WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL vol 96

 In our on-going lifetime love affair with America's pastime, we present to you the rookie debut of St. Louis Cardinal Joshua Baez this weekend. 

First Baez became the 33rd player in major league history to blast a home run on the first major league pitch he saw. 

Second, Baez became the second player since 1900 to hit two home runs in his first two major league at bats. 

And third, Baez became the only player in baseball history to hit three home runs in his first three major league at bats. 

After Baez flew out to left field in his fourth at bat, the baseball savvy Chicago Cubs fans in Wrigley Field gave their rival St. Louis Cardinal player a standing ovation for his exploits. 

This is one of the many many reasons our love affair with baseball continues unabated. 

ARE YOU READY?

 The dog days of August mean many things. Baseball fans begin to take notice of pennant races. Robed Readers sip Prosecco or Limoncello or Campari spritzes in European vacation spots, congratulating themselves on their sophistication. New ASA's and PDs arrive wide-eyed in the REGJB where everything is new and seems exciting. 

To long-time and careful readers of the Blog the dog days 🐕 of August means "when is Rumpole posting information on the award-winning Survivor Pool and Fantasy Football League?" 

The answer is very soon.  

Keep watching these pages for very important Blog FF and SP updates.

ELECTION CENTRAL ..... JUDICIAL CONTESTS 2026 - PART THREE .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

MEET THE CANDIDATES - PART THREE.....

Today, Captain Justice concludes this three-part series with a look at the final two contested judicial races: Circuit Court Group 76 and County Court Group 25.

CIRCUIT COURT – GROUP 76
(Incumbent Judge Spencer Eig)

Judge Spencer Eig

• Incumbent Circuit Court Judge.
• Has served on the bench for more than twenty years.
• Appointed by Governor Jeb Bush in 2005.
• Has presided over criminal, civil, and probate divisions.
• Has been re-elected several times without opposition.

DOLLARS $$$

• Judge Eig has raised $212,663 from 449 contributors, second only to Judge Mavel Ruiz among all candidates in this year's judicial election cycle.
• His financial disclosure reflects a net worth of $1,718,000.
• His judicial salary is $189,591.

Yenly Dominguez

• Private practitioner concentrating in real estate and estate planning.
• Member of The Florida Bar for seven years.
• Has participated in more than 50 jury trials.

DOLLARS $$$

• Dominguez has raised $57,850 from 70 contributors.
• She has also loaned her campaign $8,100.
• Her financial disclosure reflects a net worth of $674,942.
• She reports annual income of $60,000 from her law practice and an additional $90,000 from Elite Title of Miami.

COUNTY COURT – GROUP 25
(Incumbent Judge Luis Perez-Medina)

Judge Luis Perez-Medina

• Incumbent County Court Judge.
• Former Assistant State Attorney for thirteen years.
• Appointed to the County Court by Governor Rick Scott in 2018. Was unopposed in 2020.

DOLLARS $$$

• Judge Perez-Medina has raised $59,606 from 132 contributors.
• He has also loaned his campaign $101,050.
• His financial disclosure reflects a net worth of $2,085,000.
• His judicial salary is $184,080.

Maribel Diaz

• Attorney with the Miami-Dade County Tax Collector's Office.
• Member of The Florida Bar for seventeen years.
• Handles foreclosure litigation, collections, and property tax disputes.

DOLLARS $$$

• Diaz has raised $12,625, the lowest fundraising total of any candidate in this year's contested judicial elections.
• She has also loaned her campaign $20,000.
• Her financial disclosure reflects a net worth of $530,394.
• She reports annual compensation of $134,882 from Miami-Dade County.

That concludes Captain Justice's review of the six contested judicial elections on the August 18 ballot.

As always, Captain Justice encourages every eligible voter to become informed, study the candidates, and most importantly...

VOTE.

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

ELECTION CENTRAL ..... JUDICIAL CONTESTS 2026 - PART TWO .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

MEET THE CANDIDATES, PART 2 .....

Today, Captain Justice takes a look at two more contested Circuit Court races. One of them—Group 67—features a candidate whose campaign finance reports caught Captain Justice's attention.

CIRCUIT COURT – GROUP 67
(Incumbent Judge Mavel Ruiz)

Judge Mavel Ruiz

• Incumbent Circuit Court Judge.
• Elected in 2014 and has served on the Circuit Court bench since January 2015.
• Re-elected in 2020.
• Former Assistant Public Defender.
• Has tried more than 50 jury trials.

DOLLARS $$$

• Judge Ruiz has raised $247,191 from 492 contributors, the highest fundraising total of any candidate in this year's judicial election cycle.
• She has also loaned her campaign $20,100.
• Captain Justice was unable to locate a financial disclosure reflecting her current net worth. Her reported judicial salary is $200,836.

Destiny Goede Alvarez

• Insurance defense attorney with Goede, DeBoest & Cross.
• Member of The Florida Bar for five years.
• Age 30.
• Practices civil litigation, insurance disputes, condominium, and homeowners' association law.
• Has not tried a jury trial.

DOLLARS $$$

• Alvarez has raised $195,960 from 360 contributors.
• Her financial disclosure reflects a net worth of $391,163, and an annual salary of $222,519 from her law firm.

A Campaign Finance Observation - better said as

WAIT A MINUTE

Here's what caught Captain Justice's attention.

Since 2008, when Rumpole first launched this blog, I have reviewed campaign finance reports for hundreds of judicial candidates. I have never encountered another judicial candidate whose campaign reports reflected this level of Political Committee support.

According to her campaign finance reports, 26 separate Political Committees (PACs) contributed to Ms. Alvarez's campaign. All but one contributed the maximum $1,000 permitted by law. One PAC contributed $750.

Even more noteworthy, nine of those PACs list the same address:

2100 Salzedo Street, Suite 200
Coral Gables, Florida

Captain Justice reviewed the campaign finance reports of all 14 candidates running in this year's six contested judicial races.

Ms. Alvarez is the only candidate whose campaign reflects contributions from this many Political Committees. The only other PAC contributions identified were two law firm PACs—GrayRobinson and Duane Morris—which contributed to Judge Eig's campaign.

The Political Committees contributing to the Alvarez campaign are:

• A Stronger Florida
• America First Florida First PC
• APB for Florida
• By the People, For the People
• Conservatives for a Better Florida
• Conservatives for a Better Miami
• Dade County PBA Political Action Committee
• Dade Families First PC
• Ethics and Honesty in Government
• Fighting for a Better Miami-Dade
• Fighting for Florida's Families
• Floridians for Prosperity
• Floridians for Strong Leadership
• Friends of Sammi
• Miami-Dade Residents United
• Miami Fraternal Order of Police
• Miami United PC
• New Leadership for Miami
• People Above Politics
• People for Accountable Government
• Protect Our Florida Values
• Protecting Florida's Future
• Right Future for Florida
• The Future Now PAC ($750)
• The Right Path for Florida
• The Southern Group of Florida

Captain Justice previously wrote about Ms. Goede Alvarez's multiple name changes in a post entitled "The Name Game."

If you missed it, it is worth another look. Click here to read our previous post.

CIRCUIT COURT – GROUP 69
(Seat being vacated by Judge Richard Hersch)

Rita Baez

• Private practice concentrating in personal injury litigation.
• Member of The Florida Bar for 30 years.
• Has tried approximately 80 jury trials.
• Candidate for County Court in 2024.

In 2024, Baez sought election to the County Court, narrowly losing to Christopher Green by a margin of 50.8% to 49.2%—a difference of just 4,145 votes out of 249,483 ballots cast.

DOLLARS $$$

• Baez has raised $64,016 from 105 contributors.
• She has also loaned her campaign $200,000.
• Her financial disclosure reflects the highest reported net worth of any judicial candidate in this election cycle—$9,110,000.
• She reports annual income of $750,000.

Yaneth del Carmen Baez

• Assistant State Attorney throughout her nine-year legal career.
• Currently assigned to the Human Trafficking Unit.
• Has tried 34 jury trials.
• Previously nominated by the Judicial Nominating Commission on four separate occasions.

DOLLARS $$$

• Baez has raised $60,913 from 203 contributors.
• She has also loaned her campaign $33,500.
• Captain Justice was unable to locate a financial disclosure reflecting her current net worth.
• Her State of Florida salary is $124,798.

Bonita Jones-Peabody

• Private practitioner.
• Former Assistant Public Defender.
• Member of The Florida Bar for 35 years.
• Has tried more than 200 jury trials.
• Candidate for Circuit Court in 2024.

In 2024, Jones-Peabody sought election to the Circuit Court but was defeated by Jason Bloch by a 62% to 38% margin.

DOLLARS $$$

• Jones-Peabody has raised $35,045 from 130 contributors.
• She has loaned her campaign $10,100.
• Her financial disclosure reflects the lowest reported net worth among the candidates in this year's contested judicial elections—$220,181.
• She reports annual State of Florida income of $19,097, together with $41,821 in Social Security benefits.

Tomorrow, Captain Justice concludes this three-part series by examining the final two contested judicial races:

Circuit Court – Group 76

County Court – Group 25

Until then...

CAPTAIN OUT …
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

ELECTION CENTRAL ... JUDICIAL CONTESTS 2026 - PART ONE .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

MEET THE CANDIDATES - PART ONE .......

Miami-Dade County has six contested judicial elections in the 2026 election cycle—five for the Circuit Court and one for the County Court.

Early voting began on Monday, August 3, and Election Day is Tuesday, August 18, 2026.

Over the next three days, Captain Justice will take a look at each of the six races. Today, Group 5 and Group 35.

CIRCUIT COURT – GROUP 5
(Seat being vacated by Judge Angelica Zayas)

Alexander Annunziato

• In-house counsel for Ascendant Commercial Insurance.
• Member of The Florida Bar for 11 years.
• Former Lieutenant with the Florida Highway Patrol.
• Former Assistant Public Defender.
• Has tried 23 jury trials.

His background also includes a highly publicized 2018 arrest for purchasing two bags of heroin. He successfully completed the Miami-Dade Drug Court program, and the charges were ultimately dismissed.

DOLLARS $$$

• Raised $53,795 from 86 contributors.
• Presidente Supermarkets, through five different corporate entities, contributed a combined $5,000.
• Financial disclosure reflects a net worth of $1,165,000, including an annual salary of $170,000 from Ascendant Commercial Insurance.
• One final tidbit that Rumpole would undoubtedly appreciate: among his listed assets is "Green Bay Packers — $1,500."

Arthur McNeil

• Assistant Public Defender.
• Member of The Florida Bar for 19 years.
• Currently assigned to the Death Penalty Litigation Unit.
• Certified Supreme Court Mediator.
• Former private practitioner handling both civil and criminal litigation.
• Has tried 56 jury trials.

DOLLARS $$$

• Raised $57,545 from 109 contributors.
• Personally loaned his campaign $25,250.
• Financial disclosure lists a net worth of $509,199 and an annual State of Florida salary of $134,321.

Monica Segura

• Senior Managing Associate General Counsel for Universal Property & Casualty Insurance.
• Member of The Florida Bar for 20 years.
• Has tried one jury trial.

DOLLARS $$$

• Raised $61,269 from 145 contributors.
• Financial disclosure reports a net worth of $1,492,000 and an annual salary of $213,500 from Universal Property & Casualty Insurance.

CIRCUIT COURT – GROUP 35
(Seat being vacated by Judge Orlando Prescott)

Renee Gordon

• Assistant Public Defender.
• Member of The Florida Bar for 30 years.
• Seven years with the PD's Office, twelve years in private practice, and the past eleven years back with the PD's Office.
• Has tried 60 jury trials.

This is Gordon's third campaign for the Circuit Court. In 2016, she ran in a four-candidate race, finishing third behind Mark Blumstein (29%) and Luis Perez-Medina (25%). She narrowly missed advancing to the runoff by just 1,737 votes. In 2018, she again sought a Circuit Court seat, this time in a three-candidate race. Gordon finished first in the primary with 47.6% of the vote, while Vivianne del Rio received 35%. In the runoff election, del Rio prevailed with 53% of the vote.

DOLLARS $$$

• Raised $84,000 from 289 contributors.
• Personally loaned her campaign $27,000.
• Net worth: $602,273. State salary: $124,133 plus $9,296 from Florida International University.

Cristobal Padron

• Private practice concentrating in family law.
• Member of The Florida Bar for 14 years.
• Ran for Circuit Court in 2024.
• Has tried two jury trials and more than 400 bench trials.

Padron lost the 2024 election to Judge Heloiza Correa by a 52% to 48% margin.

DOLLARS $$$

• Raised $15,800 from 31 contributors.
• Personally loaned his campaign $38,500.
• Net worth: $1,085,000. Income from solo practice: $237,313.

Be sure to check back tomorrow as Captain Justice turns to Circuit Court Groups 67 and 69.

Trust me—you won't want to miss it. The Group 67 race contains a few surprises that deserve a closer look.

CAPTAIN OUT …
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

THE ASSMAN

More fun with license plates. More and more Seinfeld episodes are becoming relevant to current issues. 

Case in point- the Assman license plate episode, because now a Virginia man has sued to be able to have a plate that reads

And now after the Fourth Circuit's opinion here calling the plates private speech (not government speech) and subject to the first amendment protections, it may be headed to everyone's favourite group of nine in DC. 

In 2015 in Walker v. Sons of Confederate Veterans, Justice Breyer (still around, not writing opinions and no relation to the mid ice cream company) held that specialty plates issued by the state are government speech, not private speech, and thus subject to far less First Amendment protections. Three liberal justices were joined by Justice Thomas who wrote that he felt compelled to join his liberal colleagues at least once a decade in an opinion. The plates in question in Walker were Texas specialized plates and included such slogans as Choose Life, God Bless Texas, Fight Terrorism, Down With NY Jewish Delis, and I'd Rather Be Golfing.  (NB- one of these is a fake Rumpole parody). 

In dissent, Justice Alito disinvited Thomas to the weekly conservative pizza party the court has and wrote "If a car with a plate "I'd rather be golfing" passed by at 8:30 am would you think that it is official Texas state policy to golf rather than work?" Point to Alito, and more pizza for the rest of the conservative Justices and clerks that week we guess. 

Virginia appears ready to take this plate contretemps all the way to the DC 9. 

SABBATICAL

 Still on Sabbatical. Blog interns will review and post your comments. 

MORE OF WHAT WE ARE READING PLUS

 As we continue our sabbatical, we add an addition to our highly anticipated series on the books we are reading- What We Are Listening To (c) Blogstuff 2026 most rights reserved). 

Let's start with our new feature. Everyone has a podcast these days, from lawyers who work on top of garages, to guys doing time at Coleman. 

Alan Alda's Clear and Vivid, available on, inter alia, Apple Podcasts, is a gem. Alda interviews a wide collection of famous, and not so famous people, with an eye on communication, how we engage in it, and how it can be more effective. Walter Issacson's episode is a must listen to as he expounds on the communication during the Continental Congress (the wonky wifi in Philadelphia kept cutting out, causing Franklin at one point to toss his iPhone across the room during one contentious meeting), and talks about his new, short, epistle The Greatest Sentence Every Written.

Fan of the West Wing?  MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell talks about his years as executive producer for the show and his task during the last two seasons writing the character Senator Arnie Vinick, who is the Republican presidential candidate vying to succeed President Bartlett and was played by....Alan Alda. 

One recent episode caught our ear- author and neuroscientist Lisa Genova was interviewed about her career and works in fiction and non-fiction, which brings us to...

What We Are Reading: 

More Or Less Maddie, by the just mentioned Lisa Genova, is a thoughtful, engrossing and engaging quick beach read that you must consume as summer wanes. The topic: a fictionalized account of a smart young woman dealing with the onset and challenges of           bi-polar disorder. *

Genova is a masterful writer, spending fifty-some-odd pages developing a character you become fully invested in, with only the barest hints of a plot (in violation of the current  your plot line must be apparent in the first ten pages requirements of block-headed book agents and query letter rules) until you slowly are drawn in to Maddie's illness and say to yourself Oh I see now where this is going, only to have what you think is going to happen turn on its head again and again and again. The worst thing about this wonderful novel is that it ends, leaving you wanting More Maddie. 

More Or Less Maddie comes with our famous Rumpole Money Back Guarantee that you will love this book or your money cheerfully refunded! And we have yet to refund any reader, so buy it and settle down for a great read with confidence. 

 

* For our robed readers, this has nothing to do with the mating habits of those big white bears in Alaska that you see in your IG feeds. 

A TINY OF RIPPLE OF HOPE

 This is what we do on Sabbatical. Read and ponder and meditate and hope and rest and refresh. 

"But how shall we educate men to goodness, to a sense of one another, to a love of truth?  And more urgently, how shall we do this in a bad time?"

Father Daniel Berrigan, Cover of Time Magazine, January 25, 1971. 

For more on Father Berrigan, the only Jesuit Priest ever to be on the FBI's most wanted list, click here.

(for more on Time Magazine, ask your parents)

More urgently indeed. 

"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth tiny ripples of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." 

Robert Kennedy, Day Of Affirmation Address, Cape Town University, June 6, 1966.  (That's Cape Town South Africa for our robed readers, not Cape Town Gas and Cafeteria in Hialeah). 

(For more on Robert Kennedy, go back to college or ask your college for a refund) 

Where is our Robert Kennedy  today? Because we don't see any on the horizon, absent - stand by for an outrageous backlash in the comments- the current Mayor of NYC (ouch, but we said it and we mean it). 

WHY WE ARE DONE WITH LAW

 There are many reasons why our disillusionment with law continues. However, this post by famed federal lawyer cum blogger Mr. Markus sums it up for us: Our System Has Lost Its Way. 

 US v. Hernandez.    Six-day Medicare fraud trial. Judge Moore gives prosecution forty minutes for closing, defense gets thirty. At the end of her thirty minutes defense counsel asks for more time as she has not been able to address loss amounts, the false statements counts, and the good faith defense. Hernandez is convicted and sentenced to veinte años as we say in Miami. 

And now the 11th Circuit has weighed in (Motto: Proudly reversing just one criminal conviction per year since 1990 and before). 

Was Moore wrong? You betchya.  Does it matter? Remember who has the appeal. 

All together now....(hint- begins with an H....) HARMLESS ERROR

And as Mr. Markus points out, that was not good enough for Judge Luck* who concurred and opined that thirty minutes is fine for the defense "You get what you get and you don't get upset" (clarification so we don't get into hot water- this is not a quote from Judge Luck's concurrence. It does however sum up the gist of his opinion, in our opinion, and comes from a well-known pre-school saying that teachers tell their little ones who want a different flavor of ice cream). 

Read Mr. Markus's piece, along with his timely world cup analogy. ⚽

For us- we give up. 

Along with all the other arguments about a defendant getting a fair trial, the ability to fight the government and make it prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, our personal take is that the opinion is profoundly anti-defense attorney. 

What we do is both an art and a science. And the art part comes during our closing arguments. What we say, how we say it, and when we say it in crafting a narrative designed to influence the jury has been eviscerated by this opinion. The opinion silently stands for the proposition that there is no difference between a Gerry Spence, a Roy Black, a Richard Sharpstein, an Al Krieger et. al, standing before a jury arguing for their client's acquittal, and a third-year law student intern assisting in their first trial. 

Just say what you think your argument is and do it quickly so the court can get to the important business of sentencing.

There is no art or skill in closing. It matters not who gives a closing. Etc. 

The opinion is what one would expect from a court in Iran, North Korea, China, or Russia, where outcomes in criminal cases are predetermined and the defense is simply part of the show trial. This is not what should occur in the criminal justice system of the United States of America. 

And if you do not think this opinion will embolden the new set of MAGA judges taking the bench to shut down criminal defense attorneys even more, then we have a reflecting pool in Washington we would like to sell you. 

It's not the beginning of the end for our art- it is the middle- and the end is in sight. 

We are done. 

"The war outside still rages, but you say it ain't ours anymore to win."

Bruce Springsteen, No Retreat, No Surrender. 

* In an earlier version of this post we mistakenly listed the concurrence as being written by Judge Jordan. That was a mistake and "bad luck" on our part. We apologize. In our counting, it is our third mistake of the year. 

WHAT RUMPOLE IS READING

 As we recharge our batteries, we have a reading list to recommend to our readers, and the very few robed readers over 40 who read something other than the runaway best seller "Federalist Society For Judges Dummies". 

First up, lying, cheating, millions of dollars at stake, a cast of shady and suspicious characters, and of course some sex. Are we talking about David Portnoy's new book? Nope, we will get to that shortly. This is Ben Mezrich's new great tome "Checkmate". Maybe only the backroom goings-ons at the REGJB are filled with more intrigue than the world of gambling poker the mob the CIA maga the NBA CHESS!   Yes, you read that write (bad pun). The world of chess has changed my friends. And Mezrich takes you inside a scandal in the way only he can do. It is a mystery populated by characters off the pages of a Damian Runyon novel, filled with money, and an allegation about the KGB-like-use and possible misuse of ...warning NSFW....Anal Beads. Read it. You will thank us afterwards. 

Now on to more bizarre characters in Dave Portnoy's new book Cancel Me If You Can.  We did not know much about this fella until we started reading it. There was that late night in an upscale bar in FIDI when we did some shots with him right as Covid was ending, vaguely aware that he was a person of notoriety, and he was a nice enough guy, flipping for the bar tab (we lost). Now we know the backstory of Barstool Sports, and we have a ton of respect for this guy's work ethic, and it has some laugh out loud stories to boot. A really perfect beach-read during these dogdays of August. 

And finally, we were sad to read in the failing NY Times about the recent death of Keigo Higashino, one of our favourite mystery writers. So we downloaded his classic The Devotion of Suspect X and poured through again it in a few nights with our Kindle. 

Voted (by some group who seems to know about these things) one of the top 100 mysteries of fiction, it is a classic that we can rave about for hours. A classic cat & mouse mystery. The stage is set early with characters you quickly care about. Something happens, and you are off on a wonderful journey. Read this book, then get into the author, and you will have months (years if you wear a robe to work) of wonderful novels ahead of you to devour.   

One side effect of this time off. Portnoy reminded us how much we love blogging. So  come the end of summer we will be back at it with some changes. More stuff we like, less law. And on that note, watch these pages for the Award-Winning Fantasy Football and Survivor Pool announcements. The Dolphins and the Jets will be losing games in spectacular fashion before you know it. 

Language police- the announcements are not award-winning. The FF and Survivor Pool are.

SABBATICAL

 Our sabbatical has begun. Blog interns will review and post comments. We will use this period of time to rest and reflect on the blog  talk quietly amongst yourselves  from time to time we will have a new post if we are inspired, or events warrant. 

DIFFICULT LEGAL QUESTION

 We confront the difficult legal questions of our times. We do not shy away from the questions that might stump lesser legal minds. Now that being said, we can think of one jurist, a baseball purist, who might well be the authority to weigh in on this problem of property law. 

Facts: Baseball game in Philadelphia (a city that once booed Santa Claus as a December football game, and a stadium that has an on cite jail for unruly fans, so you know what we are dealing with). 

A foul ball is hit and an enterprising fan catches the ball in his hat. The momentum of the ball rips the hat from his hand and another fan behind him has the ball. The original Possessor One of the ball is  wearing a Roy Halliday Baseball Jersey. Possessor Two (the subsequent and final possessor)  of the ball is wearing an Eagles Jersey. 

Querry:  this is a toughie. If Possessor One's hat with the ball is caught by Possessor Two, does Possessor Two have a right to ball, which is inside the hat (the property) of Possessor One? Can Possessor Two hand the hat to Possessor One and keep the ball? Or because the ball is in the hat which belongs to Possessor One, is the ball still the property of Possessor One although the hat and the ball are in the temporary custody and control of Possessor Two? 

Have at it. 

 

SWAG

 Can someone explain this to us? 

SWAG  MERCH 

It's not exactly our E Street Band/Stone Pony T-Shirt from 1977, but.....

DESANTIS APPOINTS FOUR NEW JUDGES .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

UPDATE:

Today, the Daily Business Review (Law.com) ran its story on the appointment of the four new judges. Contained within that DBR story, written by reporter Annie Mayne, she wrote as follows:

DeSantis Appoints 4 Judges to Miami-Dade Benches

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis named two judges to the Miami-Dade Circuit Court and two judges to the Miami-Dade County Court.

July 22, 2026 at 11:38 AM

By Annie Mayne

.... "Benedi and Losa will take seats emptied by former Judges Jason Reding Quiñones and Yara Klukas. Quiñones was sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida in August 2025 and Klukas took her oath as First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida in September.

The governor’s office has declined to comment on the months-long gap between the time Quiñones and Klukas resigned and when DeSantis convened the 11th Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission to interview applicants to replace them. That more-than-seven-month-long delay was first reported by the Justice Building blog." (The story provided a hyperlink to the Captain Justice story posted on April 7th).

WE HAVE FOUR NEW JUDGES IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

Today, on the final day of the 60-day constitutional deadline for filling judicial vacancies, Governor DeSantis finally complied with the Florida Constitution and appointed four new judges to the Miami-Dade bench.

CIRCUIT COURT

The Circuit Court welcomes two new judges, replacing retired Judges Jose Rodriguez and Marcia Caballero.

JUDGE ALICIA GARCIA PRIOVOLOS has served on the Miami-Dade County Court for the past three and a half years. She was elected to the bench in 2022, defeating incumbent Judge Scott Janowitz with nearly 60% of the vote. Before taking the bench, she spent sixteen years as an Assistant State Attorney.

JUDGE CHRISTOPHER GREEN was appointed to the County Court by Governor DeSantis in December 2022 and was elected without opposition in 2024. Judge Green began his legal career as an Assistant Public Defender in Miami, where he served for six years. He then spent twenty-three years as an attorney for the City of Miami before joining the judiciary.

COUNTY COURT

The County Court also gains two new judges, filling the vacancies created when Judges Jason Reding Quinones and Yara Klukas resigned in August and September 2025, respectively.

JUDGE GUSTAVO LOSA has been a member of The Florida Bar for twenty-one years. Prior to his appointment, he served as Associate General Counsel for Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company.

JUDGE JOHANNA BENEDI has been a member of The Florida Bar for nineteen years. Before her appointment, she practiced with Farmers Insurance, defending Personal Injury Protection (PIP) cases. Captain Justice also believes she previously served as an Assistant State Attorney in Miami.

Our loyal readers will recall that the appointment process for these two County Court vacancies sat dormant for approximately seven months after Judges Quinones and Klukas resigned. It took an email from Captain Justice to the Governor's General Counsel's Office to get things moving.

Remarkably, within an hour of receiving the Captain's email, the Governor's General Counsel contacted the Governor, and—faster than you can say "Get 'Er Done"—letters accepting the resignations of Judges Quinones and Klukas were issued, finally allowing the Judicial Nominating Commission to begin the constitutional appointment process.

Here are the links to our previous Blog posts on this saga: from April 7th, and from April 15th.

A PERSONAL NOTE...

Dear Judges Losa and Benedi:

You may send your thank-you notes to The Captain at Captain4Justice@gmail.com.

You're welcome.

And, in all seriousness, congratulations to all four of our newest judges. We wish each of you a long, successful, and distinguished judicial career.

CAPTAIN OUT …….
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

 

IT'S SPAIN AND BURNHAM

 Spain is our World Cup Champion. 

They stalked the field like a tiger in the reeds, quietly dominating opponents with a suffocating defense and an unrelenting offense. Both attributes were on display Sunday in that most American of settings- the Meadowlands of New Jersey, a place where Giants and Jets play, and the Boss sings. 

By the end of the second half Spain had nineteen shots, Argentina two, and the great Messi had but one real run at the goal, as the Mighty Casey/Messi struck out. 

The real star of the day was the Argentinian Goalkeeper Dibu Martinez who set a WC record for saves and kept his team in the match. There was this feeling that maybe, just maybe, Argentina - the team that had twice come back from two down to win their matches- the last being a win over our beloved England in the semi-finals- could pull it out one more time. A dashing strike from Messi, or a win during the final penalty kick stage when their goalkeeper would help them pull it out. But it was not to be. Spain kept the pressure on offense, scored during the end of the second half of extra time on a marvelous assist by Nico Williams who knocked a header backwards into the open box where a streaking Ferran Torrres, who had come off the bench, slammed it home for his first WC goal and Spain's second World Cup championship. 

Meanwhile this Monday morning a centuries old tradition continued in the world's greatest democracy as Prime Minister Starmer met with the King and resigned. Then Andy Burnham was invited to the Palace for the "kissing hands ceremony" where King Charles invited Burnham to form a government. The name of the ceremony dates from when the PM kissed the hand of the Sovereign. These days a firm handshake suffices. 

Burnham is the new PM and will address his nation outside of 10 Downing Street later Monday. 

Meanwhile in the US, the president was roundly booed as he took the field in New Jersey to help present the World Cup trophy. Then he flew back to DC in an Airforce One plane that has no anti-missile defense systems, something the older AF One's have. In response to that story last week the current administration did what it always does- immediately subpoenaed the NY Times reporters who broke the story. 

We don't have a kissing hands ceremony. We do physically attack Congress when the nut-case followers of one candidate decide not to accept the results of a presidential election. We don't have leaders who resign peacefully and are immediately replaced. We do believe (some of us, anyway) that dead dictators in Venezuela hacked our voting machines. 

But to end on a positive note, the world got a great view of the basic American goodness and hospitality during the six weeks of the WC. Visitors were welcomed with open arms. The Scots drank Boston dry; the Norwegians rowed up and down escalators, and on Ocean Drive and in stadiums. And foreigners marveled over those very American traditions like Ranch Dressing on nearly everything, and shopping at Costco. 

Enjoy the week. We will have details of our upcoming summer sabbatical by the end of the week.  

BEST STORY OF THE WEEK

Bad Blog Pun Alert!!! Proceed with caution!!!!! 

We've been trying to squeeze this story on to the blog all week. LOL 

Truth is stranger than fiction. 

This is the Truth: 

And this is fiction. 

Enjoy your weekend. 

NGI

 Many blog readers wondered where the Blog was when one of our very own REGJB judges was attacked for rending a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict in a bench trial regarding a tragic set of facts. Florida's AG and then Governor called for his impeachment- a turn of events that is nothing less than a full frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary. And of course the Judge in question is one of our very best. 

We support the Judge and withheld initial comment because we believed the best course of action was to not give any legs to an obviously cheap-shot political story.  There was a method to our madness. This was not our first rodeo. (add additional fitting euphonisms here)

Now we offer for your review the final order- the work product of a highly competent and dedicated jurist. 

Finding of NGI and Conditional Release Conditions - Conformed by Anonymous PbHV4H

BOP'ED

 This was big. 

A SDFL judge giving a downward variance to a health clinic owner convicted of fraud? This was bigger. 

A DeSantis drone granting a motion to suppress? This was bigger. 

Mexico actually paying for the wall? This was bigger. 

Are you ready? 

Spain BEAT France in the World Cup semi finals. 

This is huge, 

This is the 69 Miracle Mets underdog stuff. 

Rocky Balboa going the distance against Apollo Creed kind of thing. 

Mbappe? He got BOP'ed. Won't see him no more. 

And now Wednesday our lads go against Argentina with a clear path to the coveted world cup. 

It's like it's 1966 all over again. 

SUMMER DOLDRUMS

woooooweeeeee UPDATE

Judge Willians just slammed the president, the DOJ, referred the lawyers involved in the stinking mess over the settlement of the president's lawsuit against the IRS to the Florida Bar, referred the acting attorney General to the New York State Bar (Motto- "Florida doesn't want our lawyers, so we don't want theirs") and skewered everyone associated with the case for trying to get the Court's imprimatur on a backroom deal. 

You know the order is a barnburner when everyone's favourite federal blogger Mr. Markus starts his post about the order with a very uncharacteristic "woooooweeeeee" - and that's an actual quote from his post here, which has a link to the order, because we counted the o's and e's. 

'

Here we are mid-July. The temperature is stifling. A commentator on the England /Norway match, played at the South Florida Hard Rock stadium called the heat and humidity during the match "soul sucking." 

And yet, in perhaps one of the oldest anachronistic traditions, male lawyers must wear a jacket in court. Doesn't that seem bizarre? It's over 90 degrees but one half of the population who are lawyers must wear a coat/jacket. 

And people wonder why we are quitting law. 

Speaking of which, the blog will be going on a sabbatical starting the end of July through mid-August. Interns will clear the comments, and some posts may go up. 

During out rest we will consider the future.

The recent success of The Captain getting the governor to make long overdue judicial appointments tells us we fill a role of some sort. And to the extent the current judicial administration and SAO administration despises us, we know we are doing some things right. 

Let's put it this way- we will decide something long before the current federal administration secures the Straits of Hormuz (if it ever can, which is now more and more doubtful). 

The sudden and unexpected death of Senator Lindsey Graham is a very big loss to the country.  He was the last of the Three Amigos- Senators Graham, John McCain, and Joe Lieberman. Across political and ideological differences the three men were perhaps the last of a group of leaders who believed our common ideals as Americans were more important and brought us together more than our political differences. 

Now? Ha. 

Apple running nicely Monday morning. As Jim Cramer famously said more than a decade ago, "Own Apple, don't trade it."  Applied Materials is not running well today, although Goldman Sachs doubled down on the company, reaffirming its price valuation as 650 a share- although Monday it opened down well under 600. Our view? Buy more and thank us in December (actually well before). 

 

 

ENGLAND ADVANCES!

 The lads came through in Miami, with your humble blogger present and cheering them on. 2-1 over a very game Norway team. 

WE HAVE A NEW JUDGE ON THE 3RD DCA .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

"A MOOSE IS NOT A BEAVER"*

CONGRATULATIONS TO NEWLY APPOINTED THIRD DCA JUDGE THOMAS REBULL .....

Governor DeSantis has finally appointed Judge Thomas Rebull to replace retired Third District Court of Appeal Judge Kevin Emas.

Congratulations to Judge Rebull.

It only took 115 days, countless unanswered emails and telephone calls, and a Petition for Writ of Mandamus filed in the Florida Supreme Court by the ACLU of Florida before the Governor complied with the constitutional duty he swore to uphold.

Judge Kevin Emas retired on March 31, 2026. Earlier, on March 17, the Third DCA Judicial Nominating Commission had certified six nominees to Governor DeSantis.

Article V, Section 11(c) of the Florida Constitution could not be clearer:

"The governor shall make the appointment within sixty days after the nominations have been certified to the governor."

Sixty days came and went.

No appointment.

Your humble CAPTAIN JUSTICE then began asking a very simple question:

Why?

Blog posts were written. (They can be read here and here.)

Emails were sent.

Telephone calls were made.

Voice messages were left.

General Counsel David Axelman and Assistant General Counsel Taylor Gustafson—who oversees judicial appointments—never responded.

Not once.

With no explanation forthcoming, Captain Justice contacted the ACLU of Florida and asked that it consider filing a Petition for Writ of Mandamus to require compliance with the Florida Constitution.

The ACLU agreed.

Judge Kevin Emas agreed to serve as the petitioner.

The lawsuit was filed on June 30, 2026.

The Florida Supreme Court promptly ordered Governor DeSantis to respond within ten days, setting a deadline of Friday, July 10, at 5:00 p.m.

The handwriting was on the wall.

Earlier today, Governor DeSantis finally appointed Judge Thomas Rebull to the Third District Court of Appeal.

Then, at approximately 4:30 p.m.—just before the Supreme Court's deadline—General Counsel David Axelman and Assistant General Counsel Taylor Gustafson filed the Governor's response.

Did they acknowledge that the constitutional deadline had been missed?

Did they apologize?

Did they explain why the Governor ignored the Constitution for nearly two months beyond the deadline?

No.

Instead, they asked the Supreme Court to dismiss Judge Emas' petition as moot because the Governor had "already" made the appointment.

Problem solved.

Nothing to see here.

Move along.

What an extraordinary way to defend a missed constitutional deadline.

Congratulations again to Judge Thomas Rebull. By all accounts, he will make an outstanding appellate judge.

We also understand that Judge Rebull is presently drafting a letter to Captain Justice. We imagine it goes something like this:

Dear Captain Justice:

Thank you for your tireless service to Florida's legal community. Nobody keeps a closer eye on judicial appointments and judicial elections than Captain Justice. We especially appreciate your continuing coverage of "The Name Game."

Thank you for refusing to let this constitutional deadline disappear into the Tallahassee bureaucracy. Had you not continued asking uncomfortable questions, writing blog posts, sending emails, making telephone calls, and ultimately involving the ACLU, I might still be waiting.

As a newly appointed judge, I promise to do something my appointing authority failed to do for 115 days: faithfully follow the Constitution that I have sworn to uphold.

Sincerely,

Thomas Rebull

(Editor's Note: The preceding letter may contain slight embellishments.)

Now we turn our attention to the Governor's next four judicial appointments: two Circuit Court vacancies (Judges Marcia Caballero and Jose Rodriguez) and two County Court vacancies (Judges Yara Klukas and Jason Reding Quinones).

The constitutional deadline is July 19.

We'll see whether the Constitution matters this time.

*"A moose is not a beaver" may be the greatest opening line ever written in a Motion to Dismiss.

The quote comes from litigation filed by Buc-ee's against the owners of the Mickey Mart chain of convenience stores in Ohio. Buc-ee's claims trademark infringement because Mickey Mart's logo features... a moose. (Buc-ee is a Beaver).

Counsel for Mickey Mart responded with the immortal observation:

"A moose is not a beaver."

Sometimes, lawyers really do write the best comedy.

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

REBULL APPOINTED TO 3RD

 Judge Rebull was appointed to the 3rd District Court of Appeals by the Governor on Friday. 

ZOOMING IN MIAMI

 This is an only in Miami story. 

Miami Courts had zoom. 

Then we did not. 

Now we do, but......

In the infinite wisdom of the leaders of our court system, we have zoom only as long as the Court does not tell anyone the zoom addresses of any judge. 

Yes, you read that right. They REMOVED the Zoom information/ directory from the Miami-Dade Court website. 

So you can in theory Zoom. But the Court system will not tell you the Zoom address you need. 

So then we thought we'd just post the directory here. But then we thought far be it from us to be a thorn in the side of the Court administration. You know us: "Go along and get along" That's our motto. No muckrakers we. 

So should we post the stupid directory or not? 

Meanwhile there is a race to greet and welcome visitors at the REGJB. 

The Clerk says Hello: 

Not to be outdone, our chief judge (and anti-zoom zealot? We mean, do they remove the zoom directory from the website without her okey dokey? Just wonderin...) wants to welcome the rogues gallery of REGJB visitors as well: 

So come visit the lobby of the REGJB! There is so much to do. Pose for selfies besides the bust of Richard Gerstein, look at the CJ poster, and then the Clerk's poster- with that finger pointing! That was made for a social media selfie if we ever saw one. And then stroll down the hall, past the elevators and pop into El Chapo cafe for a colada. Oh wait, never mind. It's cerrado. 

Fun fact: When we took the first pic of the CJ poster, we noticed a distinctively Rumpolian silhouette in the reflection. We have come so far in protecting our identity and were almost undone by a mocking post of the court administration, which if you think about it would have been poetic justice. But alas, to the chagrin of the powers that be, we live to Blog another day. 

GO USA SOCCER! We got a healthy ESP/USA parlay working as we write this.  And congrats to our lads who won on the Mexican pitch. Can a Rumpole seat at the Norway/England match this weekend in Miami be in the works? Well, first we need to win our parlay to afford the price of the ducats. And then we need to locate a prime pair. Email us if you have some you want to sell at a decent price. 

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

 Happy Fourth of July.  

America has had some ups and downs along the way to 250 Independence Days. And the lesson is that we always bounce back. 

We were going to write a snarky, Rumpolian critique of the Declaration of Independence. But then we decided to shelve that brilliant piece of commentary for the moment and reveal something more compelling on the Fourth:  OUR WORLD-FAMOUS CHILI RECIPE. 

Yes, after decades of blogging and fending off bribes of all sorts, we decided to share with you blog readers the chili recipe guaranteed to make your guests ask for second and third chili-dogs. 

The first part is the secret. Shhhsh. 

Lightly oil a cast-iron skillet and once hot pout in one cup of all-purpose flour. Reduce heat until the flour turns brown and there's a nutty flavor to it. Pour into a bowl and set aside. 

Use one to two pounds of chop meat (or more depending on the size of your crowd.) (Today, with bounce-back wagers on England, USA, and Portugal, we are using wagyu beef.)  

Sweat some chopped onions and shallots and add the beef and brown. Add a few tablespoons of tomato paste until the beef has a red hue.  There should be a decent amount of fatty juice- pour into a bowl and reserve. Once the beef is almost done begin adding scoops of the browned flour. The mixture will immediately thicken. Begin adding back the beef juices and continue to add the flour. Once the beef juices are fully incorporated, add a quarter cup of chicken broth. Continue adding flour and chicken broth on a low heat until the chili forms a smooth pudding-like appearance. (Pictures to follow shortly) 

This is a classic Texas Chili- no beans. But feel free to add beans; cooking should be about creativity and what makes you happy, the best rules to follow are ....none. Enjoy! 

Season as you wish. We use ancho-chili powder, tomatillo sauce from a jar (fresh tomatillos are also delicious and we use them when we remember to buy them) and various canned chili peppers, pouring in the juice with the chilis. Want to be radical? Add a half a can of beer, or more! 

Cover on lowest heat and let sit a few hours. Turn heat all the way off after about 45 minutes. 

Cook your dogs and burgers and generously ladle on the chili, along with cheddar cheese, raw onions, and enjoy with a cold beer. Lately (since January 1 actually) we have been enjoying the Athletic brand of non-alcoholic beers. 

In our gym the other day we sparked a heated debate over the use of ketchup on hot dogs. Rumpole does a line of ketchup, a line of mustard, and a thin sliced pickle on a seeded bun. 

Happy Fourth of July.  

CRANCH AND MORE

WORLD CUP UPDATE: Just when all seemed lost, cometh the moment, cometh the man -England's brilliant striker Harry Kane at the 74-minute mark tied the match ⚽with          CR Congo, and an entire (small island) nation exhaled. 1-1.  

AND Harry Kane did it again! Scoring the go-ahead goal ⚽and the lads advance and will travel to Mexico to play the home-town hombres this weekend. NB: Harry Kane has now scored more world cup goals ⚽ than the legendary GOAT Pele! ⚽

Rest assured we are watching every moment. These Congoians (???) play some tough D- like the 86 Bears or 75 Steelers. 

Happy July 1! We are still around (for now). More on this in the coming days. 

July First is, as everybody knows, Bobby Bonilla day! The NY Mets signed Bonilla to a five-million-dollar contract in 1999 and Bonilla agreed to defer his money until starting in 2011 at which point the Mets have for every year paid Bobby B 1.93 million dollars. The deferment payments continue until 2035.  Not a bad deal.

Here's our take on the 14 Amendment Birthright Citizenship decision. 

First, a ton of history. CJ John Roberts starts with a lengthy exposition on England, the colonies, and who was a citizen and how they became one. Both the majority and dissenting opinions quote a lot from decisions in the Cranch legal reporter, as well as every justice who wrote an opinion quoted Fredrick Douglass, both his books and speeches to support their own reasoning. Recall that the 14th Amendment was enacted to confirm citizenship to Black Americans who had been slaves. Douglass's words about the amendment confirming not conferring citizenship on former slaves are very persuasive. 

Which is why we think the dissents of Justice Thomas and Alito carry the day. Their reasoning that the 14 Amendment provided citizenship to a group of people born in the United States who were domiciled in this country and owed no allegiance to foreign powers simply makes more sense in both the historical and current context.  

When you read all the opinions, much is made of what does and does not constitute the establishment of a domicile- the kind of late-night arguments we envision occurring in the comfy wood-paneled law offices of legal sharpies who work on top of a garage.  So read the opinions for everything you wanted to know about the law of establishing a domicile, and more. 

Now the more reactive and less learned of our readers will react with outrage of our support for the dissents. "How could you say (fill in the blank) is not a citizen?"  They were born here and blah blah blah." 

The more educated readers will understand that our opinion is not an expression of anti-immigration sentiment. We are firmly of the belief that we are a country of immigrants (other than Native Americans) and that we are stronger because of it. 

But on the legal question of whether the 14th Amendment confers citizenship on someone who simply happens to be born here- like in the case of birth tourism- Thomas and Alito got it right (as much as it pains us to say it). Roberts got it wrong, and Kavanaugh punted with his narrow concurrence on a 1940's statute being the reason the executive order was wrong and the reason to uphold the New Hampshire District Court's decision. 

The Supreme Court Term is over, and like them, we are planning our summer sojourns to far flung areas of the planet. Whether we return for the first Monday in October is an entirely different discussion. 

BREAKING NEWS ... JUDGE EMAS (via the ACLU of Florida) sues Governor DeSantis .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

"Apparently, in Tallahassee, constitutional deadlines are treated more like New Year's resolutions than legal obligations."

JUDGE KEVIN EMAS (by the ACLU of Florida) SUES GOVERNOR DESANTIS .....

On March 31, 2026, Judge Kevin Emas retired from the Third District Court of Appeal.

Following the announcement of his retirement back in December, Governor DeSantis requested that the Third DCA Judicial Nominating Commission begin the process of identifying his replacement.

The JNC did exactly what the Florida Constitution required it to do. It accepted applications, conducted interviews, deliberated, and on March 17, 2026, Chairman Paul Huck, Jr. transmitted the certified list of nominees to the Governor.

And with that transmission, the constitutional clock began to run.

Article V, Section 11(c) of the Florida Constitution is not complicated. It is not ambiguous. It does not contain exceptions, loopholes, or escape hatches.

It provides:

"The governor shall make the appointment within sixty days after the nominations have been certified to the governor."

"Shall" is not advisory language.

"Within sixty days" is not a suggestion.

Day 60 came and went on May 16, 2026.

The Governor did not make an appointment.

On May 20, 2026, your own CAPTAIN JUSTICE sent an email to Governor DeSantis' General Counsel, David Axelman, whose office oversees the judicial appointment process. Assistant General Counsel Taylor Gustafson, the Director of Judicial Appointments, was copied on the correspondence.

There was no response.

On May 26, 2026, Captain Justice followed up.

Still no response.

Telephone calls were placed.

Voice messages were left.

Still no response.

Throughout the month of June, additional emails and messages were sent to Mr. Axelman and Ms. Gustafson asking two simple questions:

Why has the Governor failed to appoint a replacement for Judge Emas?

And when can the citizens of Florida expect the appointment to be made?

The answer to both questions, apparently, was silence.

On May 29, 2026, Captain Justice contacted the ACLU of Florida. In prior instances involving missed constitutional deadlines for judicial appointments, the ACLU has sought relief from the Florida Supreme Court to compel compliance with the Constitution.

Nicholas Warren, an attorney with the ACLU of Florida, advised that the organization would consider pursuing such relief in this matter.

Today, June 30, 2026, the ACLU of Florida did exactly that.

The following Petition for Writ of Mandamus was filed in the Supreme Court of Florida:

KEVIN EMAS, Petitioner,

v.

RON DESANTIS, as Governor of Florida, Respondent.

The petition was filed by Nicholas Warren on behalf of Judge Emas.

A copy of the petition can be found here.

The ACLU of Florida issued a Press Release accompanying the Petition. From their Press Release:

“A deadline is a deadline,” said Nicholas Warren, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Florida. “Governor DeSantis doesn’t just get to ignore our Constitution if he feels like it. His repeated refusal to follow such a simple law is both troubling and illegal.”

A copy of the Press Release issued by the ACLU of Florida can be found here.

Meanwhile, six highly qualified nominees continue waiting for action from the Governor's Office:

Jeffrey DeSousa
Judge Javier Enriquez
Judge Spencer Multack
Judge Joseph Perkins
Judge Thomas Rebull
Judge Robert Watson

One of these six individuals will almost certainly be named to the Third DCA in the near future.

The question is why Florida had to get here first.

It should not require intervention by CAPTAIN JUSTICE, the ACLU, and litigation in the Supreme Court of Florida to compel compliance with one of the clearest provisions in the Florida Constitution.

Governor DeSantis, General Counsel David Axelman, and Director of Judicial Appointments Taylor Gustafson have each taken an oath to support, protect, and defend that Constitution.

Citizens are expected to follow the law.

Lawyers are expected to follow the law.

Judges are expected to follow the law.

Surely the same standard applies to those charged with enforcing it.

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