For a decade, a rumpled man, on the far side of middle age, ambled to work alone, continually on the precipice of personal bankruptcy, and advocating a policy no one else endorsed. In his younger years, during WWI, Winston Spencer Churchill, as First Lord of Admiralty advocated the Dardanelles Campaign which was a plan to send the British fleet though the straits of Dardanelles and bombard Constantinople bringing about the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The operation failed in a spectacular manner but Churchill doubled down, calling for a landing of allied troops on the Gallipoli peninsula. 132,000 British, Australian and New Zealand troops were injured killed before the operation ended in failure and retreat. The British people never let Churchill forget his failure in WWI. In the 1930s, as Germany rearmed, Churchill and mostly Churchill alone stood as a back bencher and warned England against the coming storm. He was ridiculed and dismissed. "Winston being Winston" was what the nicest of his critics would say. Recalling the Dardanelles campaign, no one thought Churchill could ever be trusted again to make decisions and lead England. All Churchill could achieve during those years in political wilderness was a small increase in the production of British fighter planes to protect England against an attack most were sure would never come. Those few dozen extra planes made all the difference in 1939 as England stood alone and a few hundred young English pilots held the line and beat off the Luftwaffe and saved Western Civilization.
There is a courage needed to stand alone when you know what is right despite everyone else saying you are wrong. We need this type of leadership now in our court system. Governor DeSantis may decide we cannot survive without the reopening of barbershops (Rumpole desperately needs a haircut), surf shops, and Bingo parlors. So be it. But we do not need to stream hundreds of people every day into a courthouse that will be the breeding ground for a second wave of Covid 19 that will devastate South Florida. We expect Broward to quickly capitulate and throw open the courthouse doors, science be damned. But we hope Miami's Judges have more foresight, intelligence and courage.
We need Courts and Judges, but until it is safe, we need the courthouses to remain mostly closed. We need Judges who will stand up to the Governor and not just call balls and strikes to earn conservative street cred so they can get to the 3rd DCA and beyond.
We need Judges who say "I read the NY Times and Washington Post. I read the articles written by non-political scientists and doctors who are warning about a second wave and I will not ignore science and endanger my fellow citizens."
Who amongst our judges will-like Churchill- stand alone and endure scorn and ridicule and do what is right?
When you see something that is not right, not fair, find a way to get in the way and cause trouble. Congressman John Lewis
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.
16 comments:
Do you really read the Washington Post? Do you ever reda a viewpoint on the editorial page or what they laughingly call the news pages that you view as being balanced in any way? At least with the Times, you can sort through the propaganda. As to the Scientists, I a shocked that a skilled trial lawyer such as yourself views those viewpoints as being objective. Surely you use different experts than the State Attorney, and those folks are scientists too. But, actually science is easy too. If you are a Democratic scientsisty, then teher is no price for a life and we should run the country's economy into the bround until Drooling Joe is hopefully elected. The economy be damned. Afetr all, the folks like you who have guaranteed salaries paid by the taxpayers know best, and those of us who support that system are corrupt, evil, and worgy only of having all of our assets depleted for those who eiethr cannot or choose not to work. But, heer is the problem, the underground economy is sufferings because the overground economy is siffering. I assue that you have not erceiebd people at your office lookig for money for food as some of us have. But, teher are not enough of us to feed them and they have pride as well.
The Court system is more than a picture on a computer of clever guys wearing shirts and ties over their boxer shorts. That is not court. That is not justice. That is video games for nerds. We need to open our courts and maybe have more flexible hours. Our guaranteed paid judges and courthouse staff can work in the evenings and over the weekend if necessary and maybe our state attorneys can stop filing 70 percent of their category three felonies.
In any event, the people are not served by T.V. court, only adminstrative lawyers and HAL are. Appellate courts can operate that way, maybe most depositions, but any ability to get the truth out of cops is greatly reduced if they are protected by cameras and distances. You need only look at the difference in testimony between interviews at MSNBC and testimony before Congessional committees to know that.
By the way, the history lesson was excellent.
Why not publish Howard Finkelstein's letter to Chief Judge Tutor.
The only “Churchill” among this group of today’s Jurists is Judge David Young. He has the brain power and street cred to stand up to the Governor. While diametrically in opposition to Republican policy, he will stand up and protect his fellow Judges. He has compassion and a power base behind him. Please David - save the lives of those involved in our beloved system.
Stand up. Be heard. Be courageous.
My dear sir or madam- Long time and careful readers of this blog know that for the last 35 years I read every day The NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the London Times and LeMond. The advent of the internet assisted my ability to read them on the date published. But even before then, those dailies arrived at my doorstep or in my mailbox without fail.
I have every ability to discern comment and opinion from news. Do you?
Kindly act accordingly.
9:52 I know not, and think even less of that provincial town north of the border where they hate us lawyers from Miami and I ignore them until they provide blog-worthy news. If you have the letter, email to us and we will peruse it in due course.
Your humble serv't
HR Blog proprietor.
Do you think that there has been a change in the Washington Post since Bazos bought it. And, buy the way, I am so impressed by what you read every day, but by the tone of your left wing viewpoints, I doubt that you consider anything except left wing tripe. Maybe we can keep the country buttoned down until the Dems win, and then we will not have to bother bringing it back anyway.
My dear sir or madam- I read so much more every day than those newspapers. I would hardly describe the articles and opinion pages of the WSJ as "leftist". My viewpoints are hardly leftist. They are influenced by objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand- What many, in their dim understanding of metaphysics and epistemology might call Libertarian.
However, in this regard for this post today, you are missing the point or I am missing the gravamen of your criticism. This post is not about politics. It is about science. When a doctor or scientist of note writes something about the US being on the upside of the curve when the NY numbers are removed, then I accept it whether it is in the Times, Post, WSJ or from overseas if the doctor is an expert. And when I read a half a dozen of the same types of articles written by scientists and doctors across a wide spectrum of society, then I tend to believe they are telling the truth. When those articles are supported by the databases I review which also indicate the number of rising cases across the US, then I feel even more comfortable about my opinions. And finally with all of that occurring, when I see news reports today about a new wave of infections in South Korea after people a week ago began recklessly congregating in restaurants and clubs, I extrapolate what occurred there with the pictures I see here of idiots in south beach and California flooding the beaches and parks.
Mark my words dear sir or madam. A second wave is coming in this country and it will be devastatingly bad. We can stop it. But we aren't going to do so. People who hate intellect and science are whistling in the dark as they amble past the graveyard they will soon be buried in along with thousands of citizens who followed their misbegotten advice. I shall not be one of them. I will follow science and facts, as silly as that seems to those idiots on Fox and in the white house.
Unfortunately, the advent of this pandemic confirmed what many of us have known for so long. Man, there are some incredible idiots in this country, as ably demonstrated by the fool who posted at 9:46 AM.
Unlike what the schmuck in the White House would want us to believe, a public health crisis is not a partisan issue. What American would not want the economy returned to a solid footing? Responsible, structured re-opening, supported by testing and contact tracing is the proven way to go (actually done in forward thinking countries around the world). Premature re-opening will accomplish nothing toward restoring the economy if Americans do not have the confidence that they can return to their lives safely. Since we are largely a consumer-driven economy, very few people are going to run out and return to their "normal lives" until testing, tracing or a vaccine is in place. In short, broad-based opening will not restore the economy, but will certainly add to the death count.
Instead, rather than be responsible, the idiots personified by 9:46 AM put on a show in support of their misguided attempts to assert their right to liberty. The real question is - how many more Americans have to die in order to placate the conspiracy-theory neanderthals who think this is all a hoax or that social distancing, testing and contact tracing are part of a liberal conspiracy designed to undercut your liberty? Clearly, the swastika-wearing, AR-15-toting protesters pining for liberty have not experienced the death of a friend or relative, who died alone in an ICU because of this disease. When they died, their party affiliation was irrelevant. What was relevant was that they were fellow Americans. It is utterly amazing how many idiots like 9:46 AM are willing to sacrifice the lives of their fellow Americans - what's 200,000 dead Americans? Apparently, nothing to them as long as they can go bowling on Tuesday nights. 3,000 dead Americans were enough to trigger a war in Iraq. 200,000? Here comes WWIII with China, the alleged inventor of the virus.
The Bottom Line - it is time to end the stupidity reigning in this country. First place we can start is the White House. I would like a President that does not advocate drinking bleach as a method of cleansing the system. Then, a change in hands in the Senate might actually accomplish something that benefits more Americans than constantly handing cash to the top 1%. Until then, we will be stuck listening to the inane whining of dopes like 9:46 AM.
Rumpole: Man are you smart. By the way, which scientists are the correct ones? Are you saying that all scientists are truth-tellers and are not influenced by political or social bias? Are the various pronouncements from the WHO untouched by a bias? Do scientists that are funded by different organizations likely to be critical of views taken by their sponsoring organizations? I am hurt that you think that I "hate intellect and science," but I will say this: I have never seen any statement attributed to you that was not left-leaning. I have never read anything written by you that criticized a progressive point of view. You are obviously bright, but as they say, brightness and 50 cents will buy you a Hershey Bar.
There may well be another onslaught of deaths and disease from thsi virus, but are you suggesting that everyone stay at home until there is a vaccination or just until there is an election that you leftists may win?
David has Scott behind him. For support against the Governor.
And then there is this “science and fact” statement which you can choose to ignore:
Head of Forensic Pathology in Hamburg Klaus Puschel on covid19 autopsy findings: “not a single person w/out previous illness has died of the virus in Hamburg. All had cancer, chronic lung dis, were heavy smokers or heavily obese, or had diabetes or cardiovasc dis"
This virus affects our lives in a completely exaggerated way....And the astronomical economic damage now arising is not commensurate with the danger posed by the virus. I am convinced that corona mortality will not even make itself felt as a peak in annual mortality"
"By focusing strongly on the rather few negative processes, fears are created that are very burdensome. Covid-19 is a deadly disease only in exceptional cases, but in most cases it is a mostly harmless virus infection"
Rumpolo you are railing against the go-go carb-free millennial lifestyle of the try a DUI case during the day, go to a Heat game at night, finish the evening with Daddy's CC at Prime 112 with a Tomahawk chop and smoke a shumie-cigar then crash at their daddy's paid for condo at the Continuum before doing it all again the next day. And I'm leaving out the swilling of the Tito's vodka and soda. And they think they know it all and can do it all. Well I'm with you- F'em all.
Rumpole, issue at home. GF and I adopted a new kitten. Real cuttie. With a bit of a cummerbund and bow tie- black and white. A little distinguished penguin running around the house. What to call him? Nothing stupid like Covid or Corona, but we are in unusual times. So I thought of ...Fauci. And he seems to like it. The FF sound gets his ears to perk up and he purrs when I call him Fauci and rub his little cheeks. GF hates it. Wants to call him something unoriginal like Ernie or Pengy or Elmo. But I am sticking with Fauci unless you tell me it's dumb or not appropriate. Please, little Fauci and I are counting on you. Bless this kitten's name.
9:46 has clearly drank the bleach-aid and inserted the UV wand. I think that’s what he means when he mentions other scientists. Thank god he is pro life. I wonder wether he or she was waving the confederate flag or the nazi one to go with the maga hat?
The criminal courthouse will always be one of the filthiest, most depressing, most toxic buildings in Dade. Virus with an IFR of 0.3% or not.
I don't agree with Rump on any part of his virus hysteria, but Im more than willing to join him in using this opportunity to re-model how that shit-house does business.
The current model: have every judge in the building set mandatory arraignments for 9 or 9:30, pack the courtrooms with waiting citizens and public employees, then wait for the judge to roll onto the bench around 10.
Arraignments are archaic anyway. IF the state files a charge, set a case management / plea conference. Have settings vary at 9, 9:30, 10AM. Start them on time. With adequate meetings like this, you can do away with soundings too. Cases not resolved at their CMCs can be given a trial date. Set the trials at 11 on the first day, 1PM every subsequent day.
Just doing away with defendants and lawyers coming in for No Actions or ARR re-sets will empty half the building right there. Staggering CMCs over three half-hour settings (each division would only have one per day), would open up the hallways and escalator and parking.
Oh, and speaking of the escalator: if a device breaks down more than once per month, recall the head judge.
I suppose that 11:53 is considered proper to publish because though extreme, it is extreme on the "progressive" side. Tossing around the term, Nazi, confederate and the like is pretty serious in the mouths of someone above the age of 8. And, I stand corrected at failing to appreciate the differences between deaths of convenience and those that result from a very bad virus that is attacking many of the vulnerable. But, at the end of the day, the suggestion that we should defer to scientists, slipping out of the mouths of people who have spent a professional lifetime shopping for scientists who say what they want to present to a court or jury.
Finally, I would think that Rumpole should try to be a better gatekeeper of the term, Nazi, as I suspect that he has had family members who died at their hands.
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