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, January 02, 2018

ONE DOWN

363 days to go. 
Welcome to 2018.  Don't forget that when you write a check or fill out a certificate of service. 2018. Not 2017. And no more Happy New Years please. We've have had quite enough of those.

If you are a long-time and careful reader, then you have followed our advice and you are reading this post from the comfort and safety of your home, vacation home, or hotel suite. You have been smart enough to not allow a judge to set your case for trial for the first week of the year.

This is because, as we have warned our readers for the last decade and a half, the very worst time to have your case set for trial is the first week of the year. Judges and prosecutors have spent the last few weeks pondering 2017 and lo and behold, they have determined that their problems all stem from being too lenient and not trying enough cases. Thus opportunity meets timing, and the result is some of the most massive, severe sentences being handed out at the end of the week, that you will ever see. 
"That will show them" the judge will say to herself, fully ignorant of the implications of the Sixth Amendment right to trial and the case law against vindictive sentences. "The word will go out, and people will start pleading guilty." Because that's what we want right? To do away with trials and the right to confront and cross examine witnesses and accusers.  

So if you are a learned reader of this blog, then sometime starting in late October or November, you began making excuses for why your case could not be set on January 2 or January 8, 2018.

And if you did not learn your lesson, then you get what you deserve tomorrow when the judge denies your continuance, and the prosecutor offers you a plea above the guidelines.

From Occupied America, year two of the occupation, Fight The Power.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I disagree. Spread joy: Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Worst day of the year R is right. But the justice building was sort of empty today so it doesn't look like a lot of trials are going on.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole,

I am in the office today and I am trying to set matters on calendar that I could not for the past two weeks because judges and staff have been on vacation. Now that I am getting JAs on the phone, I am getting a lot of passive aggressive groans, underhanded complaints, exasperated sighs, and so on...just because I need to put such-and-such on calendar.

I am trying to be pleasant. I am being patient and understanding. I get that this is the first day back and things are a bit hectic. But this attitude is not limited to the day after New Years. Some JAs always treat us like they are doing us a grand favor by putting a matter on calendar. Not all JAs - some are wonderful and nothing but helpful. But a good number are nasty on the phone, and that's uncalled for.

So Rump - I call on you, to advise a solution to the constant kerfuffle between defense attorneys and their staff and the judicial assistants. Could we perhaps move to an online scheduling system for criminal so that JAs don't have to manually set our dates? I would love to hear a JAs perspective - what can we do to make your jobs easier?

Any thoughts?

Rumpole said...

Well, now I know what to post tomorrow. Lets see where this goes.

Anonymous said...

Call them out. Which JAs.

Anonymous said...

New year, one less follower of MM on Twitter. Things are not going well for her in 2018.

Anonymous said...

Now THAT is an intriguing idea...online scheduling for criminal.

Anonymous said...

A lot of circuits do online scheduling for civil. It would work easily for criminal. EFile your motion, select a hearing date. An electronic notice would automatically be generated to all parties. It could even be created as an option on the Efile Portal. That way, defense attorneys don't have to wait on rely on JAs, and JAs can spend their time focusing on more serious matters in their divisions.

The technology exists. There is a demand for it. Everybody wins. What do you say?

Millennial Me said...

Wow, what a day. Everyone was grumpy being back to work. Nothing got done but everything was an emergency. I will say that from my admittedly newbie view, the calendars in the Justice Building looked light. Not a lot of cases going to trial ala Rump's warning.

The day stunk. Everyone is on a diet. No one wanted to go to lunch. Everyone is broke from the holidays (including moi), and I'm just glad it's over.

Tomorrow is another day.

BTW I was not offended by Baby Boomer Bert's comments about me. Water off a millennium duck's back.