FIVE OPEN SEATS ON THE CIRCUIT/COUNTY COURT BENCH .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:


MORATORIUM ON HAND-SHAKING AT ALL MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURTHOUSES .....

Our longtime faithful readers will recall this headline from August 31, 2009. At the time, our country was in the midst of another pandemic, the "swine flu (H1N1)" and we wrote this post encouraging fist pumps and elbow pumps in all Miami-Dade courthouses.  Kudos to Rumpole for his early preparation checklist posted yesterday as we all prepare for COVID-19. 

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

The 11^th Circuit JNC met and interviewed 25 attorneys to replace three County Court Judges who were recently elevated to the Circuit Court bench: Judges Christina DiRaimondo, Robert Watson and Ramiro Areces.

The JNC nominated a total of 18 attorneys for Governor DeSantis’ consideration. He will have 60 days to choose three new County Court Judges. The nominees include:

Karl Brown
Cristina Rivera Correa
Renier Diaz de la Portilla
Carlos H. Gamez
Rita Gonzalez Cuervo
Christopher Green
Marcia Hansen
Peter Heller
Kevin Hellman
Chiaka Ihekwaba
Scott M. Janowitz
Jeffrey Kolokoff
Gale Lewis
Steven Lieberman
Griska Mena
Christopher Pracitto
Patricia Salman
Craig Weissberg

Two Circuit Court Judges have announced that they are retiring from the bench. Judges Jacqueline Hogan Scola and John Schlesinger (his last day is April 3rd), notified Governor DeSantis of their intention to retire. The JNC is now accepting applications for those two open seats on the Circuit Court. You have until 5 p.m. on Monday, Mar. 16, to submit your application to:

Walter J. Harvey
School Board Attorney
The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida
1450 N.E 2nd Avenue, Suite 430
Miami, Florida 33132

SO, YOU WANT TO RUN FOR JUDGE .......

Qualifying to run for Judge takes place the week of April 20-24, 2020. With seven weeks left before the end of qualifying, so far there are a total of five contested elections - two in Circuit Court and three in County Court. Of note, in County Court, Incumbent Judges Joe Mansfield, Lody Jean, and Gordon Murray, Jr. have all drawn opposition. In Circuit Court, the only incumbent to draw opposition so far is Judge Mavel Ruiz.

GRISKA MENA - ONE WAY OR ANOTHER ........

Former ASA Griska Mena (2006-2019), currently Staff Counsel for the South Florida PBA, is determined to become a judge, one way or another. For the past few years she has repeatedly applied to the JNC for open seats on the County and Circuit Court bench. She has repeatedly been granted an interview by the JNC. She has on a few occasions been nominated by the JNC to the Governor’s office - most recently in April of 2019 when there were two open seats; November of 2019 when there were four open seats; and again in February of 2020 when there were three open seats. He name is currently before Governor DeSantis (see above).

At the same time, in June of 2019, Mena filed in Group 64 of the Circuit Court to run for judge. Clearly she was anticipating that Judge Jacqueline Hogan Scola was going to retire at the end of her current term. Unfortunately for Mena, Hogan Scola chose to retire early and informed Governor DeSantis that her last day on the bench would be March 6, 2020. Not coincidentally, as Judge Hogan Scola told me this past weekend, she always intended to end her career on that date as March 7^th is her birthday and that was a birthday gift to herself.

Of course this now means that Governor DeSantis and not the voters will chose the next judge to fill Group 64. This also means that Mena must file in a different Group if she still wants to run for judge and if she is not chosen by Governor DeSantis for an open seat herself.

By the way, Ms. Mena, you need to check your mail. According to the Division of Elections, your campaign Treasurer has failed to file the required reporting documents on several occasions. Letters were sent to you and your treasurer on November 5, January 13, and again on January 31 informing you of that. To date, Mena has raised $19,235 from 48 separate contributors.

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