When you see something that is not right, not fair, find a way to get in the way and cause trouble.
Congressman John Lewis
JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG
WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.
Some positive news from the SAO today in a news release:
“As of today the Miami Dade State attorney’s office will no longer make plea offers based on the victim wanting the max. We will now evaluate a case based on principles of justice and individual facts and not let the understandable emotions of a victim dictate how we proceed.”
Rumpole says : long overdue.
Did you know ? Apple 🍎was founded today on April 1 1976?
Rumors of a state of Florida Doge- like committee are circulating. Things being considered - 1) eliminating bathrooms for judicial chambers; 2) eliminating diversity training for all state employees; 3) implementing minimum mandatory prison sentences for being homeless ; 4) eliminating drug court and veterans court as wasteful efforts that embrace DEI ; 5) criminalizing the use of transgender pronouns; 6)criminalizing the existence of charitable food banks in communities; 7) mandating all state employees receive two hours of training in the science that there is no such thing as global warming; 8) requiring all state agencies to begin every meeting with a prayer recognizing that Jesus Christ is the lord and savior. 9) Any state employee with a degree from Colombia University between 2010-2025 will be summarily dismissed
It's a new week and the sun is out. Here's our thoughts.
Need a continuance in federal court? Here's a quick out. Become of counsel to one of those firms that the Idiot has attacked. Part of his executive order bars their employees from entering federal buildings.
"Dear Judge Altonaga- I must inform you that I cannot try the case set next week. The President has barred employees from Wilmer Hale from entering the premises of federal buildings, and I recently became of counsel to Wilmer Hale. I'd be happy to see if Judge Sayfie can lend us one of the State Courtrooms for this case."
El Herald reports that Canadians are canceling their vacation plans to South Florida. Guess MAGA doesn't mean MFLGA.
Meanwhile the SAO just keeps trying to hide from their malfeasance: "if we ignore it, it will go away" which is not far removed from George Costanza's famous idiom "It's not a lie Jerry if you believe it". No real remedial actions. They've done NOTHING to restore the Bench and Bar's confidence in their office. So call them out on it. If they make a promise in Court, remind the Judge what they have done and why you cannot take them at their word.
How's the economy treating you? Price of eggs dropped? Price of new cars dropped.? How's your 401K doing? Market have any confidence in The Idiot? Just asking.
As for that third term? Just look at what Putin did and you'll understand what is in his feeble mind.
Watch the special election for the seat vacated by ace National Security Advisor Mike Waltz in Florida's Sixth. A reliably R seat, the Dem has raised ten million and is making it a competitive race in a district The Idiot won by 30. It's a mostly older district. Hope they are enjoying themselves if they need to contact social security. Things are so bad at the agency the Idiot's henchman is gutting that supervisors are answering the receptionist's phones. The website was down four of the last ten days. MAGA so long as you're not a retiree who has paid their money into the system and now is a victim of a Government sponsored "Rug Pull". If you don't know what a RP is, Google it- or ask a 20 something.
Meanwhile, it turns out Waltz friended a bunch of North Korean spies on Facebook and added them on his Snap and Tik Tok accounts. His Tik Tok is racking up some serious views as he posts our attack plans before they occur. The Idiot has mused about paying for military strikes by posting them first on Tik Tok and monetarizing social media to pay for the military. Can't argue with that reasoning.
*NB: When we refer to him as The Idiot, it is an ironic play on the novel by Dostoevsky- a book we assure you he has never read.
*NB is latin for Note Bene which means "note well" or "take note".
We contend there are no more poetic words in any rock song than these from Thunder Road:
So you're scared and you're thinking That maybe we ain't that young anymore Show a little faith, there's magic in the night You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're alright Oh, and that's alright with me
You can hide 'neath your covers and study your pain Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain Waste your summer praying in vain For a savior to rise from these streets
Well now, I'm no hero, that's understood All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood With a chance to make it good somehow Hey, what else can we do now?
Except roll down the window And let the wind blow back your hair Well, the night's busting open These two lanes will take us anywhere We got one last chance to make it real To trade in these wings on some wheels Climb in back, heaven's waiting down on the tracks
The Trump approach is dumb power. Instead of a strong America using all our strengths to lead the world and confront our adversaries, Mr. Trump’s America will be increasingly blind and blundering, feeble and friendless.
And this:
Does anyone really think deleting tributes to the Tuskegee Airmen makes us more safe? The Trump Pentagon purged images of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb that ended World War II because its name is the Enola Gay. Dumb
(The answer is yes. The idiots Trump appointed to run the Pentagon think its more important to remove pictures of the Enola Gay then keep tight security on impending military action)
All of this is both dumb and dangerous. And I haven’t even gotten to the damage Mr. Trump is doing by cozying up to dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, blowing up our alliances — force multipliers that extend our reach and share our burdens — and trashing our moral influence by undermining the rule of law at home.
And this gem:
Diplomacy is cost-effective, especially compared with military action. Preventing wars is cheaper than fighting them. Mr. Trump’s own former secretary of defense Jim Mattis, a retired Marine Corps four-star general, told Congress, “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.”
And she ended with this:
If America is ruled like a banana republic, with flagrant corruption and a leader who puts himself above the law, we lose that argument. We also lose the qualities that have made America exceptional and indispensable.
David O Markus. Lauren Krasnoff. Month plus trial.
Wait for it....
NOT GUILTY!!!! Congrats!!!
IT'S OPENING DAY! For legions of die-hard fans who closed out the fall of last year stating "wait till next year!", next year is here. Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all – a moment in the sun; It's gone and you can tell that one goodbye! John Fogerty, Centerfield. This is a blog tradition. We run this post most years. Baseball is important to us.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Ohhh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come. Terrance Mann, Field Of Dreams.
Baseball follows no time. It has a rhythm of it’s own. It’s the only major sport without a time clock. But now it has a pitch clock and we are not a fan. The strategy is to control the man. Control the match-up. No matter how you play it, its 3 men up and three men down for nine innings.
It’s a game of statistics- do you bring in your right-handed reliever to face the other teams big right-handed hitter? The stats say yes. And yet…
it’s a game of hunches. When Tommy Lasorda called an injured Kirk Gibson off the bench in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series in the 9th inning, one on, two out, the Dodgers behind 4-3, and the future Hall of Fame Pitcher Dennis Eckersley on the mound , he did so on a hunch. Announcer Jack Buck called the home run, and was moved to exclaim “I don’t believe what I just saw.”
It’s a game of senses.
The glimpse of the green grass in Centerfield when you first walk into Yankee Stadium. The smell of cut grass and fresh dirt. The sting of a foul ball off a wood bat on a cold March morning. The sound of the pop of the ball in the catcher's glove.
Little boys and girls learn that when they hurt themselves in the game, to rub some dirt on it. Is there any more valuable lesson in life?
The moments are magical, yet simple. It's why memories remain so clear in the rheumy eyes of old men who once played the game.
To take the wide turn past second, stretch a double into a triple, dive in head first, stand up, and dust yourself off.
To move to your own rhythm while you crouch with your glove off of third base, (the hot corner) each hand on a knee, eyes wide as the ball comes off the bat. You scoop up the one hopper and make the throw to first.
Roberto Clemente in game 7 against the Orioles catching the ball in deep right field, whirling and firing a strike to third base- the best throw in the history of the game. Willie Mays stalking center field, gliding under a fly ball.
Hammerin Hank Aaron hitting another one out.
Pudge Fisk hopping and jumping and waving that ball fair.
Mets/ Red Sox. Game six, 1986. Do we need to say anything more? October 13, 1960. A fading fall light in Pittsburgh. Seventh game of the world series. Ralph Terry on the mound for the Yanks for the bottom of the ninth. The game impossibly tied at 9-9. Bill Mazeroski, the Bucs light-hitting second baseman takes the first pitch for a ball. The second pitch sails over a dejected Yogi Berra in left field as the city explodes and Maz dances around the bases in the only seventh game-9th inning walk off home run.
Young Dwight Gooden throwing heat, and then snapping off a curve (uncle Charlie, or Lord Charles) for a called third strike. Close your eyes and you can almost see Bob Gibson, standing on the mound in 1968, glaring, before throwing a hard high one inside.
Reggie hitting one out with his first swing on a cold October evening against the Dodgers in the 77 Series. And then another one with his first swing. And then, impossibly, another one with his first swing. Three swings, three home runs. In the World Series. Cleon Jones waiting under a fly ball hovering in an ice-blue New York October sky. The ball lands softly into his glove, and Jones falls to one knee for a minute as a man, and stands up as an immortal member of the 1969 Miracle Mets- the fly ball being the last out in the world series that the improbable Mets won. Any three guys turning a 4-6-3 double play, but Tinkers to Evans to Chance being the best.
There comes a time in a boy’s life when he stands there at home plate. It's hardball in an organized league. His first real “at bat.” The pitcher is a year older, and maybe thirty pounds heavier. The first pitch comes in so fast he can barely see it. It’s hard to believe anyone can throw that hard. And yet the boy stands there, rubbing some dirt on his hands as he re-grips his bat, kicks his cleats into the ground, and waves his bat. Hopefully menacingly. Just like he's seen it done on TV.
The pitch comes, and suddenly it's in slow motion. He can see the seams on the ball rotating. He can almost smell the ball as he swings. The bat glides across his hips and the plate. It all seems so simple, as a line drive bounces safely in the alley. He turns at first, saunters back, takes off his batting helmet and glove, and puts his foot on the bag, feeling it crunch beneath his foot. He may not know it, but his father is crying in the stands, and he has given himself a memory for life.
Young boys grow up and then grow old. They do their life's work and the game begins to fade away. But every now and then, right around this time of year, they rummage through their closet and pull out a glove. Or maybe they go to the sporting goods store and buy one for themselves and one for their son or daughter. Then they sit with their new glove that first night, showing their kid how to oil it up and put a ball in the pocket. And maybe it’s a family tradition to fold that oiled glove over a ball in the pocket and put that glove under your pillow.
And you smell the oil, and the rawhide, and you dream.
Just to hit the ball. And touch them all. A moment in sun. It’s gone and you can kiss that one goodbye. This is our favoutire post.
UPDATE BELOW on the professionalism of our new Pentagon and Sec Of Defense
By now you all have seen the White House memo weaponizing the Department of Justice to go after attorneys who oppose the DOJ and White House in court. If not, click here.
The threat is real. Lawyers and Courts represent perhaps the last line of defense against a president bent on destroying the Constitution. The President knows this which is why he is attacking law firms and pulling contracts from them and revoking security clearances of lawyers. The latest to buckle under the threat was the NY super firm of Paul Weiss which bowed down to the president on their knees and kissed his ring to secure hundreds of million of dollars in fees. The NY Times reported about the Vichy-French-like surrender here.
"Where were you when the Nazis came for your neighbors?" a generation of German children asked their parents.
Now it is our time.
"Where were you when the president threatened lawyers and judges as he dismantled the Constitution, ordered the arrest of those who opposed him, and sent them to prisons in El Salvador?"
If you do not think the El Salvador threat for lawyers and judges is not real, we bet you didn't think the president didn't have a chance to win, and if he won he wouldn't defund most of the government, shut down the department of education, defy federal judges, make universities bow to his will, and deport those who oppose him.
UPDATE:
As you know, we are all now much safer since the ridiculous Biden Sec of Defense Four-star General Lloyd Austin was replaced by a Fox TV host who beats women. Who would you rather have as a Secretary of Defense- a former general who devoted his life to the defense of this country, or a failed TV host with an alcohol and anger problem?
The TV host duh!
Which is why the NY Times is breaking the story Monday afternoon that our current Sec Of Defense texted on a Signal Group chat with journalists including the editor of the Atlantic that the US Military was planning strikes on Yemen before they occurred last week.
Yup, Let that sink in. The current "professionals" put the lives of US pilots at risk by texting an upcoming military strike in a group chat.
Sec Of Defense: "Yo. Dude like OMG guess what we fixin to do? Launch F18s off a carrier to strike those simps in Yemen. Like Dude in like four hours. They won't know what him them LMFAO!"
Random Journalist: "OMG No f'ing way dude! Like so f'ing cool. LMFAO when those bombs hit those dudes. Like can u tell me the coordinates and stuff?"
UPDATE: The White House threatened us, so like the law firm Paul Weiss (and Vichy France in 1940) we capitulated and removed the prior post. Life under occupation 2025.
In the 1970s three of the coolest guys on the planet were Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman. Throw in Steve McQueen and Bruce Lee, and it's all 70's cool all the time.
Ali, Fraser and Foreman were inextricably intertwined with each other. (This is still a legal blog in some ways). There would be no Ali without Frazier and Foreman, No Foreman without his destruction of the heavyweight Champ Joe Frazier. And no smokin Joe Frazier without his three epic battles with Ali.
It started with Ali/Frazier at Madison Square Garden with the fight of century on March 8, 1971. Ali was the linear champion. He lost the title when he refused to be drafted. Joe Frazier was the actual champion but he knew he would never be recognized as such until he fought and beat Ali.
There may never be a sporting event like this again in our lifetimes. Just about every celebrity in the world who was anyone was there as a spectator (Norman Mailer and Woody Allen), photographer (Frank Sinatra couldn't get a ticket so he got in as a photographer for Life Magazine), or announcer - the actor Bert Lancaster who had never called any sporting event before.
Frazier beat Ali in a 15 round decision, dropping him with a sweet left hook in the 14th.
Meanwhile George Foreman was stalking them both. A glowering 6'4 and 230 pounds of menace and muscle, he was best known for waving the American Flag when he won the gold medal in the same 1968 Olympics that Juan Carlos and Tommie Smith gave a raised fist salute.
After Frazier beat Ali, Foreman was looming. He was beating every single opponent by knockout- usually in the first three rounds. He did not have a bout go past the eighth round when he finally met Joe Frazier on January 22, 1973, less than two years after Frazier beat Ali.
Joe Frazier was the favourite. He was a relentless fighter who kept moving forward, bobbing and weaving to make his opponent miss while he measured him with sharp jabs to set up one of the best left hooks ever seen. Frazier was not just good. He was great. He still stands today as a top five heavyweight champion. He had no quit in him. He had the heart of a lion. When he fought Ali in Manilla for their third match and was prevented by his corner from answering the bell in the 15th round, Ali fainted. He later said it was as close to death as he ever felt.
Which puts into context two things. First the utter destruction of Joe Frazier by George Foreman when they met. Foreman knocked Frazier down SIX TIMES in two rounds- the first knock down famously recorded by Howard Cosell who shouted DOWN GOES FRAZIER DOWN GOES FRAZIER DOWN GOES FRAZIER. The knockdown of the heavyweight champion was that shocking and unexpected. The video is below. You just did not do to Joe Frazier what Foreman did to him. And that sets up for a discussion at another time Ali's shocking eighth round knockout of George Foreman with what we contend was the best right hand punch landed in the history of boxing.
The three of them made each other the stars they were. Ali. Frazier. Foreman. None of them would have been who they were without the other two. And Cosell calling their bouts made it that much better. And our thoughts about Howard we shall also save for another slow day.
George Foreman went on to reinvent himself, winning the heavyweight championship as an aging and jolly 45-year-old and then becoming one of America's favourite pitchman with his George Foreman grill (we had one; who didn't?).
George Foreman was a great champion. And here was his greatest moment. You just did not do to Joe Frazier- one of the greatest fighters in history- what Foreman did to him. Enjoy. And rest in peace Champ.