Monday, July 10, 2006

THE HISTORY OF RUMPOLE OF MIAMI

Candidate Parks sent us a post in which she mentioned she had not really seen the blog before:

I confess that I do not have a lot of time to look at the Blog, as I am busy campaigning, and I suspect that the other candidates are busy as well. I did take the opportunity to review it this Sunday afternoon, and frankly Rump, I found it quite fascinating. Everyone can learn a lot by reading it, and I will recommend it.


We appreciate the recommendation but how can it be that this is the first time you have perused the pages of our humble blog?

Didn’t you see the blockbuster Daily Business Review interview with us?
How about the earth shaking New Times Interview with Rumpole?
Even the Herald mentions our blog now and then.

Anyway, we thought for all you new readers like Ms. Parks, we should catch you up in the history of the REGJB Blog.

Assuming you are familiar with the big bang, the parting of the red sea, the reformation, the Pilgrims, the war of 1812, Japan Surrenders on VJ day, “Dewey beats Truman”,
Armstrong walks on the Moon, the Miracle Mets of 1969, “Nixon Resigns”, Carter, Regan, the Berlin Wall falls, Monica and Bill, and Bush steals a second election,
then you should know that sometime after the election of Ronald Wilson Reagan, we arrived in Miami, much like Paddington the Bear, with a suit case in our hand, and a law degree tucked firmly and safely inside.

20 plus years of witnessing some of the most ridiculous spectacles known to man has an effect on any attorney: (true story- we once watched the late Judge Winton tell a prosecutor that he could not introduce a picture of the stolen item in a petty theft case, and that he needed to bring the item into court. When the quick thinking prosecutor asked if the State had to bring a car into court in every grand theft auto case, Winton said “of course! Now you’ve got it.”)

We were sitting in our office one blustery November day directing a steady stream of divorce clients to the attorney down the hall, and the bankruptcy clients to the attorney upstairs, with, as usual, not nary a soul knocking on our door seeking our services. Our secretary was busy refinancing her house that had increased a few million dollars in value, while we were trying to find some use for our Enron and Global Crossing stock certificates.

Turning on the radio, we heard an NPR report on a mysterious blogger of the federal courts that had been unmasked as a young prosecutor in New Jersey. We jumped on the web and quickly came across our favorite federal blogger’s web site and realized that there was no state court blog.

Now is an appropriate time to note that the one time in our life that we actually had an idea before anyone else that became popular, turned out to be an idea that produces absolutely no revenue.

Anyway, we proceeded to turn off our phones to avoid the bill collectors, and actually created a blog.

We made a few posts, and then one day we were at a local watering hole drinking some Chateau Miami River when he happened to "overhear" that the Law Offices Of Bennett Brummer was settling the lawsuit brought by a former employee.

Here is part of what we wrote:

BRUMMER BUMMER
A JBB Exclusive: Dade Public Defender Settles Lawsuit for $200,000.00 + Attorneys Fees.!!We scooped the Herald on this one: The JBB has learned that long time Dade County Public Defender Bennett Brummer has caved in and settled a federal wrongful termination lawsuit that arose out of his contentious re-election campaign.

The Scene: The annual Martin Luther King Day Parade cira 2003.
Dramatis Personae :Assistant Dade County Public Defender Gabe Martin, who has announced his intention to oust his boss.
Another young assistant Public Defender supporting Gabe Martin.Bennett Brummer.
At the parade the Assistant Public Defender ( and soon to be Plaintiff) marching in support of Gabe Martin has a mega-phone, and is yelling anti- Bennett Brummer slogans, like "We Need A Public Defender, Not a Public Pretender. "…

Sometime thereafter, an enraged Brummer shows his dark side and orders his henchmen (in this case- we believe it was a hench woman) to fire the young PD.

A Federal lawsuit alleging wrongful termination was filed, and as it proceeded towards trial Brummer and his legal team filed a motion for summary judgment before new Federal Judge Marsha Cooke. We haven't seen the ruling the denying the motion, but we hear it was a real barn burner, with some very critical language of Brummer and his legal team.

Meanwhile, to ratchet up the pressure, in conjunction with filing the motion for summary judgment, but before Judge Cooke's ruling, Brummer and his team of legal eagles makes an offer of settlement: that the Plaintiff pay $1,000.00 and write an apology.

The Greeks have a word for this: Hubris. And if you have read any Greek tragedies, you know what follows: disaster.

Well, after they got up off the floor, the Plaintiff and his lawyer formally rejected the offer. Judge Cooke's blistering ruling followed sometime thereafter. We don't know the rest of the specifics but we feel we are on pretty firm ground reporting the following:Brummer has parted with $200,000.00 PLUS legal fees, and didn't even get the gag order he wanted. The Plaintiff is free to talk and gloat about his victory whenever he wishes.


Well wouldn’t you know that a few days after we posted our blog story, the Herald ran a big story on the Brummer lawsuit with nary a credit to poor Rumpole who continued to labor in relative obscurity.

Sometime the next month an enterprising PD stumbled across the blog and sent out an email to colleagues. A few prosecutors found the blog and so did a few Judges, and the next thing you know we are getting a few hundred readers a day.

Now Judges use the blog to explain unusual occurrences in their courtroom, or attorneys log on to mourn the passing of a judge or colleague, or attorneys post comments on the actions of some of our more entertaining robed readers.

Along the way we have introduced such terms into the lexicon as “north of the border” for Broward, "Lord Of the Traffic Magistrates" for Judge Leifman, and “robed readers” for the dear members of our legal community suffering from diminished capacity.

We have covered (or more accurately- created) the JA Perfume Scandal (JAPS), the the Swartz maneuver, and Interpreter Interruptus, to name a few recent REGJB events.

Trying to be serious, we have posted several posts on the death penalty, the innocence project, the problems with eyewitness identifications, and the fact that only the US, Iran, Yemen, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria execute juveniles. In response, we had loyal readers react to those posts with the famous “zzzzzzzz”.

Currently the issue raging across the blog is whether we should allow unrestricted access to people who want to post “ [ judge] regularly has oral sex with [ ] in chambers” or other prurient nonsense. We don’t like the fact that people cannot engage in a spontaneous conversation across the comments section of the posts, but we are not in our office enough to monitor the posts full time.

We are working on a solution, but until then, we have a new poll on what the blog should be.

In the meantime, we invite our new readers to check in often and as always, we end with this warning:

See You In Court.

59 comments:

  1. rumpole
    who would win a danish eating contest, rory stein or kobiashi?

    ReplyDelete
  2. rumpole
    your #'s are down 25%. get back to basics. find your game.

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  3. why would parks have seen the blog? has she ever seen the criminal or juvenile courthouse? ( I know, I too feel sometimes like they are one in the same)

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  4. the brummer story was your best written article. brummer went into hiding ever since you broke that story only to rise like a turdbird with his recent counter suit against richardson.

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  5. To 6:29- even if the numbers are down 25% which we are not sure is true. Is that worth it so that some judge or attorney does not have to go to work with a nasty comment about their sexual habits posted on the blog? At this point, we think the answer is yes. Help us solve the problem, don't be the problem.

    To 7:31- Would anyone confuse the Louvre with the Miami Beach museum? No. Neither should anyone confuse the REGJB with Juvenile.

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  6. anyone catch vladimir putin's act on that little kid today. how is that dude a world frickin leader and i am scrapin by.

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  7. Rumpole you take yourself way to serious. Its a freakin BLOG many millions out there, they all should be free of edits and delays.

    You have now created a place for you to be chief editor of a news web site it no longer is a blog.

    As to the subject of judges or lawyers being libeled delete them as they are posted and/or complained about. Oh thats right you beleive every person in Miami is reading the blog, my bad.

    Trust me when I tell you no lawyer or judge takes your blog serious at least the ones not on the bench due to that JA whom I shall not mention.

    Kind regards
    Someone with common sense

    Ps. I know this will be deleted so just to let you know I intended this message just for you.

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  8. comment delay is shit.

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  9. Rumpole: Good point about Juvi.

    Who gives a fuck about a 13 year old who stabs a neighbor with a pen knife? I say let the kids stew in the cesspool of juvenile justice. Give 'em time and they'll commit the crime that's worth our time.

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  10. Note of Passing:

    Criminal Defense Attorney (although he more recently moved on to other legal areas) Arnold "Arnie" Muskat died at age 50. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters.

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  11. Rumpole, if you are going to edit the posts, then sit down by your computer and edit them as the come in. If you don't have the time to do that, then leave the blog as it was and put a disclaimer to the efect that you only provide the soapbox and posters provide the soap and you have no responsibility for the quality of the soap. As it stands now, the blog has lost all its shine and it's no longer a dynamic place for the exchange of ideas. Do you think for a minute that anyone gives a crap about the insulting posts? Don't understimate the ability of bloggers to filter out the garbage from the nitty-gritty. I, for one, skip over the stupid posts and read only the srious ones. I'm sure that most people do the same. So, don't kill the blog with this delayed moderation over a few posts that no one gives much credence to.

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  12. I agree with some of your comments. However, I would find it personally embarassing to be associated with this blog and then appear before a Judge when the night before some moron posted that the Judge does crack and cheats on his wife. Sorry, but that bothers me. Some day, some way, I will reveal my identity. I have a reputation in this community. I would be very very upset if when that day arrived, a judge or lawyer called me on the phone and said something to the effect that my stupid blog ruined their marriage. Its ok for you to talk a big game until someone mentions you by name and makes up some ridiculous rumor about you and then you hear several judges and attorneys talking about the blog in Au Bon Pain. Then the false bravado that the posts on the blog are harmless and meaningless doesn't really hold up anymore does it?

    You figure a way for me to return this blog to a more spontaneous outlet and I will do it. I have already invited two people to be moderators to help me monitor the blog, and both people turned me down!!! Despite the fact that I spend a large part of the day dodging bill collectors, I do have some cases and cannot sit in my office all day long and stare at this blog (at least not for more than a few weeks at a time.)

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  13. Rumpole, maybe you can open an online forum and let everyone make posts and reply to posts. It could be called Justice Building Forum and have nothing to do with Rumpole. There are plenty of sites that offer free fora.

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  14. Whatever happened to the JNC lawsuit to stop the election on the new open seats?

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  15. John Lipinski's case was no actioned on June 29, 2006. I saw many posts about the arrest but none about the no action.

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  16. au bon pain? mr reizensteein is there so often he is like one of the tables. always says we when he posts, rumpole is not one man it is phil r and his posse--jackie, blecher, shuminer(not the judge)pracitto and weisman.

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  17. I must disagree: I am firmly convinced that Rumpole is Dan Lurvey and Chris Lyons. The right mix of felony and county court inside knowledge. And I nominate Tom Risivy for the Captain!

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  18. Your comments about Parks are dead wrong. She readily admit that she has very little or no criminal experience. But what about Barbara Areses who won 2 years ago, with absolutely no trial experience no endorsements? She seems to be doing okay. Ditto for Peter Adrien.

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  19. Adrien and Areces are doing ok?
    Yeah, and we're doing OK in Iraq as well. They are completely incompetent and it shows everyday. They should be ashamed of themselves. They both beat very competent Judges because of their last name. They are shining examples that any idiot can get elected to the bench. They are everything that is wrong with Dade.

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  20. Rumpole says, but ok, tell us how you really feel.

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  21. RESPONDING TO 5:31 PM REGARDS JNC:

    FYI :WWW.OPERATIONRESTOREJUSTICE.COM IS REPORTING THAT THE JNC HAS FILED MANDAMUS PAPERS IN SUPREME COURT. ORJ ALSO IS POSTING THE PDF OF THE COURTS ORDER OF JULY 6 AND THE PETITION.

    "-NEWS FLASH- The Judicial Nominating Commission for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, "JNC" on July 6, 2006, filed an Emergency Petition for "Writ of Mandamus" in the Florida Supreme Court #SC06-1294. The JNC seeks to immediately stop the Secretary of State from accepting any qualifying papers from judicial candidates. The JNC is also seeking to stop the legislators law that created new open seats for judges from being selected by the voters. The JNC states the newly created positions for judges must be filled solely by the Governor through the JNC nominating process. See, House Bill 113.
    View the Mandamus Petition (CLICK HERE) • Supreme Court Order July 6, 2006, (CLICK HERE) • JNC-Motion to Clarify (CLICK HERE) "

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  22. New topic-

    Who are the five biggest babes to work at the SAO in the past ten years?

    At the PD's office?

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  23. No way, the Capitan is definitely Mark Panunzio..

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  24. speaking of babes - robin bengochea left the pd's office? why? and who is going to take care of all the mentally ill in jail?

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  25. You say:

    "In the meantime, we invite our new readers to check in often and as always, we end with this warning:

    See You In Court."

    Well, Rumpole, with this moderation you have now, it makes sense o check only once a day because the posts don't appear as often as you want your readers to check the blog.

    Look at the poll and you'll see that it runs 2-1 against the current moderation policy.

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  26. re the JNC lawsuit. You can go to the Florida Supreme Court's website and read the actual brief, the Court's Orders and the JNC's Motion for Clarification that was filed yesterday. Interesting. I feel badly for the candidates who are already spending $$ big time.

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  27. none worth mentoning...

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  28. YO SOY CAPITAN

    I am The Captain - and my name is not Tom Risavy, nor is it Mark Panunzio.

    TICK TOCK TICK TOCK

    T-9 days until the filing deadline for Circuit and County Court Judge and we are still looking at two candidates without opposition in Circuit Court, with one race having three candidates and two candidates in the County Court race.

    Of course, thanks to our local JNC, which we all know to be an impartial, non-affiliated body; all the potential candidates are now holding their breath whilst the Florida Supreme Court decides whether Gov. Jeb will get to name 55 new judges in his final five months as the Leader of our great state.

    TO RUMP:

    If it will help to curtail comment moderation, I would be happy to reconsider your invitation to become a moderator of the blog. That is, of course, if someone can assure that that "he who shall not be named" won't be serving me with any Writs of Mandamus anytime soon.

    CAPTAIN OUT .............

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  29. The amendment was passed to avoid forcing recently-appointed judges the hassle of having to campaign right after appointment, as it often happened before 1996. That's why it only refers to appointments. The JNC is trying to argue that the amendment precludes elections because it doesn't mention them and doesn't say that vacancies shall be filled as provided by law. However, the amendment doesn't mention elections because its subject matter is the extension of terms for appointed judges, not for elected judges. At first sight, the JNC's petition seems to make sense, but when you read the amendment in depth, you realize that it never eliminates elections for new vacancies, and that it's intended to apply only to those vacancies who happen to have been filled by appointment. I hope the supremes catch on to the specious argument and deny the JNC's writ.

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  30. i hear howard lubel is taking her place. great use of your resources bennett he is by far one of the top 3-4 trial lawyers in that office.

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  31. Lurvey and Lyons are great choices both have great sense of humor and know the MJB inside out. Also both are excellent lawyers who becuase of thier skills dont need to engage in the "mickey mousing" games that are the hacks bread and butter.
    Its just that Rumpoles statements occasionally date him/them and he has made comments about old judges that werent on bench when Chris or Dan was practicing.

    Rump-- will you promise like mr felt that you will reveal your identity when you die?

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  32. He'll reveal it after he dies.

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  33. Naw, Rump is too serious to be Nunzio.

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  34. I think Tom Cobitz is the Rumpster.

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  35. Not Lyons nor Lurvey. Lyons is funny only when he says things like "I'm ugly, right?...No, that was a joke, I just made up...you get it? Cuz I'm beautiful and not ugly...get it?" And Lurvey is funny but could care less about blogging.

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  36. my guess for rump is Richard Hersch. Has anyone ever read his FACDL Defender article? It is very witty and well-written. He is a pilot and would know what to comment about the FUI pilots' case. And during Muldowney, he was not censoring. Now that Muldowney is over all of a sudden he has time to censor (or whatever it's called). I'm still not convinced it's Phil R.

    Calvo

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  37. the only good appointment they've sent up recently has been spencer eig.

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  38. he's not very good either, but at least he's pleasant and trying very hard.

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  39. Faber's a fool. that's what his signs should say about him.

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  40. THAT'S VERY MEAN. AND WRONG!

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  41. it's just my opinion

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  42. Wait to see what Catherine B. Parks does.

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  43. gonna be a big surprise, i hear

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  44. faber's not a fo0l. he's a very nice guy

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  45. he and Parks, and Rippingille, and others were spotted talking at that Dixon event. But not with Bob levy.

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  46. I heard that hoarse voiced Marissa Tinkler Mendez speak. That was pathetic.

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  47. Levy and Armando are no longer factors in these races. Just ask some of the former candidates. They simply don't matter anymore.

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  48. PARKS V. MANNO, I BET

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  49. DOESN'T MATTER. THIS IS ABOUT THEIR FUTURE. BOTH ARE WILLING TO SPEND WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET THE JOB D0NE.

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  50. GO GABE! TIME FOR A CHANGE!

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  51. i think everyone should seriously consider voting for Marisa Tinkler Mendez for circuit court judge in the 11th circuit. she is dedicated to her work and would make a terrific judge. she desrves the job

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