ZOOM ZAPPED FOR BOND HEARINGS

Sunday Update:

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

 Long gone are the days when we worried about bond hearings / first appearance in the REGJB. But we know that having Zoom was a boon for our colleagues, especially on the weekends. 

But that has apparently all ended because of one bad apple. All that we know was sent in an email from a certain criminal defense organization we are enjoined from mentioning by name. But that email was forwarded to us by several alert readers, and despite risking civil sanctions, we summarize its contents so as to fulfill our altruistic duties to our faithful readers who want to know WTF is going on and why do they have to trek down to REGJB for a bond hearing on Sunday  when a bunch of unscrupulous bond companies are going to try and steal the client  by calling the client's family members and telling them to come to meet them to get their loved one out of jail. The judicial high council can stop zoom hearings, but they won't do a damn thing about bond companies hustling cases. Shame. Shame!

From the ----- email: 

Good evening ----- Miami,

As forwarded below, our Circuit leadership has decided to remove Zoom for Felony First Appearance Hearings. 

We have spoken with multiple members of Circuit leadership, and they indicated that this change was precipitated by recent threats against the Felony First Appearance Judge.

We clearly and explicitly condemn threats against our local judges, the judiciary, and judicial independence. A judge should be able to rule on a case and not receive threats against her life, home, and place of worship. Period. Full stop.

...

In speaking with Circuit leadership, we learned that this change had been contemplated for months. Circuit leadership has been continually concerned that Zoom makes bond hearings are streamed via YouTube by a member of the public.  This livestream has a comment section where members of the public often express distasteful views on parties to the case—victims, the accused, judges, etc. This YouTube channel and its comment section were being monitored by Circuit leadership.

So now you know why there is no more Zoom for bond hearings. In essence the Circuit Court high council let One Bad Apple spoil the whole bunch. And that's a shame. 

 It's 66 degrees in the City with a high today of 72. Traffic on the FDR is building around the Brooklyn Bridge. And now coming at ya now it's the Osmands and One Bad Apple on 66, W...NBC!

 

To paraphrase Donny Osmond, how about if the Circuit High Council gives it one more try before giving up on love Zoom? 

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2026 ..... QUALIFYING WEEK .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION CENTRAL 2026 ... QUALIFYING WEEK

UPDATED AT 2:00 PM TODAY:

No surprises to report other than perennial candidate Renier Diaz de la Portilla did not pay the $7,590.20 qualifying fee in Group 38 of the County Court. Therefore, we extend our congratulations to incumbent Judge Gordon Murray on his re-election. 

We have six remaining contested judicial elections to look forward to this August.

Qualifying for Circuit and County Court closes at Noon today. We will update this post once all final paperwork is reviewed and confirmed. As of midnight, here is where things stand:

CIRCUIT COURT

First, the contested races:

GROUP 5 (Judge Angelica Zayas retiring)

Alexander Annunziato (In-house counsel, Ascendant Commercial Insurance; attorney for 11 years)

Arthur McNeil (Assistant Public Defender; attorney for 19 years)*** (HAS NOW QUALIFIED)

Monica Segura (Senior Managing Associate General Counsel for Universal Property & Casualty;  attorney for 20 years).

GROUP 35 (Judge Orlando Prescott retiring)

Renee Gordon (Assistant Public Defender; attorney for 30 years)

Cristobal Padron (Private practice, family law; attorney for 14 years)*** (HAS NOW QUALIFIED)

GROUP 67

Incumbent Judge Mavel Ruiz

Destiny Goede "Alvarez" (Insurance defense; attorney for five years)

We previously posted about the shenanigans that Ms. Goede "Alvarez" pulled with her multiple name changes, twice in two months, under the title "The Name Game," and we encourage you to read it again. You can find it here. (scroll down to Group 67).

GROUP 69 (Judge Richard Hersch retiring)

Rita Baez (Private practice, personal injury; attorney for 30 years)

Yaneth Del Carmen Baez (Assistant State Attorney; attorney for 9 years)

Bonita Jones-Peabody (Private Practice, former APD; attorney for 35 years)

GROUP 76 

Incumbent Judge Spencer Eig

Yenly Dominguez (Private practice, real estate & estate planning; attorney for 7 years)

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING JUDGES

Twenty-seven incumbent judges were automatically re-elected after drawing no opposition:

Michelle Alvarez Barakat 
Tanya Brinkley 
Beatrice Butchko 
Carmen Cabarga 
Yvonne Colodny 
Ivonne Cuesta 
Jorge Cueto 
Abby Cynamon 
Michelle Delancy 
Dawn Denaro 
Reemberto Diaz 
Veronica Diaz 
Carlos Gamez 
Stacy Glick 
Laura Gonzalez-Marques 
Carlos Guzman 
Christine Hernandez 
Peter Lopez 
Denis Martinez-Scanziani 
Alberto Milian 
Cristina Miranda
Spencer Multack 
Joseph Perkins 
Migna Sanchez-Llorens 
Laura Stuzin 
Daryl Trawick 
Andrea Wolfson 

COUNTY COURT

Again, we begin with the contested races:

GROUP 25

Incumbent Judge Luis Perez-Medina

Maribel Diaz (Miami-Dade Tax Collector’s Office; attorney for 17 years)

GROUP 38

Incumbent Judge Gordon Murray

Renier Diaz de la Portilla (Private Practice; attorney for 18 years)***

***Indicates that the candidate has not yet paid their qualifying fee.

Nine incumbent County Court judges were automatically re-elected:

Donald Cannava
Betty Capote-Erben
Raul Cuervo
Ritamaria Cuervo
Victoria Ferrer
Kevin Hellman
Joanne Marie Hernandez
Natalie Moore 
Stephanie Silver

Best of luck to all of the candidates. Voters go to the polls on August 18, 2026.

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

DOLPHINS MOCK DRAFT

 The first night of the NFL draft is this Thursday night, conflicting with Bruce Springsteen's concert in South Florida. 😖

Here is our Dolphins Mock Draft. 

The Dolphins pick 11 in the first round. We have the Raiders taking Mendoza (duh); Jets-David Bailey; Cardinals -Sonny Styles; Titans -Jerimiah Love (best player in round 1); Giants- Arvell Reese; Browns Makai Lemon; Commanders Caleb Downs; Saints- Jordan Tyson; KC -Francis Mauigoa; and Browns at 10- Jerod McCoy. 

The Fins want a wide receiver, but with Tate, Lemon and Tyson all off the board, we have them taking Spencer Fano, a 6'6 311-pound bruising, volent tackle.  I'd like to see them trade down 5-7 spots and then grab Omari Cooper, Jr., the 6-foot polished WR from Ohio State. But 10 is too early to reach for him.  

The Fins also have a second pick at 30 in the first round. and here is where they can grab Denzel Boston, a 6'4 WR from Washington with a wide catch radius and the kind of receiver who will win most 50/50 balls. 

In round 2 the Fins pick at 43 and the problem here is that there is great value on the board with WRs like Chris Brazzell from Tennessee, or Germie Bernard from Bama, so again we'd like to see them trade down ten spots. But if they have to pick here, then to help protect their new QB and dominate the run game they draft a second OL- Emmanuel Pregnon- at 6'4 and 315 pounds, he plays angry and is highly athletic for his size and can plug any hole on the line. 

In Round 3, picking at 75, they start adding to defense with Davis Igbinosun, a 6'2 190 pound CB who plays fast and physical and has a high ceiling to become a solid NFL lockdown corner.

The Fins have a second pick in round 3, and at 87 they are going big with Florida State nose tackle Darrell Jackson, Jr, who at 6'6/330 is anchoring the defensive line with his size and 35 inch massive arms. He brings a nasty to defense that the Fins need. 

Another  pick for the Fins in round 3 at 90 (and they can package these if they want to move up in rounds 1 or 2) and the Fins grab Jonah Coleman, a 5'9 /220 pound running back from Washington, who is quick, big, and can be a great compliment to Achane, and pick up those tough yards on 3rd or 4th and 1-2. 

And finally, believe it or not, they have a fourth pick at 97 in round three- and here they are choosing between Zachariah Branch- a blazing fast WR/kick returner who is 5'10 and a state champ in the 100 meter and 200 meter dash, and in long jump. Or they can nab Malik Muhammad- a 6' 180 cornerback who can quickly start in the nickel package.  As much as we like Muhammad, we can't overlook the athletic value of Branch and that is their selection. 

In Round 4 at 130 there are some interesting options here, and we are going to shock everyone- the Fins select Garrett Nussmeier- Quarterback LSU as the third QB off the board behind Miami native Mendoza and Ty Simpson. Nussmeier has a polished game, is ready for the NFL pro offense, and QB is clearly a position in flux in Davie right now. If not thim, then I see them grabbing the UM QB Carson Beck in round 6 or 7.  

In Round 5 at 151 this all about best player available, and on our board we have Eli Randon, a giant 6'7/250 athletic tight end from Notre Dame (making Judge Moreno smile) who can stretch the field and dominate DBs, all of whom he towers over. 

The next pick in what appears to be a never ending cornucopia of talent is in round 7 at 227, the Fins stay local and grab UM safety Jakobe Thomas- a 6'1/211 fast flowing -downhill hitter who in 2025 had 76 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and 5 ints. Thomas is a good all-around safety to plug holes and who may be able to crack the starting lineup in years 2,3,4. 

And finally at 238 the Fins are going to pass on Florida State Edge rusher Tyrek Sapp who doesn't have the physical skills to really contribute in the NFL (IOHO). The Fins select Red Murdock, a 6'2/232 LB from Buffalo who had amazing production over three years in college including 358 tackles, 40 tackles for loss, 9 sacks and an eye-popping 9 forced fumbles. At the least he contributes right away on special teams, and who knows what his upside can be in the right system. 

So there you have our Fins 2026 Mock Draft, We plugged this into a draft simulator and got a solid B. The only pick that was graded an A was TE Eli Randon at 151.  Fano and Pregnon- OLmen at 1 & 3 are not sexy, but they are the guys who win games in the trenches. Denzel Boston at 30 is a great value and a much better pick then the reach Miami would have made at ten for Cooper (who is not a top ten talent) with the top three receivers they covet off the board. 

All of this being said, what would be ideal would be for them to package the pick at ten with a few of their third-round picks and move up to Cleveland at 6, or Washington at 7, which will give them the chance at a top 3 WR. 

How will we do? Let us know, because right around the time the Fins are picking Bruce will be singing Bobby Jean or Badlands "Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and the king ain't satisfied until he rules everything."

 Now how in the world did he write that in 1977, and yet it's more relevant today than when he wrote it? 

ADD ONE TO THE QUESTION

 The question as we begin the 3rd week of April now has a new component: What will occur first: 

1) The Straits of Hormuz opening?

2) The Escalator on the first floor of the REGJB working? Or now...

3) The NY Mets winning a game? 

The Mets are currently mired in an 0-11 streak, causing significant distress to Rumpole's baseball betting bankroll. 

More news this Monday. The administration has currently begun refunding over 166 billion in illegally collected tariffs. Which means Trump paid for the tariffs before Mexico paid for the wall. 

US equity markets set to open down Monday morning as they digest the news of the US seizing an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. If you've missed out on some stocks, now is the time to watch and perhaps snap up a few shares of say Palantir, Tesla, Applied Materials.  We sold out of Coherent after it broke 310 and promptly missed an additional run to 345 😢. We could have used the additional cash considering the financial disaster the Mets have wrought.  

Enjoy the week even if the State announces that the victim wants Max. 

THE SUPREME COURT SHADOW PAPERS

 A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away,  a Jedi knight named Daniel Ellsberg broke the Pentagon Papers story by leaking a series of Pentagon studies to the NY Times demonstrating that President Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert MacNamara had lied about their plans to enlarge the US engagement in Vietnam. Many DeSantis drones are now  scouring Snap and IG looking for Ellsberg's accounts thinking "I'm pretty sure I've followed his restaurant recommendations..."  

Now we have the Supreme Court Shadow Papers- the story broke in the NY Times on Saturday. The Times obtained from someone or some people a series of Supreme Court Justices memos in 2016 over a period of five days, started by Chief Justice John Roberts (motto: "Doing more than calling balls and strikes behind the scenes")  who was desperate to stop the Obama Administration and the EPA from imposing new restrictions on power plants so as to halt the global warming crisis. Roberts wanted to grant a stay application of the EPA plan after the DC appellate court refused to do so. As the Times posits, based on a series of opinions by legal experts other than Rumpole, this was the start of the current Supreme Court shadow docket. No more would conservatives live and die by the maxim that judges should not legislate. Now conservative supreme court justices would legislate if the challenged law offended their sensibilities, as the EPA rules surely did- because to follow the rules, states and power companies would incur billions and billions of extra expenses, and Roberts couldn't allow Obama and his minions to be correct about global warming- especially at the expense of corporate bottom lines. 

As the Times powerfully points out, nowhere in any of the Justices' memos that flew back and forth was there even the barest mention of the dangers of global warming. 

The article is here, and it is worth a read for anyone other than ASAs who are too busy writing "victim wants max!" on their plea sheets for Monday. 

The actual memos are here. 

State wants max ASAs eat here

 

A COMPELLING QUESTION

 Sometimes we confront the difficult questions of the day. We are known for our willingness to address the hard questions. By holding up a mirror, we force a discussion of topics others avoid. Sometimes it's hard. If this is not for you dear reader, we apologize in advance. Perhaps today is the day you quickly click to Mr. Markus's blog for a scintillating discussion of a footnote in an eleventh circuit opinion. It's okay with us. You can always check back tomorrow. 

Here it is. 

Major League Baseball players were asked this question: "If you could only have one condiment for the rest of your life, what would it be?" 

Here are some of the answers. 

Shohei Otani: Mayo; Mookie Betts: BBQ sauce (mustard and ketchup don't travel well); Hunter Greene: Blue Cheese;  Josh Jung: Jalapeno Ranch; Aaron Judge: In-n-Out secret sauce;  Bubba Chandler and James Tallion answered Cholula, a condiment we are not familiar with. Alex Bregman: mustard; and several players picked ketchup. 

Maybe the best answer came from Cam Schlittler, whose answer reminded us of what we are sure many of our robed readers would say: Antarctica!  Cam is now our guy. 

Is Russian dressing or Thousand Island a condiment? Because remember, you're not putting ketchup or mustard on a salad or baked potato. It's a deep question, worthy of the best legal minds of the REGJB. If you Google the matter you will see Reddit (Motto: "Yet another social media type site Rumpole avoids"...ok, that's not really a motto, but still...)  threads devoted to in depth discussions of the issue. 

It's a beautiful spring weekend. Put down that depo transcript and go outside for a bit. 

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

 In one of favourite Shakespear plays, Measure for Measure, Claudio was sentenced to death, and asks his friend Lucio to ask his sister Isabella who is about to become nun to go to the city deputy to go beg for his life. Isabella replies "What poor ability's in me to do him any good?"  Lucio replies "Assay the power you have." Isabella responds "My power alas..." Lucio cuts her off and says: 

"Our doubts are traitors, and make lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt."

Words to live by. 

How do you like the Captain muckraking and shaking things up in Tallahassee? This Blog has a purpose. 

Are we out of the woods? Warren Buffett said "When people are fearful, be greedy. When people are greedy, be fearful." People were fearful in March, and now the markets are hitting all time highs. 

But is there another shoe, or ship to drop in the Straits of Hormuz? Are we one tanker or US Navy ship hitting a stray mine away from a bigger problem? "When people are greedy be fearful."

Speaking of shoes, when you arrive at the REGJB for a court hearing on 2, or 3, or 4 do you clog up the elevator or take the stairs because the escalator is still out? How many floors will you walk up before taking the elevator? Does Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. ( Weirdo, Pluto) have anything to do with the first-floor escalator being out and forcing people to walk up the stairs?  Is walking a cure for measles, because he opposes the measles vaccine. 

Our simple question to you anti-vax nuts, who didn't want the covid vaccine because you didn't have time to research what was in it. When you're dying of a burst appendix and they wheel you into the operating room and begin giving you anesthesia, fluids, and antibiotics, will you refuse the drugs and not get the surgery because you don't have time to investigate what is in the anesthesia and other drugs and fluids?  Let us know.