FIDA

No it’s not a secret Masonic organization.
Nor is it the female version of Fido, your local neighborhood mutt.
It may well be Joe George and his Rockettes worst nightmare.

We requested an email on FIDA, and here is what we got, which we have edited:


FIDA, inc. or Forida Indigent Defense Association is a non profit organization dedicated to defeating SB 1088. Also affiliated with FIDA is a CCE or a committee of continuous existence called "Alliance For Legal Reform." Both organizations have been raising money for the singular purpose of getting things back to the way they used to be vis a vis the court appointment system. To date, we have raised around $30, 000.00. FIDA’s philosophy is that the best way to influence the process is to become part of the political process. To that end FIDA has hired lobbyists to advance our case. The firm we hired is called the "Barretto Group." Brian May, one of the partners, was Dade Mayor Pinellas' chief of staff for 8 years. Part one of the plan advanced by May and FIDA was to get the county attorney to cut funding for the ROC offices. This just happened last week. Part two is to get the County Commission to sue the state since SB 1088 requires the County to pay for elements of the conflict office notwithstanding article 5 which reserves such costs for the state. We also have a lobbyist working the Broward County Commission for the same goals. Step Three is to work the legislature once the law suit is filed. The Legislature does not have the highest respect or concern for criminal defense attorneys or our clients. FIDA believes that the reason this whole problem occurred is that criminal defense attorneys have never played the game- lobbying Tallahassee to make sure that the money in the budget for criminal appointments would remain.

Currently FIDA is paying the Barretto group $7,000.00 per month. Attorneys have given up to $3,000.00 but the average donation has been around $1,500.00. FIDA needs to raise around $250,000.00 per year to become major players.

Criminal Defense Attorneys who want to help should send checks
payable to FIDA
to 777 Brickell Avenue
Suite 400
Miami, Florida, 33131

Rumpole says: It seems simple- you want to get your money out of Tallahassee? Pay up and play the game.


This is a fantastic NY Times Sunday Magazine article on

Justice John Paul Stevens, who it turns out, spends half of the court’s term working out of his condo right here in South Florida.

We highly recommend the article.

Suicide Pool: Everyone except 52nd Street Irwin remains alive for week 4.

Football: Cowpokes redeemed us. Pulling out a tougher than expected 34-10 win. Bears are showing that in this day and age you need more than a very good defense to win. Bears played the Boys even at 3-3 and then 10-10 through 3 quarters, but with the rules slanting towards the offense, the Belichick philosophy that you need an offense to win a shootout to be successful in the NFL appears to be true. Bears just could not shut out a top quality offense for a full game. Rumpole improves to 3 wins (Fins/Jets Over; Cowboys; and the upset we called- Packers the underdog win outright: if you followed our advice and shunned the points for the money line, 100 got you 215 in return.)

We are not counting our "win" with the Texans and the points because we later backed away from that after the Texans announced that Ron Dayne would not play. We had two ties- Jets -3 and Seahawks -3, and one loss: Jax upset the Broncos in Denver. 3-1 makes money every time.

See You In Court.