RED LIGHT CAMERAS - THIRD DCA SPEAKS .....

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RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT ..... IT'S A GREEN LIGHT FOR THE COUNTY IF YOU RESIDE IN MIAMI-DADE, FOR RED LIGHT TICKETS .....

So, for now, if you see this:

 

Then, you can expect to see this:

 

That's because, today, the Third District Court of Appeal, finally issued their long awaited opinion ruling on Judge Leifman's Order that dismissed a red light citation.  The case was heard before Judges Wells, Emas, and Logue, with Logue writing the opinion, that can be found here. (go to page 29 of the 36 page opinion to read the three certified questions).

In their opinion ruling against the driver and for the City of Aventura they "distinguish City of Hollywood v. Arem, 154 So. 3d 359 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014), in which the Fourth District dismissed a traffic citation on the grounds that a city’s process of using red light cameras gave unfettered discretion to a vendor."

But, "because of the broad public and institutional interest in red light cameras", they certified three issues to the Florida Supreme Court as having great public importance.  Judge Wells did not agree that the matter was of great public importance but she did agree to certify the case as being in conflict with the 4th DCA.

h/t DBR and they cover the story here.

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LICENSE SUSPENDED ??? - YOU ARE NOT ALONE

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MY DRIVER'S LICENSE IS SUSPENDED YOU SAY ..... TIME FOR A CHANGE, WE SAY .....

There are approximately 1,800,000 drivers that are licensed to operate a motor vehicle in Miami-Dade County.  Of that number, 550,000 have a SUSPENDED LICENSE.  You did not read that incorrectly.  Nearly 3 out of every 10 drivers on the road are breaking the law everyday in our "Magic City".

The Miami Herald wrote a story and you can read all about it here.

What can we do about this problem?  Change the law. What is causing all of these suspensions?  Is it because of unsafe driving?  NO.  Amazingly, 77% of all those persons that have a suspended license, have it because they failed to pay a ticket or a fine on time.  Traffic tickets, court costs, and child support payments are the main culprit of this disease.  The remaining 23% of the suspended drivers' licenses' are because of actual bad driving issues.

Judge Leifman said it well: “We’re putting an additional tax burden on a group of individuals that can’t afford it,” Leifman said. It’s “criminalizing their behavior when all they did was commit a civil infraction and didn’t have the money to pay it.”

The cycle begins when someone gets a traffic citation and then does not pay that ticket within the thirty days as required by law.  They get pulled over at some later point, (usually for something as minor as a burnt out tail light) and the result is that they can be arrested for Driving With a Suspended License (DWLS).  Now the arresting officer is going to spend the next several hours of their shift booking someone who essentially is being jailed because they couldn't afford the original citation.  So, now the person has a new court date for that DWLS, (there license is still suspended), and now the Judge piles on by adding fines and court costs to the no contest plea of the defendant for their DWLS.  And the cycle continues. 

What to do?

According to the Herald story, other states have moved away from suspending licenses for not paying traffic tickets.  Why not Florida, why not in Miami - because it's all about the Benjamins, of course.  In 2014, four collection agencies contracted by the Clerk have the job of attempting to collect the outstanding fees and costs due to the Clerk.  These four companies get a 40% vig on top of what was originally owed.  Last year the four collection agencies collected a whopping $19 million dollars for the Clerk's office, providing these four companies with $7.5 million in fees.

Because of the large amount of money coming in like it does, the State Legislature funds the Clerk's office with less money.  So there is no way that the Clerks' offices want to change the system and forego having a license suspended when someone fails to simply pay a traffic citation.  It is a vicious cycle.

It seems like FACDL's statewide lobbying group should get together with an elected legislator, say maybe State House Rep Katie Edwards, and get a bill through the legislature that can effect positive change.  It is simply insane to keep doing the same thing over and over and not try something new and different when there are more than a half-million drivers in Miami-Dade County alone who have a suspended license.

RED LIGHT CAMERA UPDATE ......

Judge Leifman informs us that he hopes to have an ORDER prepared by the end of the month - I assume he meant August - of 2015.
.......
JUDGE LEIFMAN WINS ANOTHER AWARD .....

And, speaking of Judge Leifman, according to crack reporter Julie Kay at the DBR, Leifman is moving on up in the world.  You can read the entire story here.  Congrats to Judge Leifman - well deserved.

"Steven Leifman, associate administrative judge of the Miami-Dade County Court criminal division, has been named the National Center for State Courts' recipient of the William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence.  U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. will present the award to Leifman during a ceremony at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Nov. 19."

"Leifman is being recognized for his groundbreaking work helping mentally ill people in the criminal justice system."


Congrats to Judge Leifman - well deserved.


 It's just way too hot outside - time for a dip in the:

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

So, You Want To Be A Circuit Court Judge

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SO, YOU WANT TO BE A CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE .....

We posted a story on June 15th that highlighted the resignation of Judge Victoria Sigler.  The JNC interviewed 14 applicants today to replace Judge Sigler and they have forwarded six names to Governor Scott for his consideration.  The Governor has 60 days to make his decision.

The six nominees are:

Judge Wendell Graham
Judge Lourdes Simon
Judge Jason Dimitris
Judge Charles Johnson
Ayana Harris, an Assistant Federal PD
John Wylie, private criminal defense attorney

If Governor Scott chooses one of the four County Court Judges to replace Judge Sigler, then he will get a 2-fer; meaning he will be able to then eventually appoint a new County Court Judge.


RED LIGHT RULING .....

Many of you have been waiting for a decision from Judge Leifman.

The latest update we have is that the attorney for the City requested a ten day extension to file their Closing Argument. Judge Leifman Granted that extension and the deadline is now July 20th.  

Judge Leifman expects to have a ruling by Friday, August 21, 2015.

JUDICIAL PROFILES (courtesy DBR):

On a separate note, the DBR has been running the bios of several South Florida Judges recently.  Here are the three most recent:

Judge Manno-Schurr

Judge Jill Levy of Broward County

Judge Lisa Walsh




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Captain4Justice@gmail.com

RED LIGHT ... GREEN LIGHT ... ON RED LIGHT CAMERAS

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

RED LIGHT ... OR ... GREEN LIGHT ..... ON RED LIGHT CAMERAS .......

Today, in Courtroom 2-11, beginning at 10:30 AM, Associate Administrative Judge Steve Leifman will begin a two day hearing, (currently scheduled to continue on Tuesday, June 16th at 10:00 AM), on the issue of Whether Red Light Camera tickets can be prosecuted in Miami-Dade County.

In the case of City of Hollywood v. Arem, (4D12-1312, Oct. 15, 2014), the Fourth District Court of Appeal addressed a similar issue.  That Court was asked: "Does F.S. 316.0083(1)(a) authorize a municipality to delegate and have a private vendor actually issue Florida Uniform Traffic Citations, when notices of violation, (also issued by the vendor), are not complied with, where the only involvement of the traffic infraction enforcement officer in the entire process is to push a button saying "Accept" after having reviewed the image of an alleged violation electronically transmitted by the vendor?".  The Appeals Court was also asked: "And if the answer is in the negative ....., is dismissal the appropriate remedy?".

The Court answered the first Question: NO and they answered the other question: YES.  The municipality did not have the authority to delegate the red light camera program to a private vendor, and therefore, all of those Red Light Tickets should be Dismissed.

While the 4th DCA made that decision exactly eight (8) months ago, Miami-Dade's Traffic Magistrates, (who serve under the direction of Judge Leifman), have been continuing cases in each of their courts, whenever a Defendant or their Counsel, has brought up the Arem case and asked the Hearing Officer to Dismiss the ticket.  Each time, the Hearing Officer has announced: 'Judge Leifman has scheduled a Hearing on the Arem issues and once that decision is made, they we will set the tickets for a new Hearing date'.

Judge Leifman's decision, however he decides, will likely be appealed by the loser to the 3rd DCA.  Several cities in Miami-Dade County have continued to use red-light cameras and pocketed million of dollars in fines as the result of this program.  As just one example, the City of West Miami, which is only three-quarters of a square mile in size, has collected more than $1.7 million in red-light camera money over the past five years alone.

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE .....

On June 30th, Florida's "first openly gay elected official", Judge Victoria Sigler, will retire from the bench.  The DBR covers the story here.  Judge Sigler became a County Court Judge in 1995 and was elevated to the Circuit Court by Governor Bush in 2000.  For the past twenty years, she has been serving on the bench in Miami-Dade County.    Judge Sigler began her legal career at the Miami-Dade County Public Defender's Office.  According to Judge Sigler, "she has a house in Colorado, where she plans to volunteer as a park ranger in her retirement. She also will attend "adult band camp" to play trombone and tuba, and she's set to travel to Brazil, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand by the end of the year."

Good luck Judge Sigler and thank you for your service to Miami-Dade County.

The JNC has received a total of 20 applications;  16 from attorneys and four more from County Court Judges, to replace Judge Sigler:

Joseph J. Mansfield
Elijah A. Levitt
Alexander Spicola Bokor
Karl S.H. Brown
Griska Mena Rodriguez
Luis Perez Medina
Julie Harris Terry
Lourdes Simon
Jason Emilios Dimitris
Charles Kenneth Johnson
Carol Jodie Breece
Mark Blumstein
Ayana N. Harris
Paula J. Phillips
Lauren F. Louis
John W. Wylie
Wendell Mitchell Graham
Norman Christopher Powell
Flora M. Jackson
Nydia Streets


ELECTION CENTRAL: WHO'S RUNNING FOR JUDGE IN 2016 ..... UPDATED

CIRCUIT COURT:

In Group 9, recently appointed Judge Jason Bloch has opposition from attorney Marcia Del Rey. 

In Group 39, David Young has filed to run in this open seat.  He currently has no opposition.

In Group 52, Carol "Jodie" Breece, Raul Perez-Ceballos, Elena Tauler* and Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts have filed to run in this open seat.

*We have made a decision not to print the name that attorney Tauler used to file with the Division of Elections, (hint - it's Hispanic), until she at least has the sense to provide the same name to The Florida Bar, the organization that gives her a license to practice law.  She is also still using the name Elena Tauler in her other legal-business ventures.  It is time for the voters of Miami-Dade County to not have the wool pulled over their eyes and to be told the truth about her candidacy as it relates to her name.

COUNTY COURT:

In Group 7, incumbent Judge Edward Newman has drawn opposition from attorney Lizzet Martinez.  Ms. Martinez has already raised nearly $37,000 in just two months since her filing; (only $5,000 of which was her own money). 

Judge Newman immediately kicked in $100,000 of his own money to fund his campaign.  This would be Judge Newman's fifth run for office having previously won elections in 1994, 1998, 2004, and 2010.  If Judge Newman decides not to retire, this would be his final run for Judge as he would be 65 years old in 2016.  It will be interesting to see if the former offensive guard for the Miami Dolphins, who played for the team as a rookie when they won the Super Bowl in 1974, will be "forced" into retirement from the bench.

Ms. Martinez has been a member of The Florida Bar since 1997.  She concentrates her practice in the areas of family and bankruptcy law.

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