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.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

COURT APPOINTMENTS

The court appointments are on life support. A gunshot wound inflicted by the Florida Senate has left the system in Dire Straits (money ain't for nothing and the court appointments are not for free.)

David S Markus (Not FACDL Prez David O Marus) is convening an emergency cabinet meeting in Au Bon Pain at 11AM Monday. The issue is money. Some lobbyists are telling some attorneys down here that for a nice steak dinner, some good red wine, (and 200K), they can..ahem...solve our problems. Here is our new lobbyist.





This is what he says he's going to do: "I'm gonna make Crist an offer he can't refuse."


David S Markus writes:

To all attorneys who accept court appointments:It appears from recent posts by Rick Freedman and FACDL Secty Brian Tannenbaum that the court appointment system as we know it is dead. I think Rick, Brian and others put forth a great effort on our behalf and this post should not be read as a criticism of those efforts.They are probably right, but may not be. There is a week left in the legislative session and I and others are not ready to quit yet. About ten thousand dollars has already been raised to hire a different lobbyist from the one used by FACDL and more money is needed. The lobbyist has given us a concrete suggestion on how to allocate any funds raised. A group of us are going to meet in the cafeteria at 11AM on Monday to discuss this issue further. Please come and bring your checkbooks.I am not a political person and this is a new area for me. I do not pretend to know all the answers.


David S Markus



Rumpole says: So it's time to go to the mattresses huh? I suspected Crist, but he could never have out-fought Sonny. Here is what I did not know until today: "It was Barzini all along."

Go get em guys.

64 comments:

Anonymous said...

David S (SSSS) Markus wrote that, NOT David O(OOOOO) Markus

Anonymous said...

Check out Broward's blog post "Senate Bill 1088" for the real status of court appointments. This info is straight out of Tallahassee.
JAABLOG:
http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/

Anonymous said...

Joel Denaro always makes money for his partners. One by one, our old friends are gone. Death, natural or not, prison, deported. Joel Denaro is the only one left, because he always made money for his partners.

Anonymous said...

What are you doing? Nice college boy. Doesn't wanna get mixed up in the legislative business. You're taking this awfully personal. Rumpole this is business and this kid's taking this very personal.

Anonymous said...

I heard the same thing as the earlier report so it must be true (see below from earlier blog report) - I heard that they have unbelievable footage that happens on repetitive days and will be embarrassing:

"To all of my JUDGE colleagues: be aware that the investigative reporters from ch. 4 and the Miami Herald are reportedly monitoring the Judges who leave the court house early and have been seen picking up their children, golfing in the early afternoons and taking more than their reasonable vacation time. They also will be reporting on certain Judges at the Judicial conferences and how their official time was spent during educational periods of time and the receipts turned in for expenses of familiy members and for items not covered by State rules. They are compiling quite a blockbuster week report and should cause many Judge's much concern for their jobs."

Rumpole said...

Those are very funny posts and totally in the spirit of this post.

Anonymous said...

Who are the judges that will be called out? I want to know as I prepare for a Monday morning hearing on Saturday night.

Anonymous said...

Very funny guys. Your a clever bunch of bastads. Now reach out those gator arms and buck up.

Anonymous said...

Hope that the investigative reporters remeber that there is more than one courthouse in Miami- Dade County.

Anonymous said...

Is that a picture of Bob Levy?

Anonymous said...

I'm not going to sleep tonite awaiting the DUI power rankings.

Anonymous said...

North Dade Justice Center has some of the worst Judicial attendance records on fri. and afternoons?

Anonymous said...

Judge Blake /Judge Farina - Would it be prudent to set rules or punch clocks for Judges to make sure that they are not leaving everyday to go play golf, wait in the carpool after lunch for their little kids, go shopping, be seen riding their bikes to one of the Venetian islands and even roller blading on lincoln rd. at 1:40pm four days in a row? There is worse and more embarrassing footage from what I understand. many years ago, channel 7 did an investigative report showing the same thing. Now, if your a Judge on the footage on tv or in the Herald, you can be sure that your opposition will exploit it in the campaign, use it to show the Herald why you should not get their endorsement and/or even get you a JQC/Fla. Supreme Court public reprimand. Aren't my fellow lawyers upset with the Judges that are never there in their chambers on Fridays or in the afternoons during the week? Isn't it our taxpayer dollars paying for what is essentially "part time" Constitutional employees? It bothers me and I know it bothers the media, the electorate and the Chief Judge. What say you?

Anonymous said...

Fake JOE PESCI says: What is funny about me? You said I'm funny? Funny what, funny how, what the fuck is so funny about me? You said it! Fake Florida Defendant Said: I meant you have to be kidding, right, I mean, instead of drammatically increasing funding for attorneys to defend the poor you are abolishing the program. For what- bullitt train proposals, pro sports stadiums- they are 3 hours events not supposed to be like a 5 star hotel,. Here's an idea Mr. Governor- rlease from proson 10000 non violent offenders who have served over half their sentence and be good prisoners getting job training, use the money to increase pay for asa, pd, and court appointed attorney and use the smaller outdated facilities as homeless and hurricane shelters. But noooooooooooooooooo, keep those poor people with brown and black skin locked up for 4 years for minor felonies and stay away from all the white business corruption. WHEN WILL SOMEONE show some real leadership in this country instead of letting the guns, drugs, alcohol flourish and then just lock them up when they foul up. ONE LAST THING; when, I said when the fuck is some money going to be spent helping the desperate before they commit crimes and go to prison. anyone in the system for any period of time know that half the crime is because of 3 factors: 1. kids dropping out of school, 2. no father in the home, 3, a government that condones and fosters the easy availability of illegal drugs in poor communities. I will now keep quiet until the next mass murder in the U.S.
But we love our Dolphins and Heat.

Anonymous said...

OMG! That means that Judge Ivan Fernandez is going to stop playing Golf on Thursdays with his Bailiff? That sucks!

Anonymous said...

Today is Sunday! I woke up early but the DUI power rankings are not up yet...

A Robed One said...

Not to be missed. Pay to stay jails. Click here.

Anonymous said...

Charlie Crist never gets re-elected. That part is perfect for him, it'll make him a big star, and I'm gonna run him out of the business - and let me tell you why: Charlie Cirst ruined one of the defense bar's most valuable sources of cash.

For years we had the system trained- singing lessons, acting lessons, dancing lessons. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbying, we was gonna make him a big star. And let me be even more frank, just to show you that we're not hard-hearted, and that it's not all dollars and cents: He is beautiful; he is young; he is innocent. He might be the greatest governor we've ever had, and I've had 'em all over the world. And then Charlie Crist comes along with his calming voice and homespum charm, and the legislature runs off and screws with the CAC system.

He threw it all away just to make us look ridiculous! And men in our position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous!

Rumpole said...

the comment about a judge hiiting the bars was not posted.

Fake Peter Adrien said...

I repost my response to the comment about the anticipated Channel 4 and Herald article re: "judges day off":

OMG do you think the mommy-track judges will be featured. You bet. This perception by some of our women colleagues that they can short change the public while being semi-employed and full time mommies, has to come to an end.

Enough with calenders that start at 9:45 and days that end after lunch so we can go over to Key Biscayne or Pinecrest to pick up the kids. Or how about a Court of Appeal judge that just got appointed who hardly works from home and almost never goes to the office.

Unfortunatley, there will be temporary emabarassment, some of those featured will make a few adjustments, try a few cases and then soon things will be back to normal.

As to those "golfing guys" the same applies. It is time (although it won't happen) for judges to start realizing they owe the public more than just a half a day. It is time for those who look at the job as parttime and semi-retirement to get out of the way for those who want to do the job right.

Go Channel 4 and the Herald, roast the guilty ones until they are well done!!!!

Anonymous said...

So judged should finish their calendars and sit in their chambers. I'd like a serious answer why. Not "because I pay their salary." This issue is shooting fish in a barrel. The job is not 9-5, stop acting like a lower middle class gadfly who resents anyone who isnt as miserable as you.

Anonymous said...

Up here in Brevard (no, not Broward - BREVARD) we have watched as you boys in South Florida looted the indigent services funds. Our PD made lawyers sign a flat fee contract x cases for y dollars, and kept the fees under control. The dependancy lawyers slipped into the Dade county mode and in one year exceeded the budget by a factor of four. You greedy pigs caused the problem, live with it.

Additionally, the money is tainted. There are some sources of money so loathsome that to touch it contaminates. The sovereign State of Florida is a bloody handed murderer; don’t take its money.

Anonymous said...

RUMPOLE or BATMAN - Aren't you concerned with Judges who are leaving every single day of the week at lunch time to do their errands or play tennis/golf or go to Bal Harbor or just go home?
Should you post an blog article on the impact of Judges who do this? Is it just me that is upset when I read about this, or even worse, see my tax dollars wasted on a public servant who is consistently not there (and their judicial voice mail is on after lunch everyday) when I need to set a hearing? Doesn't this make the public lose faith in the Judicial branch of government? What do you Judge readers of the blog think about this issue? Should the media delve into this with an investigative report? I heard that they have police detectives that are interviewed who searched the court house on a Friday afternoon at 2:45pm and could not find one Judge to sign a warrant and needed to go to the Emergency Judge's home in Pinecrest to get a warrant signed!

Anonymous said...

It's after 11:00 a.m. and the DUI power rankings are not up yet. Please, Rumpole, post them.

Anonymous said...

AGENDA FOR TOMORROWS COURT APPOINTMENT LAWYER MEETING:

1. Invocation

2. Passing out of Tissues

3. 48 year old lawyer who hasn't been retained in 6 years yells "WHYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!"

4. Through the sniffles, a lone lawyer states "we must fight this injustice that has been thrust upon us. We will not be forced to make our living off private clients."

5. Two lawyers yell "YEAH!"

6. Question is asked: "is Bennett hiring?"

7. Donations sought for lobbyist.

8. $497.25 collected. Question asked whether lobbyist will work at court appointment rates.

9. Someone yells "OH MY GOD, I AM FINISHED"

10. Adjourn, everyone bills (.4) for the meeting.

Spicoli said...

What's up,
Gotta love Johnny Ola.

HERE'S THE TRIVIA: Anyone know what Johnny's up to?

Anonymous said...

Times have changed. It's not like the Old Days, when we can do anything we want. Taking away our courtappointments is not the act of a friend. If Don Corleone had all the judges, and the politicians in Florida, then he must share them, or let us others use them. He must let us draw the water from the well, the courtappointment money from the government. Certainly he can present a bill for such services (which will be cut); after all... we are not Communists.

Anonymous said...

Curb your enthusiasm Florida Fredos.

What is the Family? Why go against the family? Should not families be functional rather than dysfunctional like The Corleone's? Lastly, who are the Fredos and what should be done with them?

Anonymous said...

YOU ASKED FOR THEM. YOU WAITED ALL WEEK FOR THEM. YOU GUESSED ABOUT THEM ENDLESSLY.

A power outtage in Cambridge, Mass, where we rent time on a Cray Super Computer to crunch the numbers slowed us down a bit.

HERE THEY ARE:


DUI Power Rankings. (C) All rights reserved. The DUI Guy.

1. 1.0 Bobby Reiff
2. 0.997 Carlos Canet
3. 0.982 Lurvey and Lyons

4. 0.976 Jonathan Blecher
5. 0.955 Richard Hersch
6. 0.893 Jimbo Best
7. 0.844 Rob Biswas
8. 0.765 Miami PD's
9. 0.734 Michael Catalano
10. 0.731 Frank Gavaria

A new number one, Reiff valuts back into the Top Spot. Blecher creeps up. Essen and Essen off the board while newcomer Rob Biswas ROARS into 7. Miami PDs fall after a tough week of pleas. Shuminer off the board, Gavaria back on. What a week!

Anonymous said...

10:44..........you're right. Judges shouldn't sit in chambers twiddling their thumbs after court until 5 pm. But, you're wrong that we should accept their going home early.

The fact is that many of them don't know the case law to save their lives. I think it would be nice if they did a little reading, especially since the worst offenders are the ones with the least knowledge (ie. Pando, who was late so often that her bailiff had pre-printed signs!!!!)

Anonymous said...

Thank you, DUI Guy!

Anonymous said...

Two points

1. I remember when Judge P would be completed with his calendar he was not leaving to play golf, shopping for his wife, or blogging he was in another court room ready asking if a Judge who was backlogged if he could help by sending some of the cases over to his court.

he did this many times for Judge Crespo (known for being slow but fair) Judge P was always a good friend to Judge C.

second point

2. The real scam with the fraud and over padding of bills is over at the Juvi court were countless morons who cant find other work so end up at the dependency TPR court wheel. Oh yes you can find the dumbest members of the Florida bar hanging out at the Juvi Center.

Judge Cindy Lederman called out a few bright apples a few years back. They were so dumb she blacklisted them from taking appointments in her court.

The goldmine was the Juvi court wheel were countless legal bills went unchecked. yes why the juvi wheel had the dumbest lawyers they had the lawyers making the big bucks in padded bills like no other.

I cant tell you the number of cases were lawyers took the DCF to trial on a TPR that could have been plead to a decent case plan but pissed off DCF and caused countless parents to lose there children because the Lawyer needed cash that month and no one else would hire the idiot.

The wheel at juvi should been the called the retards of the Florida bar wheel.

Fake Peter Adrien said...

To 11:02

I am not surprized that a judge could not be found in the Justice Building on a Friday afernoon, why are you? It is not any better at civil for their "emergencies". Actually it can be worse.

One semi-court holiday morning Judge Barzee Flores was in the courthouse and asked to handle an "emergency matter" (a motion for protective order on a depo) for another judge. She refused and made the "emergency judge" Miller come to the courthouse from his home to handle the matter.

What happened to the days when judges were more concerned with making sure the work go done than how quickly they can get out of the courthouse?

In answer to the second request regarding naming judges specifically - let's see what the paper and Channel 4 do first. I have a few in mind and they are not all in the Justice Building and they are not all female. If not named, maybe exposure here on the Blog could be in their future. Just remember, the higher they are the harder they fall.

But I certainly would point the reporter's attention toward Pinecrest, Key Biscayne and Coral Gables. The schools to watch are Pinecrest, Gulliver, Key Biscayne Elementary, Belen and Carrolton. Golf courses include Bayshore on Miami Beach, Riviera Country Club, Biltmore and Crandon Park.

As much as this will be another embarassment this circuit, it is long overdue and hopefully will be more often than every ten years.

Anonymous said...

Rump - don't you think that you should spend a blog article on this problem of Judges leaving early everyday! Why are you afraid to say your feeling about this travesty? We don'tt have to falsely bash Judges who on rarely leave early (but we should say we are upset at Judges who are paid by us leave to carry on their own personal business at lunch time every single day!) - it is outrageous and I think that Judges should have a liaison office (like the Police do at the Justice Bldg.) where they check in and check out so that they are ACCOUNTABLE to lawyers, litigants and our taxpayers.

Anonymous said...

There is a nice feller
his name is Peter Heller
you shouldn't scream
or be a yeller
when I tell you this blog is run by Pistol Pete Heller.


Sneaky Petey!

Rumpole said...

First of all- I am going to wrote about it tomorrow. Second of all-every post about this has gone up, so you accusing me of being afraid is ridiculous.

Of course I'm afraid- that's why I'm anonymous.

Anonymous said...

Good Morning Judge, p. 62, I have 4 motions, my client charged with capital sexual battery. Have you read my motion on child hearsay and williams rule. Are you shitting me? I only make 140k a year- you expect me to read this shit. I was a civil lawyer or federal prosecutor-don 't bother me with this. How about those Dolphins though, did you see the draft? excuse me, I am going to south beach to fuck this new pd who thinks I am hot, she interned for me last summer.

Anonymous said...

"I am going to wrote about it tomorrow."

Put down the crack pipe

Anonymous said...

Here is a solution one Judge assigned exclusively at each court house to handle matters that lawyers deem need immediate attention now.

Here is how it works:

1. You walk into the REGJB at 1:30pm seek out the Judge who has your clients case and find out that he is out playing golf, drinking Southern Comfort by the pitcher at the Tobacco Road with Rumpole (ya known).

2. You now enter the assigned Judge's Courtroom for precisely these situations. The Judge says who is your regular Judge and verifies either by oath or telephone call to the local bar that your Judge is gone.

3. The case file is retrived by you from the assigned Clerk for precisely these situatons for review by this Judge. Of course we will need a assigned ASA for these precise situations so its a good idea that this all take place in on the 3rd Floor next to the office were every ASA seeks supervisor approval to take a piss.

4. Boom problem solve you get your hearing and matter heard. Our robed one can know seek rest and get over that hangover the next morning with no worries that lawyer X will be calling on him to free someones mother or prenant daughter.

Copyright 2007, CommonSense Incorporated.

Rumpole said...

I don't approve of the language. But I understand the point.

Anonymous said...

Important Blog announcement: This Friday (the last friday of the month) the Arthur Winton society and the Judge Meek Robinette group will hold their annual joint meeting at Ruth's Cris Steakhouse in Coral Gables at 7Pm. On the agenda: There was nothing Meek when Robinette said "unless ah state otherwise ah fahnd probable cause" and the legal genuis behind pre-determinative probable cause findings.

Plus The year Judge Murray Klein ran for State Attorney: "Ah, what might have been" and "Oregon v. Olmstead" what Winton would have done.

All this Friday at Ruth's Cris steakhouse in the Gables.

Rumpole said...

Somebody has had a bit too much to drink this Sunday night.

Anonymous said...

If Pistol Pete is in fact running this blog, hes doing a "Heller" of a good job at it.

Anonymous said...

It occurs to me that if Shumie doesn't post here, and fake Shumie doesn't post here, there is really no need for me. Oh well.

Anonymous said...

Batman may be rightous in calling out slacker judges, but I sense in the bat's comments an undercurrent of resentment of the mommy judges, as if picking up the kids from school is of equal social utility as golfing. Show me the work's not getting done before you assume mommy is abusing the p.m. flexibility her children benefit from.

Anonymous said...

It really should be a matter if the Judge keeps his calander current and is available for any matters that need be before him/her.
I would agree that many Judges start late,9:00A.M.dockets start at 9:45 or 10:00.This is wrong.
Many Judges take off early for two hour plus lunches.This is wrong.Many Judge tell defendant and attorneys to appear at a designated hour and the show up thiry plus minutes late .This is wrong.
But many Judges volunteer to assist others:handle emergeny after hour matters( i.e.domestic violence etc)which many are unaware of and they should not suffer.
If a Judge is finished with his/her work ,available 24/7 why must he remain in his chambers.I know of some Judges who can handle a calander in two hour while it takes another Judge for the same docket all day.Some Judges take breaks every hour on the bench for "a smoke,coffee break or to just get off the bench:other work their respective dockets.
Judges should be viewed by their respective work ethic:not merely by the hours spent at a courthouse and in Chambers doing little!!!!

Anonymous said...

After Rick posted the news that the court appointment system was dead, I called my friend in Miami who is a lobbiest. Although he thought we were VERY late in the game to try to stop the bill, he made some phone calls to Tallahassee. After discussions with a person in the house of representatives, my friend said that I should talk to my colleagues and see if they would be willing to raise money over the weekend in an effort to try to table the bill. We raised over 30 thousand dollars.
Unfortunately, after spending the day hammering, I just got the news that Rick was correct, the battle is almost certainly over and the chances of victory are dire. Apparently there is a billion dollar deficit and indigent defense is not the most popular thing for the government to spend tax dollars on. Therefore, Senate bill 1088 was adopted by the House and written into the budget. The funds allocated are not nearly enough - something like 37 million for 5 conflict offices to be formed across the State.
As for the money that we collected, I have decided that I will take my wife on a shopping spree at Bal Harbour ,,, just kidding. All funds raised will be returned.
Now for the good news... We can attempt to undue the bill next year. This is "absolutely possible", according to the lobbiest. From what I have seen over the weekend, I, as well as others, believe him. To do so, perhaps we could form an organization of court appointed lawyers across the state. We could come up with ideas to make the system cheaper and most importantly, raise money.
We lost this battle, but based on what I witnessed in terms of people stepping up with money over a weekend, we will win the war.
And as for you Rumpole, "don't forget to take the Cannolis."

Best regards,
Joel Denaro

Anonymous said...

Trivia question:

Anybody remembers the rest of Meek Robinette's speech?

Anonymous said...

DOLPHINS PRESS CONFERENCE

Reporter: Coach, if we could discuss the DUI supplemental draft for a minute.

Cam Cameron: Shoot.

Reporter: You surprised a lot of people picking Rob Biswas at seven with Jimbo Best and Jon Blecher on the board.

Cameron: Biswas was our guy all along. I know the fans are disappointed, but I would ask them to give this a chance to work. He moves much better to his left(trial) then either of the two other guys, and his DMV time is twice as fast as either of the other two guys. We are very happy with our selection.

Reporter: But what about the lack of experience?

Cameron: Biswas like the other two comes from Essen and Essen. But he was there more recently. His motions are more up to date. And he covers Dade Broward, the Keys, West Palm, you name it. We didn't have that versitility with the other two. This was a great pick at nine and we are happy we made it.

Rumpole said...

Is the Monday Meeting ON or OFF?

I love the soup at Au Bon Pain.

Anonymous said...

The 2007 Hurricane names are out:

Andrea
Barry
Chantal
Dean
Erin
Felix
Gabrielle
Humberto
Ingrid
Jerry
Karen
Lorenzo
Melissa
Noel
Olga
Pablo
Rebekah
Sebastien
Tanya
Van
Wendy

Good luck everyone. Just trying to be useful despite the lack of Shumie here.

Anonymous said...

Look asswipe I work my buns off at the Juvinile Court Center. Blame the DCF and those newly appointed Judges for the problems overhere.

On a lighter note has Joni Goodman been investigated for wasting tax payer $$$. Who decided she should get paid for her work I thought the GAL was volunteer.

I miss Judge Venzer even on a bad day her lovely smile made it all worth while. Farina I need adminstrative order assigning her back to Juvinile court YESTERDAY.

Anonymous said...

"As for the money that we collected, I have decided that I will take my wife on a shopping spree at Bal Harbour ,,, just kidding."

Can we get the bar to audit his client trust account ,,, just kidding.

I had better get all my f...ing money back its not everyday I drop $10.00 on a good cause.

Anonymous said...

If Murray Klein had been elected State Attorney. Can you imagine? The sharpest of legal minds. Knew his way around a jury like nobody's business. No "Latina" politics dominating the office. Well respected. Feared in Tallahasee. Ah...we can only dream about a better past and brighter future.

Anonymous said...

Did somebody say "feared"??

Respect the Q

FEAR The Q.

Close your eyes and see that Murray The K was no Q.

Anonymous said...

The monday meeting is Au Bon Pan is off.
Thank you to the many lawyers who responded to Joel and I,stepped up and contributed. we were too little, too late.
We all should have gotten involved months ago. Now, the battle will be trying to undo this system. It can be undone. We need to have concrete ideas on how to reduce the costs of conflict representation.
Perhaps now would be a good time to seriously address the need to depose every "A" police officer in every case, particularly where a detailed report is provided........... Or how about if the SAO were to review death penalty cases at the front end to determine if the case is really a death case. Most of my "death cases" begin with the ASA saying that they will probably waive death, but can't right now. A second chair is appointed and tens of thousands of dollars in atty fees, expert fees and investigative fees (for penalty phase investigation)are generated in cases where the facts and the defendant's age and lack of significant priors drive the decision to waive the death penalty-facts that are known in the begining of the case. The SAO has to deal with the next of kin and often it is easier to get their assent to a waiver after the case is delayed a couple of years- but that should not be the reason to unneccesarily spend so much money preparing a penalty phase case that everyone knows will never be presented to a jury. I truly believe that the role of second chair counsel only matters in about 25% of the cases. Those are the cases where the fruits of our mitigation evidence search really matter.
I invite all to think about these ideas, and others that will save money yet not deprive our clients of a meaningful defense.
The legislature cares only about how much money the system will cost. We can undo what they have done this year only if we present alternatives to the old way of doing things. We need to do more than simply tell them to "Stay The Course"- It's not working for Bush in Iraq and it won't work here. Time to think outside the box.
Anyway, these are my random musings on a Sunday night.

David S. Markus

P.S. To the 12:36 poster- If you were referring to me, I am 49 years old and I got retained on a case 3 years ago.

Anonymous said...

Considering the fact that we have no better place to be... I say lets meet anyway.

Anonymous said...

Take her to target joeli d. better yet, lets have a huge party with the cash....

Anonymous said...

Any idea on how long it will take to establish the conflict PDO? I read part of the bill which says it takes effect this year, but, obviously, it will take a while to set up an office, i.e., hiring, logistics, support staff, etc. This may very well take over a year to properly implement.

Anonymous said...

the rest of the meeker's speil went like this:

"now, unless ahh say otherwise, the public defender is appointed in each and every case."

Fake Peter Adrien said...

To 7:46

Too much of the p.m. flex time you speak of is brought about by unwarranted continuances, give-
away pleas and handling matters the judge knows will take only a short time instead of the lengthy
matters that need doing. Please, there is always work to do if you want to do it. PIP cases to try,
Motions to Suppress to be heard, felony trials to complete.

If you want your kids to gain some benefit from Mommy picking up the kids then take a job that
is part time. So many other women hold down full time jobs for one hell of lot less money, pick
up their kids after work and raise them well.

So it is clear I have just as much contempt for the golfing guys, the Merrick Park shoppers, the 12
week a year vacationers and the DV 3 day work-week workers.

Anonymous said...

Over the years, I have split my practice 50-50 between civil and criminal. If you think the criminal judges got it good with being on the golf course after lunch, you ought to go to civil. At least in criminal there is a calendar every day. Not so in civil. If the media wants a story about slacker judges, head over to civil and film the empty building.

Anonymous said...

TO DAVID MARCUS AND OTHERS CONCERNED ABOUT THE NEW CONFLICT SYSTEM IN 5 CIRCUITS: IF YOU WANT TO IN ANY WAY DO WHAT YOU CAN TO POSSITIVELY AFFECT SOUTH FLORIDA DO NOT LET THE NORTH FLORIDA PUBLIC DEFENDERS AND STATE ATTORNEYS IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO TALLAHASSEE TAKE THE LEAD IN THE FORMATION, RULES, PROCEDURES, PAY SCHEDULE ETC. THESE ARE THE SAME IDIOTS IN AREAS WITH ALMOST NO CRIME, THE 3RD. CIRCUIT PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN CREATING THE JAC AND THEY HAVE THE LOWEST CRIME RATE IN THE STATE AND WE ALL KNOW HOW MUCH THE JAC SUCKED WHICH IS WHY THEY ARE NOW PROPOSING ANOTHER CHANGE. AFTER ALL THE JAC WOULD FIGHT YOU OVER 4000 FOR A MURDER TRIAL BUT OK THE SAME OR MORE FOR DEPENDENCY CRAP IN JUVENILE COURT. IF YOU LET THOSE PEOPLE PLAN IT BECAUSE THEY ARE THE CLOSEST DRIVE TO TALLAHASSEE IT WILL END UP SUCKING BIG TIME.

Anonymous said...

TO ALL THE GRIPERS ABOUT THE JUDGES LEAVING WORK EARLY. LET'S FACE IT, THERE ARE THOSE IN LIFE WHO FLY UNDER THE RADAR, GET AWAY WITH A LOT, HAVE FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES, WEALTH, POWER, DIRT ON PEOPLE FOR BLACKMAIL IF THEIR JOB IS JEOPARDIZED ETC. AND THEN THERE ARE THE REST OF US WHO ARE PISSED THAT IF WE TRIED TO LEAVE WORK ON FRIDAY AT 1PM TO PLAY GOLF WE WOULD BE CAUGHT THE FIRST TIME AND FIRED. NOBODY EVER SAID LIFE IS FAIR. SOME PEOPLE GO TO LAW SCHOOL AND BECOME RICH, SOME MAKE 140 K AND WORD 30 HOURS, AND SOME MAKE 25K AND BARELY SURVIVE. ONE THING WE HAVE ALL FAILED TO DO AS A PROFESSION IS PROTECT OUR OWN LIKE THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. THERE ARE 80000 LAWYERS IN FL. AND 10 LAW SCHOOLS. IF WE STOPPED ADDING 2000 A YEAR FOR THE 20 YEARS I HAVE BEEN A LAWYER WE WOULD ALL BE DOING VERY WELL THANK YOU. IT IS PATHETIC THAT EXPERIENCED LAWYERS WITH 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE ARE WORRIED ABOUT MAKING A LIVING-IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT THAT THE NUMBER OF LAWYERS HAS DOUBLED SINCE YOU WERE ADMITTED. I PROPOSE THAT FUNDING FOR ANY NEW LAW SCHOOLS AT PUBLIC EXPENSE BE PREVENTED AND THE BAR NOT ADMIT ANY LAWYERS FROM OUT OF STATE LAW SCHOOLS UNTIL WE HAVE A SHORTAGE OF LAWYERS. RAISE THE BAR PASS RATE TO THE LEVEL CALIFORNIA HAS, THAT WILL LIMIT COMPETITION. IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO PASS THE CALI EXAM. WE SHOULD DO THE SAME IN FL. DID WE GO TO SCHOOL FOR 20 YEARS TO FIGHT FOR SCRAPS, 750 COURT APPOINTED CASES, 1500-2K IF YOU ARE LUCKY, THE OCCASIONAL BIG CHECK WHICH YOU EARN WITH STRESS. WHAT A STATE!