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, November 13, 2012

HIRSCH TO 3RD DCA: GO AHEAD AND MAKE MY DAY

After a nice long weekend, lets start with a little housekeeping: some criminal court judges will be rotated to civil where they can spend their days delving into discovery motions, motions for sanctions, motions to strike, motion for defaults, and motions to set aside defaults. Civil a/k/a a fetid swamp of nonsense, awaits:

November 5 Administrative Orders Judge Lisa Walsh to Circuit Civil 2/4/13 Judge Norma Lindsey from Juvenile to Circuit Civil 2/4/13 Judge Antonio Arzola to Circuit Civil 1/14/13 Judge Beth Bloom to Circuit Civil 1/4/13. 
(h/t to an alert reader who posted this in the comments section yesterday.)

And lets remember to give a warm REGB "Welcome back" to Judge Norma Lindsey who last left our humble confines as a county court judge. Now she returns wearing the black for circuit court.   Update: We obviously were a bit hung over from the weekend and couldn't read. Lindsey is going to Civil. Oh well. 

Who saw Skyfall this weekend? Thoughts? 

Obama ended up with 332 electoral college votes. Which means if he lost Florida (29) AND Ohio (18) he stills wins the presidency by fifteen  electoral college votes (285).  So much for the sunshine and buckeye states. 

David Petraeus:
Here are our thoughts: if we applied the same standards we now apply to  Petraeus in 1942, then we fight WWII WITHOUT General Eisenhower and President Roosevelt. We do not condone breaking the Seventh Commandment ("Thou shall not commit adultery") but we would like to keep the best leaders in place so we can worship freely. Richard Cohen of the Washington Post has this editorial: Get Petraeus Back to Work. 

Milt Hirsch: 
When Judge Hirsch set a bond on a murder case, the deceased's family reacted (understandably) with outrage. Their conduct was disrespectful to the court, and Judge Hirsch said as much. The state ran crying to the 3rd DCA and Suarez, Cortinas and Fernandez told Hirsch, nicely, to hop off the case:  We therefore grant the petition for writ of prohibition, but being confident that the trial judge will withdraw, we need not formally issue the writ.

Hirsch should make them formally issue the writ. The problem here is that so few judges have the guts to grant a bond in a murder case, that when they do, the world erupts, the family of the deceased runs to the media and curses the court. In these circumstances,  a judge  has a right to say, as Judge Hirsch did here, that the people were acting and speaking in a disrespectful manner. See the Herald article here to see exactly what Judge Hirsch said.

Hirsch should prove a point and make the 3rd DCA issue the writ- we would love him to say something like our headline. 

Welcome back from a long weekend. See you in court. 

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

Skyfall: awesome.
Families of murder victims expressing outrage that the offender gets a bond: protected by first amendment.
Judges, of all people, who are elected and in public eye, should not be so thin-skinned that they cannot handle criticism.

Secret Judge said...

So many of you are enamored with the exploits of Judge M. Hirsch, despite the fact he is constantly being reversed by the appellate courts. I would suggest a better cause of action by any competent jurist is to do what you want in court, ie. achieve the results you want, and be AFFIRMED by the higher courts. This approach doesn't garner much in the way of publicity, but is a practical approach to success on the bench.

Anonymous said...

That is not why they issued the writ. It does not change his ruling and the fact is unless the new judge sees a substantial change in circumstances, the defendant will remain out on bond.

He was told to get off because he showed a bias and prejudice toward the family of the victim, who will be witnesses and the third politely told him he should disqualify himself.

New judge for trial and litigation. Come on, defend him on granting a bond, he is not the first, I can name a couple of Arthur Hearing judges who did, but he was wrong to lose his cool with the family.

Anonymous said...

Cisco agrees with Secret Judge. The best judges of my generation would never spike the ball in the face of next of kin.



Anonymous said...

I've read what Judge Hirsch said. What I have not seen reported anywhere is what the family said on TV that so angered the judge.

Anonymous said...

Judge Lindsey baby! Tanned, rested, ready to judge! Welcome back to a towering titan of judicial reasoning.

Anonymous said...

SkyFall SUCKED

Why have a movie with 007 where they say they don't care about the gadgets?????? I took my kids who love that stuff. As a kid I remember waiting with great anticipation to see what gizmos would appear and how 007 would use them to prevail. This was a letdown

Fi Man said...

Skyfall was best Bond ever. Truest to original dark character in books. Bardem was fabulous.

Anonymous said...

skyfall has been the biggest bond opening ever in terms of money. director sam mendes wanted to focus more on the storyline and the characters rather than the gadgets and gizmos which is precisely why critics are hailing this film as the best bond movie ever and is even being considered as a contender for the academy awards.

read more here-
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/11/could-skyfall-be-james-bonds-first-real-shot-at-the-best-picture-oscar/265131/

Anonymous said...

The older Bond films were cheesy. Ridiculous one liners and silly toys. Skyfall was gritty and my favorite out of all the 007 series. The whole audience was cheering and they roared when The Aston Martin DB5 came on screen.

Anonymous said...

dude, javier bardem was da bomb!

Anonymous said...

What about the 007 of DUI? The dude with a license to kill the intoxilyzer? What are his thoughts on Skyfall? ---/cue bond theme-

Anonymous said...

Rump, Lindsey is going to civil, not criminal, right? I got a little confused in the post.

Secret Judge said...

I said 'cause of action' when I meant to say 'course of action'. This is what happens when you spend excessive time reading the postings of illiterates such as my colleague Mr. D.S. As penance for my error, I shall not post for 3 weeks.

mikal said...

http://www.texasmonthly.com/2012-11-01/feature2.php

Interesting article about a prosecutor in Texas and prosecutorial misconduct.

Anonymous said...

Skyfall was AMAZING. Great plot full of surprises, the return of Q, Eve turning out to be Eve MONEYPENNY and Ralph Fiennes now taking over the position of M.

Movie Fact, in celebration of Bond turning the big 5-0, Sean Connery was approached to play Kincade but Sam Mendes decided against it. IMHO I would have been distracted with Connery in the role because he IS Bond. Craig is Bond too. It just wouldn't make sense to me. Finney was a nice addition to the film and I'm very pleased with how it worked out.

Anonymous said...

The Ike/Summersby affair did not start untill 1944. Don't knock FDR. He was married to Eleanor. Enough said. Lucy Mercer was the mistress but she had been with him for years. While on the subject, here is my list of Presidents since 1932 who never cheated on their wives, ever, in order of least to most least likely (which means 0% to .0000001%)
1. Truman
2. Carter
3. Nixon
4. Obama
As to the first 3, the thought of it makes me cringe. Obama is scared to death of Michelle so ain't possible for that reason alone. I think he is pussy whipped.

Anonymous said...

I really don't think that 99% of the general public cares in Patraeus went fishing in another man's fishing hole. The general public cares more about intelligence that might have been compromised, and lives put at risk than if he is having an extra marital affair.

I wonder though, if Patraeus was also tapping the Tampa party planner.


Anonymous said...


I share space with civil lawyers who make rain and retired bf 50. They come in to work just to go out to lunch. Today, one remarked, " what a terd Judge Hirsch has become." I responded 'become'?



Anonymous said...

Meat is murder.

Anonymous said...

Petraeus Affair, two women, 1 man. The heart wants what it wants?

aye on shumie said...

calling the shumie a bit late. But 15 minutes before 5 is still 15 minutes for me and not the man.
ST rocks!

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

Judge Glick Reversed .... DIRECT CRIMINAL CONTEMPT. NOT .....

Appellate judges reversed a six-month contempt sentence Wednesday for an accused burglar who uttered the F word in court but out of earshot of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Stacy Glick.

Glick found Douglas Davila in direct criminal contempt of court in 2010 after Davila said something under his breath after his trial was postponed a week. She asked what Davila said, and a detention deputy answered, “I think he said, ‘F*** this court,’ ” according to the Third District Court of Appeal.

An appellate panel said Glick was wrong to send Davila to jail and impose $753 in court costs for something not said directly to her.

“The record shows that Davila uttered a short profanity that was not heard by the judge, it did not interrupt any proceeding, and it was clear that the administration of justice was not hindered because the court moved on to the next case without hesitation,” Judge Richard Suarez wrote. He was joined in the opinion by Judges Angel CortiƱas and Kevin Emas.

Davila, 24, is being held in the Miami-Dade Pre-Trial Detention Center on unrelated charges of indecent exposure, false imprisonment and resisting an officer without violence. The burglary charge was not prosecuted.

Cap Out ....



Anonymous said...

In the Daniel Craig-cannon, it ranks below Casino Royale but above Quantum of Solace.

Skyfall ending was an amazing shot-for-shot homage to Home Alone.

Further, the jokes were generally telegraphed variations of "You're watching a James Bond movie, how very self-aware." No actual humor arising organically out of the dialoge or characters' actions. Finally, the final moments of Skyfall suffered the same problem as the final moments of The Dark Knight Rises (and other franchises, to be fair): cramming in all the required franchise buzzwords/dogwhistles for the next movie.

Anonymous said...

Great opinion by the Third re the contempt. And we wonder why people misbehave in court......

Sheesh.

BTDT

Anonymous said...

luved the cameo by wolf blitzer.

DS said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

So, wherever she goes, will Normal Lindsey finally be able to make a fucking decision?

Nice lady but, lights on and nobody home.

DS said...

Congrats to mi Jefe
Carlos Martinez of getting the UM Law School award for Public law service

Anonymous said...

Ds

You need to find some self respect

Anonymous said...

Secret Judge: What wonderful sentiments if the reason that the judges did that were so noble. But, many of them are afraid of the cops and bad press because they have to run for re-election. The fact is that Hirsch was just standing up for the Court and the Third apparently thinks that family members now have standing to disqualify a judge.
The next time that Secret Judge feels so noble, he or she should ask himself or herself how their rulings might change if they were appointed for life and didn't have to submit themselves for election every six years. Hirsch has the guts to do what he thinks is right, Secret Judge. The Third and all state judges have to remember the realities of political life unless they want to undergo the humiliating and inappropriate experience of three of our supreme court judges -- liberal maybe, but that is not a reason to have to travel all over the state to retain a job that their merit should have guaranteed.
And, by the way, if you are a white Jewish male on the circuit court and call them as you see them, just wait and see which Latin female ASA who has completed her fifth year out of law school and has appropriately pandered to John Rivera is going to run against you on the “pick a judge based on gender and ethnicity” criteria.

Anonymous said...

"congrats to mi hefe?"

ds

i fart in your general direction

Anonymous said...

What's with all the rotations, and who's replacing Judge Sigler ?

Anonymous said...

Tuesday, November 13, 2012 3:53:00 PM. I agree with you on Hirsch. What a self-absorbed idiot!!

Anonymous said...

Stacy Glick is just like her father - So glad he's retired - I'll leave it at that.

Anonymous said...

Who are filling the four vacancies in Criminal Division...?

Anonymous said...


Oye vey ds. You've gone off the rails on the crazy train.

Rumpole
You over hype Milton.

Anonymous said...

From now on, whenever you see "Shumie", just remember it stands for "SHit for U and ME".

A clear reflection on the level of his posts, and his cigar shop.

DS said...

Dearest Secret Judge
UnCalled for Cheap Shot at me for a simple typo on your part, dont you think?
DS

Anonymous said...

DS: if you cannot handle relentless criticism, then do not post endless inane thoughts marked by poor spelling, grammar, etc. It's just a double whammy of stupid that no one really enjoys or cares about.

I'm a lawyer said...

Lindsey isn't coming to criminal court? YESSSS!!!!!!

In the words of Charles Barkley, she is "turrible."

Anonymous said...

on the flip side to Hirsch, you have state hack judges like Brennan who do whatever they want because they inherited a ton of money from daddy and scare off any potential challenger. At least Hirsch is standing up on principle, right or wrong.

Anonymous said...

Can everyone try to make next week a vegan Thanksgiving?

Anonymous said...

NOT A THREAT TO PUBLIC SAFETY!?! Really--Defendant kills a guy and shoots a woman who won't tell him the location of the guy (their son) who he really wants to murder? Gutsy...maybe...standing up for what he believes in....fine.....right result.....highly questionable. I don't know all the facts, like most everyone else on this blog, but that strikes me as troubling...if true.

Anonymous said...

9:42, I was gonna have a vegan for Thanksgiving but nobody in my family eats vegans so I'm gonna stick to the turkey.

Anonymous said...

Please please please remember that DS is "gifted" and take it easy on him!

DS said...

No take it easy cause I'm
"L.D." i.e. Learning Disabled;
the gifted relates to the high IQ I use to cope / my disabilities.

Either way no cause for a cheap shot, that came out left field when I wasnt even involved in the Secret Judges typos / mistakes nor post.