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.