I will put my name in. I know there will be no unified front among the defense bar. And if you have anything to say about it, I know no one will have the guts to say it directly to me, so I'm not concerned.

I have never taken a court appointed case before, but if I can make a few grand extra, I may as well. I'm in court every day anyway. What's one more sounding to go to...?

If you dont want the work, don't take the cases. More for me.

How many cases currently get assigned each year?

Anonymous said...

BTDYW,
Both you and the wives you claim to be doing are scum.

Anonymous said...

I found these two logging's on the Zimmerman docket I wonder what do they comprise of.

06/07/2012 LETT LETTER FROM ANGELA COREY-EXECUTIVE ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR
06/07/2012 LETT 3RD SUPPLEMENTAL DISIGNATION OF ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY

Anonymous said...

Calling the Shumie. What a day. I do not expect a problem with the Shumie. If anything its late.

Anonymous said...

Couple of comments Rump. It's your blog. Roast these attys that sign limited registry. If I wanted a MILF I'd go home early. What I want is some long haired, fresh faced, rockin body 20 yr old, who is impressed with my Vette, is up for anything, and is a thoroughbred in the sack. That's what makes it all worth while these days.

Anonymous said...

Rump- where can I get an icy cold Naragansette beer in this taco eating, arroz con polo chomping, cafe con leeche sippin town?

Anonymous said...

AM MIN -

You really are a bozo. Those relate to the appointment of not only the state attorney to prosecutie the case, but the assistants she will be assigning.

Stop seeing boogey-men where they don't exist.

Anonymous said...

All those who want the list published on this blog should sign their own names instead of going anonymous.

A.M., didn't anyone ever teach you that a true gentleman does not brag about his conquests, even if she is a porn star? Oh, and by the way, she is married. Get some class, dude.

Anonymous said...

(*our and *the) my mistake. Don't want the grammar police to arrest me without PC and good reason.

Anonymous said...

Thanks. You help to make the rest of us Corvette owners look like dicks.

And I hate to tell you, but in this town no one is impressed by a Corvette. Not when everyone else drives a Maseratti.

Anonymous said...

Am Min-

The only reason you ever jumped over 5 young girls is if you had them chained in your basement and you had to answer the doorbell.

And about Nina Hartley, if you think any "WG" as you put it cares about some busted out, aging porn star, you know even less about white people than you claim to.

Once again your name dropping makes you sound like a petty simpleton.

DS said...

BTBYW

Take my Wife, PLEASE.

Hope she moves in w/ you. Enjoy.

Anonymous said...

To 6:06: Not Naragansette!!! The correct spelling is Narragansett, as in "I'll have a 'Gansett" the radio jingle made famous during Red Sox games in the mid 60's on WEAN in Providence (and WHDH for you Bostonians). And Rump. don't knock 1960. A great year. JFK, Mazeroski, and the high holy year of men acting like, well, Mad Men.

Anonymous said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303444204577458411514818378.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5

Wall Street Journal article.

BTW. Florida is about to hit the 100,000 lawyer mark. Is that sick or what? And, count 'em, 12 Florida law schools. Frightening!

1. Florida
2. Miami
3. FSU
4. Nova
5. Ava Maria
6. Thomas Cooley
7. Florida A & M
8. FIU
9. Barry
10. Florida Coastal
11. Stetson
12. St. Thomas

Oy vey!

Anonymous said...

Ben Kuenhe represented Jonathan Schwartz for bar complaint. Comments anyone?

Anonymous said...

OK here's the final word on this. Older women are fine. I've had my share including a 52 yr old who was a playmate in the 70's and had only gotten better with age,
But when you talk younger women, especially in south florida these days, if you're not out there saying (phonetic spelling) "yah nee gav ruh pah rooskie"
"I speak a little Russian" then you're not in the game. Because this town is swimming in hot and I mean super duper hotter than hot 20 year olds fresh off the steppes. Now what does that mean? Take a number- say 36- and think of that number as big, and soft and round yet firm and real and perky and put that 36 on someone 6 feet tall with say a 22 inch waist and my friends, you're talking truly heaven on earth. And when you've experienced this, then there is no argument about this 20 year old versus a 30-40 yr old. No argument whatsoever. So get in the game guys because this town is swimming in Russian women who are just aching for an American with an Amex Black, a 500SL, a nice condo, and who can show them a nice time. Which is me BTW.

Anonymous said...

Schwartz was suspended by fsc for 90 days beginning at the end of this month.

DS said...

Emough of the Penthouse Forum

Anonymous said...

@7:16--- NICELY STATED!!!!


BTW- Why waste your time commenting on American Minority? He's trolling for comments. Dude sounds like a dork!!

Anonymous said...

What is befuddling about Jonathan Schwartz is you would think that the more experienced a lawyer gets, the wiser he gets as well. He always finds ways to denigrate himslef which gives you true insight into who he really is. He's shrewd so his multiple Bar issue are just what he was blatantly caught at. Ask all the ASAs, private lawyers and Judges that caught him doing things yet never reported him. He's no doubt, a bad apple.

DS said...

In an article in today's Herald About Bath Salts and my former client Rudy Eugene,
The Doctor said:

Patricia Junquera, assistant professor of psychiatry and the medical director of the detoxification unit at the University of Miami, said that she has seen a large increase of problems with synthetic drugs in the emergency room at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“We’re seeing this type of behavior more and more,” she said. “And with younger and younger patients.”

In Junquera’s opinion, the effects of synthetic marijuana are worse than those of real marijuana, even though the synthetic substance is legal. Patients come to her hallucinating, breaking things and screaming.

“They become psychotic,” she said. “Some of them have seizures or are paralyzed. That doesn’t happen with normal marijuana.”

I think Rudy's behavior is better seen from the below definition from wikipedia


Schizophrenia (/ˌskɪtsɵˈfrɛniə/ or /ˌskɪtsɵˈfriːniə/) is a mental disorder characterized by a breakdown of thought processes and by poor emotional responsiveness.[1] It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social or occupational dysfunction

Anonymous said...

The 60's were turbulent times for America. In 1968 we lost Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. The courage these individuals exhibited is virtually extinct in our “politically correct” environment. “Politically correct” connotes lack of courage, weakness of principle, and absence of conviction. Lawyers can make a difference in justice system. Many disparage our profession. We often invite the criticism. We frequently coward, bury our heads as ostriches, avoiding controversy, criticism from colleagues or jurists in the face of injustice. We have done nothing about the practice of the State moving to discharge the Public Defender in County Court? To see a pro-se defendant summarily convicted or adjudicated contributes to the negative perception of our profession.

As a kid who grew up witnessing the mistreatment of minorities at every level of government, including law enforcement and the judicial system, I have never shied away from an engagement, regardless of popularity. I have paid a price at times; the price was and is well worth it! I have a disdain for abusive or arbitrary exercise of power, particularly by those entrusted to protect the rights of the weak. I know all too well the consequences of silence in the face of abuse; silence only bring temporary comfort, avoids the inevitable, and emboldens the bully.

Only if enough lawyers subscribe to this sub-standard system of justice will this absurd diminution of representation succeed. I call it diminution because at the rate they are purporting to pay you cannot afford to try a case, these will be pleas of conveyance, camouflaged by meager representation.

I came to admire Bobby Kennedy. I offer his thoughts and words for your reflection:

“Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.”

“Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their peers, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.”

Anonymous said...

I bag a hot married MILF every chance I get. She lives at home with me.

Second time around is always better

Anonymous said...

Print the names, they are public record and will be posted on the Clerk's web site just the current registry names are.

Anonymous said...

Eric Holder is really a piece of lying garbage.

Anonymous said...

Calling the Sh-Sh-Sh-Shumie. Been thinking about my girl all day long.

Anonymous said...

Janet Reno is the only Attorney General that I can remember who was not a compulsive liar. We've had a very long run of bad Attorney Generals of the United States.

Anonymous said...

Rene Garcia is to testify on behalf of Pando's reputation for hard work what a joke. Really! It is so interesting what people call hard work!

Anonymous said...

Looks to me like Schwartz got away pretty light....forging signatures and using his notary stamp to lie on official court documents! Should be banned for life!

Anonymous said...

Guys, while you were sitting in your office wondering about who will sign up for "the list", looking at porn on your computer, wondering if the foreign law student is really a tranny, or otherwise scratching yourselves, I was at the country club pool chatting up your wives and / or girlfriends.

It isn't only the pool where I chat up your wives and / or girlfriends: I chat them up at school after car pool, getting a coffee near the school, or even at their cars after the kids are dropped off in the morning. We talk about the kids, and invariably I ask where their husbands are as I rarely if ever see husbands in the morning.

Their complaints are the same: he makes alot of money but he is never around; when he is around, he is always on the phone, ipad, or computer; he doesn't pay attention to the kids while they are in the water because he is too busy with his toys, etc.

You know what guys, your women are absolutely correct.

A little less work and a bit more attention to things at home and your expenses will be alot cheaper in the long run.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole, your first paragraph talked about protecting ourselves if Greece sank the European Union.

How do I prepare myself?

What should I be doing?

Will putting masking tape over the windows in big XXX's help?

Anonymous said...

I'm 56 and I got a court appointment in the case of a juvi who had a couple violent felonies and, despite the low pay, I managed to get the SAO not to direct file her and send her to a level 8 program. I worked my butt off in her case because she was so hot and I figured she was worth saving. She turned 18 while in the program and when she got out she looked me up. We went out for dinner at Burger King and ended up at a motel in Okeechobee Road where we spent a wild night between the bed and the jacuzzi. That was 2 months ago and we are going to get married next week. One of my buddies who does family law is drafting the prenup for me. We kind of look like the odd couple because she has tattoos, wears gold grills and talks ghetto but she's really hot in bed and very wild so I really love her. My friends ask what is a respectable, divorced, successful lawyer like me doing with such a young chick but I've never been happier in my entire life and I'm not going back to Milf's, or whatever my ex-wife and her friends are called nowadays.

Anonymous said...

Re: 7:00 PM

We have a winner.

Anonymous said...

@7:00-- At the end of the day that is all that matters, love. You love her, she loves you. The hell with what anyone else thinks. Who is to say why we love who we do.

Mazel Tov.

Anonymous said...

That will end badly.probably when her boyfriend and his friends do a home invasion she is in on

Anonymous said...

6:17pm, I was referring to the Order from the Governor.

Anonymous said...

Print the names. They can explain themselves here if they feel the need...

Anonymous said...

@10:28-- Don't stereotype.

Anonymous said...

9:29,
He said why he loves her.
He loves her becuase she's really hot in bed and very wild.
Doesn't that make for a great long lasting relationship between an 18 and 56 year old?
Hey 7:00: what's the rush on getting married? You knock her up? Cuz if you did, then she'll be a MILF too. But you won't want her then?

Her dad must be so proud. How do your older than her kids feel about it?

Anonymous said...

Love makes the world go round. Be Happy. Pay no attention to the haters in the world.

Anonymous said...

Are you a racist? - if you work in the criminal justice system and are not trying to fix the glaring problems of selective enforcement and double standards of justice, you just might be. But heck, don't beat yourself up. Everybody needs a job, right? And who cares if future generations throw around words like "barbaric" and "senseless" when discussing our prevailing failed drug policy?

Now that the preamble is out of the way, check out today's Palm Beach Post article about Barry Cohen, if you haven't seen it already. The Fifteenth Circuit's pretend interim State Attorney is trying to get Cohen booted off all criminal cases, for daring to state the obvious while still wearing his robe.

Here's a sample of what the PB SAO finds so offensive, followed by a great retort in defense of Cohen by Gary Farmer:

"There is something very wrong in a criminal justice system and every day I look (at defendants) and see faces of young African­-Americans and they have two things in common: their race and their lack of money," (Cohen) is quoted as saying during a hearing in a 2004 misdemeanor case. "I don't mind that the fact I am saying this in a public courtroom to be noted by anybody. And I am not afraid to be an activist judge. Our system is totally out of kilter." ...

"I think it's a bunch of hooey," (Farmer) said (about the Disqualification Motion). "The state of Florida is saying it fears the outcome of justice in one of its courts? It's utter nonsense."

Make sure to read the whole article, and then ask why no one can remember a Broward jurist publicly taking exception to the issues presented, in a county where African-Americans have traditionally been sent off to prison at twice the rate per capita of Palm Beach and Miami-Dade ...

See Also - Verified Motion For Disqualification (PDF); Wrong fight, wrong judge; Scary silence on threat to Palm Beach County justice system.

Anonymous said...

Letters: If judge follows law, views shouldn't force recusal

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By Letters to the Editor for Sunday, May 20

Regarding "Judge under fire": A good judge does not have to like the law; he or she just has to follow it. Palm Beach County Judge Barry Cohen follows the law even when he disagrees with it. He is a good judge because of that.

What makes Judge Cohen a great judge is his calm demeanor with defendants, assistant state attorneys, public defenders, private attorneys, victims and witnesses. His trials are fair. He finds for the state in some cases, and for the defense in others. He has been a prosecutor and defense lawyer, which has given him a broad perspective of the law. He has compassion, and expresses it when appropriate. He is not a machine, and does not prejudge cases.

I have lost and won matters before Judge Cohen, and I always thought I got a fair shake either way. I believe most lawyers feel that way about him. Judge Cohen should not recuse himself from criminal cases for his views. If that were the case, every conservative judge would be subject to recusal as well. Luckily for Palm Beach County, our judges all attempt to follow the law. Statistically, they usually are right, but when they are wrong, the appellate courts can reverse the error.

While our names our similar, Judge Cohen and I are not related, except maybe two or three thousand years ago in ancient Israel.

MICHAEL. L. COHEN

West Palm Beach

And now interim State Attorney Peter Antonacci shows his true colors, by trying to muzzle County Judge Barry Cohen. Mr. Antonacci was sent down here by the governor - the same guy whose company committed Medicare fraud - to get this county straightened up. Can it get even more corrupt?

MIKE WHELAN

Jupiter

Judicial recourse limited; citizens must get involved

First, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Krista Marx is threatened with ethics accusations that should be brought now, if true, not if she had run for state attorney. Now we have an attack on County Judge Barry Cohen by a Gov. Scott appointee (interim State Attorney Peter Antonacci) for speaking out on occasion about the effective injustices in our system.

Scaled-down Gingrich plan

The motion by interim Palm Beach County State Attorney Peter Antonacci to remove County Judge Barry Cohen from presiding over a murder case because of his criticism of the judicial system is an attempt by Mr. Antonacci and Gov. Scott, who appointed Mr. Antonacci, to test the tea party waters. The motion is a scaled-down version of Newt Gingrich's plan to have federal marshals arrest and jail judges whose rulings and opinions are contrary to conservative ideology. This is a prime example of that "slippery slope" everyone always talks about. If Mr. Antonacci is successful, I ask, "What's next?"

ROBERT KING

Delray Beach

Upholding both sides of law rare feat in Palm Beach County



Wellington

Anonymous said...

Is it just me??

I'm pretty sure that guy was kidding about dating the girl from juvi??

Anonymous said...

Girl from juvi post sounds like a wishful-thinking joke.

Anonymous said...

of course juvi girl post was probably not real. But it was just dumb, not funny.