JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

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Wednesday, January 14, 2015

CAUSE IT'S ALL ABOUT THAT BASS, NO TREBLE .....


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS on JUDGE DAVID YOUNG (read below) .....

A SCENE FROM A COURTROOM INSIDE THE MJB, CIRCA 1990*** ......

JUDGE LNU: Clerk, call the next case.
CLERK: State v. James Williams
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning, your honor.  The Captain, appearing on behalf of Mr. Williams.
JUDGE: Mr. Captain, good to see you.  Can you please approach the bench.
CAPTAIN: Of course, your honor.
JUDGE: Mr. Captain, you know I am running for re-election, don't you?
CAPTAIN: Yes, your honor.
JUDGE: Please take this envelope, (slipping the Captain an envelope); I noticed that you had not given to my campaign yet.
CAPTAIN: No problem, your honor.  Of course I will be donating to your re-election campaign.

***This actually happened to me while appearing in Circuit Criminal many years ago.  The Judge, who has since passed away, was a well liked judge and was thought by most, on both sides of the isle, to be a very fair judge.  But, to be clear, what s/he did was not legal under any of the judicial campaign laws at the time.

***And we all know that, when running for Judge, that it's all about that bass ($$$), and lots of it, that makes a campaign go; a treble (thin) bank account is a quick ticket back into private practice.

On January 20, 2015, SCOTUS will hear the case of LANELL WILLIAMS-YULEE, PETITIONER, V. THE FLORIDA BAR, RESPONDENT.  The Daily Business Review covers the story here.

The case comes directly from the Florida Supreme Court and you can read that court's opinion here.

The Florida Supreme Court's opinion starts out this way:

"We have for review a referee’s report recommending that the Respondent, Lanell Williams-Yulee, be found guilty of professional misconduct. The referee recommended that the Respondent receive a public reprimand as a sanction. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 15, Fla. Const.

For the reasons explained below, we approve the referee’s findings of fact and recommendation that the Respondent be found guilty of violating Rule Regulating the Florida Bar 4-8.2(b) (Judicial and Legal Officials, Candidates for Judicial Office; Code of Judicial Conduct Applies) for personally soliciting campaign contributions in violation of Canon 7C(1) of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct. We therefore reject the Respondent’s constitutional challenge to the ban imposed by Canon 7C(1) on a judicial candidate’s personal solicitation of campaign contributions, and hold that the Canon is constitutional because it promotes the State’s compelling interests in preserving the integrity of the judiciary and maintaining the public’s confidence in an impartial judiciary, and that it is narrowly tailored to effectuate those interests.

.......

We approve the referee’s recommended sanction of a public reprimand."

In September of 2009, attorney Lanell Williams-Yulee decided she would become a candidate for County Court Judge in Tampa.  One of her first acts as a candidate was to sign a campaign fundraising letter where she personally solicited campaign contributions.

The Campaign:

Judge Dick Greco, Jr was elected to the County Court bench in 1990 and reelected in 1996,  He left the bench and returned to private practice in 2002.  In 2009, Governor Charlie Crist appointed Greco to an open seat on the County Court bench.  He ran for "reelection" in 2010.  Ms. Williams-Yulee filed to challenge incumbent Judge Greco.  In the primary, Judge Greco garnered 80% of the vote, defeating Williams-Yulee.

The Bar:

The Florida Bar investigated the charges against Williams-Yulee, which included misconduct and minor misconduct, violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct, violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct, and violations of supervisory responsibilities.

The relevant part of the referee's findings, as they relate to the case before SCOTUS, is the finding of guilt by Williams-Yulee of directly soliciting for campaign contributions.

SCOTUS:

The Bar has retained heavy hitter Greenberg Traurig partner Barry Richard (he of Bush v Gore) to represent the interests of The Respondent.

The Petitioner, Williams-Yulee, is challenging on First Amendment grounds, Canon 7C(1) of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct, which bars judicial candidates from soliciting campaign contributions.

Amicus briefs were filed this week by some of the most respected attorneys in the State, on behalf of the Bar, including Major B. Harding, Harry Lee Anstead and Stephen Grimes, all former chief justices of the Florida Supreme Court; along with four others who are past presidents of the Florida Bar.


The Bar's amicus supporters believe that Canon 7C(1) "strikes a proper balance between a judicial candidate's right to free speech and the right of future litigants to due process, while placing a minimal burden on the former." (At least 33 other states have a judicial Canon similar to Florida's).

Let's face it, even though judges are not supposed to ask us directly for money, who's kidding who here.  Every candidate, and Judge, running for reelection, knows who gave to their campaign and who gave to their opponent.  It's online, it's public record.  So, what's the big deal if we eliminate the middle man and just let the candidate/judge do the asking? 

What do you think?



BREAKING NEWS ........

JUDGE DAVID YOUNG, is running for Judge, again:

Judge David Young, who served on the County and Circuit Court bench from 1993-2007, and then became a TV Judge (2007-2009), has most recently been mediating and serving our community on several boards.  He announced today that he has entered the race for Circuit Court Judge in Group 39.  That seat is currently held by Judge Rodriguez Chomat.  Chomat is retiring (aged out) and therefore cannot seek reelection.  Qualifying for the seat ends on May 6th of 2016 and the election will take place on August 30th.


CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com








44 comments:

Anonymous said...

What judges are up for election in 2016?

Anonymous said...

Oh boy, David Young back on the bench! Can't wait for those lovely moments where he makes people tell their mother they love her in open court.

Anonymous said...

Didn't the bar pass a "no clowns" rule for judicial candidates?

Anonymous said...

The Professor says:

David, enough!!! I love you, but you have been so self- promoting for so many years, running for judge is just obnoxious. Find another way to be important.

Anonymous said...

Wait, what? I thought that song was about having a fat ass?

Am I missing something here?

Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase

All the right junk in all the right places

Anonymous said...

I missed out on the Castro post.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zxktqK4gUU

Anonymous said...

If SCOTUS goes all out for the free speech argument, it's adios bagmen. Maybe David Goodhart can file an amicus brief on behalf of all the aggrieved "middle men" who will be out of a job.

MC Waste Services, Inc said...

Judge Schlesinger being moved out of family court is the best news I have experienced in the past 12 months. See ya!

Fake Kenny & Colby said...

El Capitan has now been free-climbed by two slackers. BFD. They used safety lines and fell dozens of times.

ANNOUNCEMENT.
Former Judge Jon Colby and I will- by the end of 2015- free climb El Capitan WITHOUT ANY SAFETY LINES.
Real men hang free. Rock on….

Claude Erskine - Nrowne said...

Say what you will
I'll bet David Young will win in a landslide,
IF he even GETS opposition .

Anonymous said...



I found Young to be unqualfied to sit on the bench. He is extremely rude to counsel and the parties. He has no judicial temperment. He could never succeed in private practice. His TV show was a flop. If he is back on the bench he will treat it like a TV show and grandstand like he did before. I will do everything in my power to defeat him. I will convince some well connected well qualified Hispanic attorneys to defeat him and they will be well financed.

Just Another Intern said...

Given the Court's recent speech/campaign decisions, the Bar is in trouble.

Anonymous said...

No really, no more David Young. He was horrible. Everything was about politics in his court. He was constantly looking over your shoulder to see if someone more important was nearby.

David's not a bad guy but, was NOT A GOOD JUDGE!!!!!

5.14 said...

Dudes. That climb has way radical 5.10's, a bunch of 5.12's and the most difficult 5.14d pitch. Times two biatch. Yup- two 5.14d pitches. You dudes will die on those without safety ropes. Like I totally like your radical energy and stuff. But dudes you cannot like climb that biatch Rock without safety ropes.

an Observer said...

David Young likely will ask to be assigned downtown, Civil or Family . That way he and Scott ( his husband, Judge Bernstein) could car pool together and even catch lunch regularly

Anonymous said...

a judicial bag man is so important --

Secret Judge said...

David Young is a somewhat decent fellow and politically very shrewd. Notwithstanding, he is remarkably UNQUALIFIED to be a judge and we can only hope he will be swayed to do something else. There is no way to get around it, he simply sucked at the job previously. He sees the bench as theatre, which should tell you all that you need to know about this opportunistic fraud. Shockingly lazy as well.

Anonymous said...


I have been "politely" asked to donate by more than one judge, but never while on the bench. Usually it's in a social setting.

Captain, tell us who the Judge was that gave you that envelope.

Anonymous said...

You watch, this time David's dad won't save David from his own mouth. David has no business being a judge again. He's obviously a decent guy but, all his crazy speeches from the bench belong in the legislature and not back in a daily courtroom.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to appear in front of him again. I'm so glad he's decided to return! (come on folks, its not like you all are exactly a joy to deal with every day either. I, for one, am certainly NOT important or well-connected. I'm just trying to rep. my clients & pay down those student loans. But he was always intelligent, tough but generally fair. That's more than I am willing to say about some others in the robe.

Anonymous said...

The one thing about David Young as judge that always stood out to me was that he enjoyed his job and always entered the courtroom with a smile on his face. Many of his former colleagues seem to be so unhappy on the bench that you wonder why they ever wanted the job in the first place. I wish David the best of luck.

Anonymous said...

SCOTUS will uphold Fl's Bar Rule, we've got to keep up the appearance of propriety here....errrrr I mean avoid the appearance of impropriety

Anonymous said...

I can't believe that someone who showed so little respect for the bench that he wore a penguin suit while on the bench and resigned to be a tv judge (the lowest of the low) would then seek the job that he quit. But what appalls me more is what he did to those pilots. He would not entertain any plea offers, forced the case to trial (despite the fact that he never wanted to go to trial in any other case) and maxed them out only to utilize the media attention to gain a tv gig that he subsequently lost. His actions are distasteful.

Anonymous said...

From TV back to the courtroom???? Wow....that's ass backwards....

Anonymous said...

David was kind of goofy but, he always told the defendant that his lawyer did a great job. I really liked that about him.

old guy said...

I love it! No smarts, and a 50/50 chance of a wrong ruling. Why not bring Young back? If Scott does not advise him, I have judicial error in every trial.

Of course, I would have to represent a drunk pilot on a TV exposure case to ever get to trial. But my client does not usually care if the witnesses lose interest over the years.

C'mon back, David.

Anonymous said...

You didn't like my Ethel Merman reference, Rump? My point was simply that the guy sang show tunes from the bench.

Anonymous said...

The best thing about David's return to the bench is that all his penguins will be back to the REGB to roost.

Anonymous said...

Or he forced them to trial as a general deterent. I don't want a drunk pilot flying me on my business trips.
Justice with a snap will soon be back. He is fair and entertaining. What more can you ask for


Claude Erskine - Browne said...

ABC News reports that police in N. Dade are using "Mug Shots" as target practice. The anchor said it was N. Miami Police, but the scroll on bottom said NMB police. BUT the video showed 6 pack line-ups w bullet holes through the pictures. Of course , following SOP, the pics on the 6 pack line- ups are all the pics I subjects are from mug shots. The report went further, the Chief of Police said it was bad judgement , not a violation policy. Also the Chief said it was NOT a sign of prejudice, that all pictures were of B/Ms. They just hadn't got to the mug shots with the whites yet. Saw this at 7:10 am on GMA,, not a farce

Anonymous said...

Is it that hard for Young to earn a living practicing law? Dude, get a job.

Anonymous said...

1:04 Makes a good point.

I had forgotten that Judge Young did indeed seem to generally like being a judge.
So does Judge Blake.

But why do so many others appear so discontent with their job??

the trialmaster said...

I will do everything in my power using my influence and financial resources to see that this clown never sits on the bench ever again

Anonymous said...

11:16 close your parenthesis will ya.

Anonymous said...

11:16 close your parenthesis will ya.

Anonymous said...

I remember the drunk pilots case. David was more interested in publicity for him than he was in resolving the case. He forced them to trial so he could force a maximum sentence. I simply can't remember another judge doing that.

FACDL Listserve Leaker said...

And. . . it's on.

Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts filed today in Group 39. So David Young had about 48 hours uncontested.

ORF still has a website up and running from the 2014 race. (Listing some very heavy hitter politicians as endorsers, along with the PBA, AFSCME and other unions -- not to mention various CABA past presidents. I wonder if all those folks are still endorsing for 2016.)

If he and Young both stay in the race for the same group I'll predict right now the most expensive judicial race ever for South Florida.

Anonymous said...

WOW -- So much David Young HATRED? Why?

Anonymous said...

David is a great guy, with zero judicial temperament. He does not belong on the bench.

Anonymous said...

It's not hatred for Young, he was pleasant enough off the bench, but woefully unqualified. Young and Scott have been busy writing the blog anonymously to try and counter the avalanche of negative comments.

Anonymous said...

Not hatred for David, just realistic comments. David is a nice guy and always has been but, we didn't think he really belonged on the bench: TOO MUCH POLITICS.

Anonymous said...

Why did OFR file in the same seat as David? are there no other open seats? if fonts lost to Zilber , will Young be any easier? Young was already a sitting Judge

Anonymous said...

TO MC Waste at 11:24:

You want Judge Schlesinger out of family court because he held your feet to the fire and probably made you pay child support.

Anonymous said...

Judge Young was an excellent judge who had compassion for people before him but with a proper balance. I never saw anything in his courtroom that was untoward, and it was refreshing that he had a sense of humor. For sure, he cared about the defendants before him.
7:28:00 AM has an almost Hector Lomana-like humility. He should chill and not demean qualified Latin candidates by suggesting that they can only succeed by targeting non-Latins.