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, May 03, 2016

JUDGES SARDUY & KELLY HAVE OPPONENTS, JUDGE SAYFIE DOES NOT .....

AND NOW A WORD FROM JUDGE BLAKE: 

Anonymous Stan Blake said...
As a prior administrative judge in the Criminal Division for 9 years, the average person has no idea about all the extra work with no additional pay. Almost daily meetings and putting out fires are just a small part of the job. Because of the experience, administrative judges often teach others and sit on commitees. I know personally how hard Judge Kelly and Judge Sayfie work.
Wednesday, May 04, 2016 2:54:00 PM
 Delete


This is Rumpole. We want to thank the Captain for doing a great job staying on top of this ever-changing judicial election landscape. The thought that comes to us is....where is Albert Zemlock when you need him?

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS ROUND THREE .....

INCUMBENT JUDGE SARDUY HAS AN OPPONENT

AND

INCUMBENT JUDGE SAYFIE LOSES HER OPPONENT

AND

INCUMBENT JUDGE KELLY HAS AN OPPONENT .....

Incumbent Judges beware.  No seat in safe in Miami-Dade County.  Today, very quietly, Circuit Court Judge George Sarduy, currently assigned to the Family Division, drew an opponent.  That opponent is none other than attorney Elena C. Tauler AKA Elena "Ortega"-Tauler; which is the name she used to file for Judge.

Judge Sarduy was in private practice until April of 2006 when he was appointed to the County Court bench by Governor Jeb Bush.  Less than two years later, Sarduy was elevated to the Circuit Court bench by Governor Charlie Crist.  He ran unopposed in 2010 to retain his seat and he is currently running for reelection.

Elena C. Tauler is an attorney licensed by The Florida Bar since 1988.  On the other hand, Elena Ortega-Tauler is not an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Florida.  Despite that, Elena Ortega-Tauler is running for Circuit Court Judge.

Tauler filed to run in Group 52 more than one year ago, and until today, was running against Carol "Jodi" Breece, Raul Perez-Ceballos, and Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts.  This afternoon, Tauler jumped into Group 74 filing against Incumbent Judge Sarduy.

We have written several posts about Elena Tauler, including on April 24, 2008 and March 8, 2015, that can be found here and here.

We were recently sent a brochure from Florida Mediation Group where Tauler is a Mediator.  The brochure touts "Elena C. Tauler", Esq as a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Court mediator.  It does not mention anybody by the name of Elena Ortega-Tauler in the brochure.



INCUMBENT JUDGE SAYFIE .....

Also happening this afternoon, Judge Sayfie lost her opponent, Rosy A. Aponte.  Aponte has now decided to run against Incumbent County Court Judge Carroll Kelly in Group 23. 

And thank you to the alert reader who pointed out that Sayfie's campaign account has grown since last Friday.  On Monday she reported that for the month of April, 2016, she raised an additional $41,990, bringing her total raised to $96,000.  It is also remarkable how the legal community rallied around her candidacy in opposing the filing by Aponte.  I say that because, of the $41,990 raised in the month of April, $41,465 was donated on Friday, April 29th, the day Aponte filed.  Sayfie also loaned her campaign an extra $25k on the same day).

INCUMBENT JUDGE CARROLL KELLY .....

Judge Kelly has been on the bench since 1998.  Since getting elected that year, she was reelected in 2004 and 2010, and she is running for reelection this year.  Her web page can be found here.

Judge Kelly is currently the Administrative Judge of the Domestic Violence Division.  She previously served as President of the Florida Conference of County Court Judges, teaches as an Adjunct Professor at the UM law school, and serves on the faculty of the Florida Judicial College and the Florida College for Advanced Judicial Studies.

Her opponent is Rosy A. Aponte, who we wrote about on Friday, April 29, 2016.

Three days left until filing closes and by all accounts there will be a lot more action in the final 72 hours.

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

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

ortega-tauler files and qualifies against sayfie before the friday deadline.

Anonymous said...

Interesting how Aponte suddenly changes races. Sadly, the sudden switch does nothing to erase the fact that she is under investigation by the Florida Bar for multiple ethical violations. The transformation of this denizen of the third tier party circuit to an alleged judicial candidate by her morally corrupt Svengali, John Ruiz, does not change the fact that she is unable to properly speak or write a coherent sentence is the English language which she ineptly mangles on every attempt. She was sanctioned and banned from bankruptcy court by two (2) well respected federal judges, yet seems oblivious to her own ineptitude. Her personal bankruptcy and legal ineptitude are well documented. Luckily, despite the misconception by Ruiz and Aponte that the people of Miami-Dade County will blindly elect Aponte because she is a spanglish speaking female, is so far from the truth, that Judge Kelly will easily be reelected based upon her dedication, work ethic, intellect and record. Ruiz and Aponte's misguided game of musical chairs is not only nonsensical but offensive.

Anonymous said...

Interesting how Aponte suddenly changes races. Sadly, the sudden switch does nothing to erase the fact that she is under investigation by the Florida Bar for multiple ethical violations. The transformation of this denizen of the third tier party circuit to an alleged judicial candidate by her morally corrupt Svengali, John Ruiz, does not change the fact that she is unable to properly speak or write a coherent sentence is the English language which she ineptly mangles on every attempt. She was sanctioned and banned from bankruptcy court by two (2) well respected federal judges, yet seems oblivious to her own ineptitude. Her personal bankruptcy and legal ineptitude are well documented. Luckily, despite the misconception by Ruiz and Aponte that the people of Miami-Dade County will blindly elect Aponte because she is a spanglish speaking female, is so far from the truth, that Judge Kelly will easily be reelected based upon her dedication, work ethic, intellect and record. Ruiz and Aponte's misguided game of musical chairs is not only nonsensical but offensive.

Anonymous said...

The Bar deserves the judiciary they put up to be appointed/elected. Stop whining. You want good judges, come together and support good lawyers who want to be/remain good judges. Stop playing the "anyone can run" game. Aponte has no business being a judge, even Aponte knows that.

Anonymous said...

The Scene: Florida Division of Elections, Tallahassee
Clerk: “You here to file to run for office?”
Candidate: “Yes!”
Clerk: “Eleventh Circuit Judge or other office?”
Candidate: “Uh, Eleventh Circuit Judge”
Clerk: “If you filed to run in the last 24 hours, go to window 3 and take a number.”
(In the background, “Now serving number 389 in the Eleventh Circuit Judge line.”)
Candidate: “I filed for Miami-Dade County Court but am changing my seat, for now.”
Clerk: “What is this a picture of? (picture is of a courtroom). If you said ‘courtroom’ please go to window 4.”
Candidate: “I’m going to file against judge _____________ but I will be back tomorrow after I read the blog.”
Clerk: “The Miami-Dade County lounge is down the hall, to the right. There are tissues and a list of who has raised what and who their treasurer is. The other lounge is for the other 19 circuits and you’ll need a key, no one is in there.”

Anonymous said...


Across the county, in coffee shops, cafeterias and law firms, the cry goes out...

SARRRR DUUUUUUY!!!

CARLY FIORINA said...

WTF TED????

Anonymous said...

You know if Judge Kelly saw the inside of a courtroom more often and not act like she has more important things to do the 3 times a month she actually does...

Anonymous said...

If poor Judge Sarduy didn't piss off everybody except his Abramowitz cabal, stop trying to impress his bailiff and maybe be a little less bitter about his divorce maybe no one would run against him. I believe he's hit an all time high on bad reviews on therobingroom.com. Check out the site, no bueno!

Anonymous said...

Ok, the double poster @ 7:05 and 7:29 obviously failed ESL! Twice!

Anonymous said...

Elena Tauler was suspended 3 years by the Supreme Court for stealing trust account funds. She should have been disbarred. And now she wants to be a judge.

Anonymous said...

Sarduy is going to beat Tauler.

Anonymous said...

Z is for Zemlock

Anonymous said...

Why does she pick the administrative judges to run against? She is incredibly dense.

Anonymous said...

Received a call from the Oretga-Tauler campaign committee for support and contribution. Rumor is confirmed, she will be moving into Sayfie.

Anonymous said...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Anonymous said...

Kelly is as nasty a person as has ever been a Judge. I'm pretty sure she is the author of 7:29 and 7:30. Geez she maybe even more disliked than Ted Cruz and for good reason.

Anonymous said...

Judge Kelly works long hours every day. She has done a great job running the DV division. Ask pds , state attorneys and private attys. Ask the civil lawyers . Ask the other judges who work with her. Ask the litigants.

She is a really good judge.

Stan Blake said...

As a prior administrative judge in the Criminal Division for 9 years, the average person has no idea about all the extra work with no additional pay. Almost daily meetings and putting out fires are just a small part of the job. Because of the experience, administrative judges often teach others and sit on commitees. I know personally how hard Judge Kelly and Judge Sayfie work.

Anonymous said...

zzzz

Anonymous said...

9:42. Hope you told them to go pound sand. No one messes with Sayfie. She has been a part of the REG fabric for years. Respected and legally talented. They shouldn't waste their time. Sayfie will destroy her. And we, members of the bar, should help keep Sayfie on the bench.

Anonymous said...

Congrats Pepe Diaz on getting acquitted. Even though the video shows you were tanked, glad to have you back on the road.

Anonymous said...

So is this tauler Ortega chick a licensed lawyer? The post indicates no and I can't be finding her on flabar.org

Anonymous said...

First of all Judge Blake should not comment on an election. It is improper.

REG lawyers are now pondering on whether Judge Slom and Judge Leifman work as Blake mentions. Maybe Chief Soto should consider a rotation to new blood and new ideas. Would be interesting to see the dynamic duo working a normal division.

Anonymous said...

ortega-tauler staying vs sarduy - loaning herself $100k after the sale of her property in a couple weeks.

its election time b!tches

Anonymous said...

It’s a shame how this forum tries to pound the integrity of good attorneys. Aponte is a good attorney. She fights for her clients. She has NOT being banned from practicing in bankruptcy. “REALLY” , so much lack of class by the author of 7:29 and 7:30. It seems that author has a personal issue against Aponte. I wonder why? In any case I have personally known Aponte to work hard for her clients and even take hits for others. She doesn’t compromise her integrity like some in this industry. I have witness her in the court rooms and she is good. Why not give a fair opportunity to other attorneys to sit in a judicial spot. The positions are made to be changed after the terms are up or be reelected by the public. Just saying…….

Kiara Mazi said...

That's all for now...xoxo Gossip Girl

Anonymous said...

While Ms. Tauler is a currently licensed attorney, she should not be a Judge. She would have been permanently disbarred if the Fl. Supreme Court Chief Justice Wells or Justice Quince had their way.

The Florida Bar v. Tauler, 775 So.2d 944 (Fla., 2000).

"Elena C. Tauler is hereby suspended from the practice of law for three years, effective December 9, 1998, the date recommended by the referee.2 If Tauler is able to establish rehabilitation and is reinstated, she shall be required to complete a one-year period of probation which will include trust account monitoring with $100.00 monthly cost of supervision and an initial LOMAS review."
"There simply has to be public assurance that funds entrusted to lawyers will not be stolen by the lawyer, and if that public assurance is breached by a lawyer, that lawyer will no longer be a Florida lawyer. I must enforce this belief by stating I would disbar the respondent."

Unknown said...

Judge Sarduy is a poor excuse for a judge! I had the misfortune of having him preside over my case, I felt he made a mockery of my case, making jokes left and right. This is my life we are talking about and he is definitely not the man I want deciding on it. I would vote for a dog over him.