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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 16, 2015

IN AND OUT

Jeb Bush and The Donald are in. 

Trans Fats are out. 

Judge Victoria Sigler is also out, retiring after a stellar career as a PD and Judge. More on her in another post. 

PUMP IT …OUT? 
County court is many things, but not the land of milk and honey. Or even just milk….

Female attorney before Judge Seraphin about to start trial. 
Recently had a child. We are reliably told that women in such situations need to …hmmm…pump breast milk every few hours just to ease the discomfort. 
The Judge's initial reaction: "too bad".  "Plenty of defendants have sat here uncomfortably." The judge then opined that another lawyer should take over the case and he could see no reason for giving the lawyer special treatment. 
Eventually reason and common sense and some harsh off the record comments from other female court staff members brought the judge around. The case was continued as the rumors spread and the media began asking questions. 





Check out the one minute mark. 

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

A number of years ago I suffered an eye injury that also developed into a nasty infection. I was in a lot of discomfort and was going to treatment every other day. Every judge that I asked for a continuance or other accommodation granted it particularly after I showed them my eye which was brutal looking. The only judge who refused to do anything nice or decent was Seraphin. This is one guy who time has come to leave the building.

Anonymous said...

Terrible story about Judge Seraphin. Glad he finally came around. I'd be interested to hear what other women have to say. It always seems cruel to me that women are forced back to work so soon after giving birth. THey typically don't get enough leave time, or if they get it, it isn't paid and they can't afford to wait until they feel ready to return. I feel certain most women would rather nurse than pump. I know there are exceptions -- women who would really miss their work, don't enjoy nursing, and aren't fulfilled hanging about their infant. Paid leave in many European/Scandinavian countries is a year or more. At least there you have a choice.

Having your baby snatched from your breast by work seems to me the beginning of a years-long struggle to find the right balance between work and parenting. I ceded far too much to work over parenting. Even before the birth, your body wants to rest more, which probably means your baby needs you to do so. But you can't without risk to your job, or to your stature at the workplace. This tension is worse for trial lawyers, where the physical demands of the job are greater and the hours unpredictable.

Anonymous said...

Time to go is right.

Anonymous said...

Yea, Fred would do something stupid like that. He's actually a nice guy but, these weird rulings and lack of respect for people are getting worse and worse every year.

He and Special Ed need to be in branch court.

Anonymous said...

I agree about seraphin. He is not capable

Anonymous said...

Try being human. Really.

Anonymous said...

Did he really come around or just avoid the issue by court continuing the case? I can't see him admitting that he was wrong.

Anonymous said...

Seraphin treats attorneys very poorly in his courtroom. You'll always notice that his is the most crowded and disorganized division.

Newman, Hague, and Seraphin should be farmed out to the branch courts. Bring Capote, Cannava, and Brinkley over to REG.

Rumpole said...

532 am. I can't believe I know this but even if a woman is breastfeeding she still needs to pump because she will produce more than needed.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


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Anonymous said...

Arrogant a-hole. Nice guy when at the pds office. Turned into a real jerk when he put on the robe.

Anonymous said...

I know of a case where a juror who was otherwise qualified and desirous of serving, was still pumping. The judge took breaks whenever she needed them and allowed her to use chambers so she could comfortable.

Anonymous said...

Seraphin is ok off the bench, but when he is on the bench the power goes to his head. He loves taking attorney's electronics, even when they are silently using them to do work in Court. Saw him take an attorney's phone and not give it back when the attorney was at the podium and needed it to call the case for which he was there covering for another attorney. Seraphin is also demeaning to people at times, seemingly only to stroke his own ego.

Anonymous said...

Young female attorney filing against seraphin soon....his disrespect is unacceptable.... Hope the pd's office has a spot for him in 2016....

Anonymous said...

Does anyone really like Paul Calli?

Anonymous said...

I like Paul

Anonymous said...

rumpole

5:32 here. Not so: if you and your baby are healthy, you produce as much milk as it needs; it's a symbiotic (and gorgeous) relationship. Like cows and goats -- they don't need pumping if they're nursing. You only milk them if you want more milk than they need to feed their babies. That's why humans pumping milk is a relatively recent phenomenon -- it arose in response to women having to work outside the home. When women are near their babies, their milk comes in response to their babies' hunger; as the babies get bigger and start eating food, the women's milk decreases.

Anonymous said...

Paul Calli is an excellent attorney and straight shooter. I never had a problem with him back in the day when I was a prosecutor.

BTDT

Anonymous said...

What an ass. Not being able to pump and becoming engorged is not only painful but also dangerous. The discomfort is unbearable and would take away a woman's ability to concentrate. Oh and how about the unsightly booby leakage that can and will occur. To you men it's the equivalent of having blue balls and then getting kicked in them. Judge Serafin lacks empathy and plain manners.

Rumpole said...

532-555: my experts tell me otherwise. But really it's not an area I wish to become an expert it.

Anonymous said...

@1:56 PM, Seraphin will remind you aloud that it's a lectern, not a podium.

Fake BR said...

I am not a fan.

Anonymous said...

It's understood by nearly every judge on the planet that "no phones" applies only to those in the gallery. I have never ever seen a judge discipline an attorney for using their smart phone while waiting in court.

We run businesses and most of use the time to reply to emails, check text messages, and if covering for another lawyer, use our phones to get the information on the case.

What so many judges forget is the business aspect to the practice of law. Many have no idea what it's like to have to be in two, sometimes three or four, places at the same time. Our time is limited and valuable. If I use the 15 minute wait during Seraphin's calendar because he won't call privates out of turn to respond to emails and texts, so be it.

Anonymous said...

More info on the taking-the-phone story, please. Had the phone rung out loud?

If he tried to confiscate my otherwise silent phone merely because I was referring to it in order to provide a case number or defendant's name, he had better be ready to hold me in contempt because fuck if I would cough it up over that.

Anonymous said...

6:32 is correct. you don't need to be an expert to know how our bodies work. why would a woman's body produce more milk than her baby needs? if a woman bears twins, she will produce more milk than if she'd had one, in response to the needs and suckling of two babies. if she pumps more milk than her baby needs, her body will produce more milk than it otherwise would. that's why you can milk a nursing cow or goat and it will still be able to feed its baby. but if no one takes the animal's milk but the baby, the animal doesn't need to be milked (pumped) -- in other words, you won't have the scenario described by 6:32, for which Seraphin should be censured.

Anonymous said...

Paul,
Thanks for writing your own kind words about yourself.

Anonymous said...

2 thoughts:

1. When I read "Victoria is out" I was hoping it was about Brennan being out of here. Now that I know that it was not about her leaving or retiring, I am disappoint.

2. Seraphin being Seraphin.

Both of these morons are akin to former Judge Adrien. Both need to go.

Anonymous said...

Dear Cavemen, most common reasons to pump are to collect your milk so your baby can have it when you're not around and to maintain your milk supply for when you're together. This is important if you're going back to work but want to continue nursing. SINCE babies need to eat every hour and a half to every 2 hours especially when it's breastmilk, it means that if a woman wants to breastfeed and work she HAS TO pump or she will engorge or dry up, both are very painful processess. You may also use a breast pump to stimulate your milk production and boost your supply, to collect milk to feed a premature baby or one who can't latch on to your breast, or to relieve the pain and pressure. This should not ever have to be explained. There is actually a Florida law which allows us women to breastfeed anywhere. I'd love to see the look on The Judge's face if she had her baby brought into court and whipped out a boob and started feeding.
Pumping also means you don't have to be on call for every feeding when you're at home. Your partner (or another helper) can feed your baby your milk from a bottle, allowing you to get more uninterrupted sleep or take a break from baby care. (Letting Dad take over some of the feedings also helps him bond with the baby!)

Anonymous said...

Dear Cavemen, most common reasons to pump are to collect your milk so your baby can have it when you're not around and to maintain your milk supply for when you're together. This is important if you're going back to work but want to continue nursing. SINCE babies need to eat every hour and a half to every 2 hours especially when it's breastmilk, it means that if a woman wants to breastfeed and work she HAS TO pump or she will engorge or dry up, both are very painful processess. You may also use a breast pump to stimulate your milk production and boost your supply, to collect milk to feed a premature baby or one who can't latch on to your breast, or to relieve the pain and pressure. This should not ever have to be explained. There is actually a Florida law which allows us women to breastfeed anywhere. I'd love to see the look on The Judge's face if she had her baby brought into court and whipped out a boob and started feeding.
Pumping also means you don't have to be on call for every feeding when you're at home. Your partner (or another helper) can feed your baby your milk from a bottle, allowing you to get more uninterrupted sleep or take a break from baby care. (Letting Dad take over some of the feedings also helps him bond with the baby!)

Anonymous said...

.

earl rogers said...

Bert Cooper is not the best poster boy for the Ayn Rand nation. That is, unless you regard casual racism, a fondness for Japanese pornography and Calvin Coolidge, and suffering from an unnecessary orchiectomy as favorable attributes.

Anonymous said...

prety amazing about fred. guy was like a pussycat at the pd's office-give em a robe and they suddenly go nuts. sad to see it happen over and over

Anonymous said...

The caveman judge and commenter who made comments about whether women need to pump or not probably also agree with that republican a-hole who said that women's bodies can "shut the whole thing down" when she gets raped, and that keeps her from getting pregnant. Grow the fuck up, or at least take a biology class.

Anonymous said...

@2:17, we don't want him back at the PD's office. He wasn't a very good lawyer when he was here, so I can only imagine how terrible he'd be now.

Anonymous said...

Serafin is one of the worst county court judges in that building. A total inability to treat lawyers and defendants with even a modicum of respect.

Anonymous said...

This is an odd story for me. I've never been before Seraphin and for all I know he could be a tyrant in court. But I do know him socially and he's a very thoughtful, soft spoken guy, so I have a hard time seeing him as a jerk. Also, in Kay's DBR story, the fact that he demurred and asked her to interview Glatzer indicates to me that he thought she might have her facts wrong. We also don't know the background here, if the PD had been engaged in other tactics that made the Judge skeptical of her motives, and so on.

There's no question that the woman needs to have the ability to recess to express the breast milk, but I wonder if it was as cut and dry as it is presented or if this is a case of an attorney who feels generally aggrieved and is using the +6 sword of unarguability against the good Judge.

Anonymous said...

Time to go...