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.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

GREEN EGGS AND IRAN

An inmate protesting the food at the New Hampshire Department of Corrections attached a boiled egg to the pleadings he filed. United States Magistrate Judge James Muirhead had a little fun with the order, which is HERE
in which he wrote in part:


I do not like eggs in the file.
I do not like them in any style.
I will not take them fried or boiled.
I will not take them poached or broiled.
I will not take them soft or scrambled
Despite an argument well rambled.


We first spied the order on our favourite federal blog.
We think it’s important for everyone but especially Judges to have a sense of humor
.


The President of Iran, in the Big Apple this week for a UN Meeting on Global warning that President Bush decided not to attend, spoke yesterday at Colombia University.

Memo to the President: The ice cap is melting faster than expected. Go HERE to read the article.


We support Colombia University, not for giving a platform to a “petty dictator” who has denied the Holocaust and called for the destruction of Israel. We support Colombia University because in the market place of ideas, the only way we can win is to subject the ideas and positions of people like Ahmadinejad to the scrutiny of the public. Better to have the world hear Ahmadinejad in his own words deny the holocaust and deny the existence of any homosexuals in Iran, than to give him support by muzzling him and turning him into a martyr. Was anyone really worried that he would convince any rational individual that the holocaust didn’t happen? Either we meet and defeat this extremist in the market place of ideas, or we fight him on the battlefield. While the latter may indeed happen, we should not forget that we brought down the entire repressive Soviet Regime without one solider losing his life in direct combat with the Russians. Extremism can fail under its own oppressive weight.

Give peace a chance. Or as President Reagan said "Trust. But verify."

Isn't it ironic that people from the greatest generation, like the President's father, risked their lives in WWII to save the world from tyranny, only to see their children slowly destroy the world with pollution and carbon emissions?




Michael Vick was indicted in Virginia State court on dog fighting charges. While we have no sympathy for Vick, isn’t it about time congress did something to stop these oppressive two front prosecutions that state court and federal prosecutors engage in to put extreme pressure on defendants? Here in South Florida we see that every day when the Feds decide to shoot some fish in the barrel by indicting defendants in Federal Court for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after the defednant has pled to a CCF in State court. The Federal charge can carry a 15 year minimum mandatory and with a state court plea already in the books, what defense can be mounted? Congress needs to put some teeth back into the double jeopardy clause.


And finally, the NY Times carried this OP ED PIECE
piece by Adam Cohen about Senator Craig’s attempt to set aside his plea for disorderly conduct in a Mens room in the Minnesota Airport.

Craig, a right wing Christian Conservative Republican has been a big backer of President Bush’s federal judicial nominees. You know who they are- the conservative judicial candidates who are believers in limiting a defendants access to courts, and who have eviscerated most of the case law on post conviction relief. Now comes Senator Craig, who suddenly finds himself with the strange bedfellow of – no, not an undercover officer- but the ACLU who is supporting his attempt to withdraw his plea of guilty.

From Mr. Cohen’s Op Ed Piece:


Mr. Craig is hardly alone in deciding that he likes defendants’ rights after he became a defendant. Among law-and-order conservatives, it’s the norm. Oliver North got his Iran-contra convictions thrown out, with the A.C.L.U.’s help, on a relative technicality. This year, an official of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, James Tobin, got his conviction for jamming Democratic Party lines in New Hampshire on Election Day reversed on a fine point about what his “purpose” was.
It would be gratifying if conservatives who saw the legal system’s flaws up close were changed by the experience. After all, as the joke goes, a liberal is just a conservative who has been arrested. But more often, they carve out an exception to their tough-on-crime philosophy, just for themselves.


As we have said time and time again, Karma Kramer.
Nothing is so satisfying as to see some law and order right wing conservative suddenly in desperate need of the services we struggle to provide clients on a daily basis.

See You In Court, where there are some judges we'd love to give an egg with our pleadings, but we probably won't.

61 comments:

Anonymous said...

Right on. In the spirit of Columbia University, let's all chip in some money and sponsor the Grand Wizard of the KKK giving a speech on the front steps of the Gerstein Building about race and crime in America. We can all listen intently and pat ourselves on the back about how "tolerant" we all are. And aferwards, we can chat with the sicko racists over coffee and doughnuts and marvel at the benefits of open discourse. And oh yeah, excuse my while I go vomit.

Rumpole said...

The Grand Wizard of the KKK does not run a country that is developing nuclear weapons.
Perhaps if we had more of an open mind and listened to the experts, we would not have invaded Iraq and 3,000+ americans would still be alive today, not to mention 100,000 Iraqis. But you go right on not trying to resolve anything. I'm sure you're just about to leave to volunteer to fight in Iraq.

Anonymous said...

President Bush, if you cover your eyes, you won't have to see anything going on around you.

If you cover your ears, you can pretend you don't hear anything.

If you cover your mouth, you'd be doing all of us a favor.

Now how I have plug my nose President Bush, because you stink.

Anonymous said...

The Legal Beagle Tribute

http://thatotherlostblog.blogspot.com

George Bush don't like black people...

Anonymous said...

try 600000 iraqis dead.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole, Stop whining whenever someone disagrees with you. The man made a valid point. You disagree. Fine. Why impugn his character with the snide Iraq comment. The guy made no mention of Iraq. You just use it as a kind of straw man.

Anonymous said...

Bollinger was amazing.

Anonymous said...

Hey Rump. Your comment says it all. There is no distinction between the president of Iran and the leader of the KKK except that the former has more gun powder in his muzzle. In other words, my moral principles will shift depending on how easily my adversary can intimidate me. And nice try at changing the subject. What does the invasion of Iraq, wrong as it was, have to do with inviting a despot to Columbia?

Anonymous said...

It is just wrong that a defendant can punished both I federal court and state court for the same occurrence. It’s immoral when state pleas form the basis of a federal RICO case. After the FIDA/ FACDA is finished with SB1088, maybe,we can try to limit federal jurisdiction in state crimes.(except for civil rights cases)

Anonymous said...

this forum is getting boring. bring back the trialmaster.

Anonymous said...

rumpole, don't fall for it -- the Prez of Iran is largely a figurehead position, real power is held by the Ayatollah. Look, we welcome the Saudi princes here, bring them over to Crawford, and the princes are funding the Sunni militants and share the same views on the Holocaust and the Jews. Yet we're supposed to be outraged by the designated Demon of the Week, whoever we are about to bomb next.

Who gives a crap what that idiot has to say, let's keep a tab on Iran's nuclear ambitions and next time, let's not invade their neighbor and thereby catapult Iran to a leading role in the region.

Anonymous said...

Dear all:

Thank you to those of you who helped with the Andrew Fisher matter. Obviously, the process is ongoing, but the exciting news is that a few weeks ago, an investigative reporter called with questions about the case, and this morning, Andrew’s story was front page in the Baltimore examiner. See Here:

http://www.examiner.com/a-955790~In_this_case__is_justice_unchecked_.html

Apparently, Q92 which is a popular radio station in Baltimore was also discussing the case on their morning talk shows today in response to the newspaper article. An argument before a three Judge panel is the next step, and I believe they are still waiting for a date on that.

Anonymous said...

You are living in a Dream World if you think there weren't any Soviet soldiers killed in direct combat ,you just didnt hear about it from the press,lots of them died just like our soldiers,sailors and airmen,and all of those isreali submariners "accidently " in the Med ............wake up its a harsh world out there with no defense attys or rights ..........

Anonymous said...

you are right Rump,we should have invade IRAN and then 200,000 Iranians would we visiting ALLAH !

Anonymous said...

I want socialized medicine--NOW!

Anonymous said...

I'm sure people have heard about the Hialeah PD's new policy of a quota of three arrests per month. This is great fodder for cross-examination. Can you imagine the cross?

Sir, you knew you had to make three arrests per month, correct?

Up to that point, you had only had two arrests, correct?

And it was the last day of the month, correct?

The arrest of my client fulfilled your quota, correct?

Then you just start calling him an asshole as he sits on the stand

Anonymous said...

Where are you?????? We need updates!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Vick is a petty criminal.
Who cares.

Rumpole said...

10:34- I can't win. I'm accused of not allowing comments I don't agree with, which is not true. And when I respond, I'm attacked again. Go fight it out on Markus's blog.

Anonymous said...

12:17pm - tell me why you want socialized medicine

Anonymous said...

The Don Cohen whisper campaign is growing. shhhs.

Rumpole said...

12:03 I was certain when I wrote the post that someone would write something similar to what you did.

I recognize that many amercian servicmen died in the cold war. So did a number of spies, agents, and others. However, my point was that we took down the largest military on earth with no overt war. The divisions and tanks alligned against each other in eastern europe were never used. The bombs did not drop, and the Soviet Union fell, because we won the war of ideas.

Trust me when I tell you that invading an Arab country with the military will not work. Invading an Arab country with IPODS, XBOXES, and other symbols of western culture will. We can beat Iran and get them to over throw the Ayatollahs- all we need to do is engage them.

"There is an Old Vulcan saying: 'Only Nixon could go to China.' "
Name the movie that came from.

The point is that engaging with ideas and keeping up military pressure works. Reagan proved that. Standing at the Berlin wall, with his hair toussled in the wind, the old Gipper was at his finest: "Mr. Gorbachev- TEAR DOWN THIS WALL" did more damage than an american infantry division could do to the Soviets.

Reagan was great. He really was.

Anonymous said...

Rump for President

Anonymous said...

Rumpola de la Rumpy:

Shumie's party for the introduction of Halo 3 on South Beach last night was a big hit, drawing both the hip south beach hotties, and a bunch a nerds into playing Halo 3. And yes, at the end, it turned into the much discussed foam party. Whopee!!!!

Anonymous said...

As a new justice building blogger -would someone please tell me who shumie is?

Anonymous said...

Heard that VICK just had a dirty urine - marijuana.

Hope he enjoys his time playing for Leavenworth Penal League.

Anonymous said...

If Bush is bad, why do all the world's villians, truly evil men, hate him so?

If you are to judge a man by his enemies, .....

One day, history may adjudicate Bush's foreign policy a bit different than today's received wisdom.

Anonymous said...

contrary to earlier reports, Shumie's foam party had some major gaffes. My two sons report that Shumie's "Master Chief" costume looked more like something last seen at Dandy Bear. Furthermore, Shumies X-Box 360 got gummed up with foam thus sending him into a mad tirade. Lastly, the after party at the Continuum was truly the ultimate scene .

Anonymous said...

No way Dude!

Anonymous said...

3:12: Alan Shuminer, a/k/a Shumie a/k/a Alan The Yeller.
Shumie was - many -many many- years ago a promising assistant Public Defender when an unfortunate scandal involving use of state property ( a copier) a live pet vietnamese pig, and a bottle of shampoo forced him out of office.

Shumie is married- and this is fairly unbelievable to his close friends- to the former Judge and now Television star- Cristina Pereyra- of Verdicto Final fame. Shumie practices criminal defense, is a high stakes poker player, and resides in Pinecrest where he oversees his two boys feud with the Weisman Boyz of south beach. Recently, Shumie made the news when he rescued a wayward hawk from the laundry room of a distressed Circuit Court Judge. Shumie now takes calls for his part time pest removal service.

Shumie likes crossword puzzles, starbucks coffee, the video game HALO, and if you see him, he will will adamently deny any involvement in the (In)Famous 1989 "Cristy's Restaurant Incident". As has been reported on the blog, the court records are sealed for 20 years, which means in a mere 2 years- 2009- his involvement- or lack thereof in the incident, which involved inter alia, airborne mashed potatoes, will finally- like Al Capone's safe- be revealed.

Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

The infamous 1989 "Cristy's Restaurant Incident"? Are there any other details that can be revealed, other than the airborne mash potatoes?

If so, do tell and Tarantino it - we're in the mood for some action.

Anonymous said...

This blog now officially SUCKS!We all read it several times a day HOPING ... I MEAN HOPING THAT SOMETHING INTERESTING HAPPENS.

It is like watching a bad car wreck you can't look away no matter how bad it is!

p.s. I MUST ADMIT, HOWEVER , THAT THAT SHUMIE DANDY BEAR SHIT WAS HILARIOUS!

Rumpole said...

6:03- I have said this before. This blog is totally dependant upon the proclivities of our judges to do something stupid. To date we have thrived, however, even I admit that our robed readers have been unusually well behaved lately and content to let Broward lead the way. However, ever the enternal optimist we awake every day wondering just what they will do that we can write about.

Anonymous said...

Batman: The Christy's Restaurant Incident:

(In Re: Incident At Christy's, et al. )

One cigar. One Glass of wine allegedly poured on someone's head. A spoonful of mashed potates airborne. One Alan J Shuminer.

The subseqent lawsuit has become the stuff of legends. Much like Babe Ruth's called shot- just about every civil lawyer in Miami says they were involved in the suit and settlement before the late great Judge Harold Solomon. Judge Solomon was over heard to remark he had never seen a civil suit so fraught with emotions not to mention mashed potatoes. Half of Miami will tell you they were in the famed Coral Gables eatery that fateful night, and some claim they have stained clothes hanging in the closet that they never cleaned because the clothes were evidence and have become part of the history and lore of Miami.

The details of the settlement were sealed for 20 years, so in 2009 we can find out the answers for ourselves. Who had the cigar? Was it lit? Who poured the wine on whom? Did someone throw mashed potatoes? Who ordered the prime rib and did former Judge Postman use the ensuing riot to quietly slip out without paying his tab?

We shall see.

Anonymous said...

Captain or Rumpole what happened with David to post this on his blog? Without giving details who did it involve?

Blog change
I started this blog as a fun way to cover the Southern District of Florida, a court that I love.

During the past week, a number of comments (on this blog and others) and posts on other blogs have made it not so fun. I can't control other blogs and their comments, although I have tried to get the offending blogger to delete his inappropriate post. I even deleted the post about which he was commenting, but he now is linking to the cached page from Google, which I cannot control.

But I can control this blog's comments. I have changed the blog so that you cannot post anonymously anymore. I will delete any mean comment or any comment which I feel is inappropriate.

Anyway, sorry for this post -- but I feel strongly that the blog shouldn't be used to make people feel bad.

Rumpole said...

I think- and I do not know and I did not see the comments- but I think some anonymlus idiot made some disparaging comments about a federal judge that was in some pictures on his blog when he went to Hirsch's Constitution party.

BTW- I didn't get an invite to the Constitution party. I did get an invite to a party celebrating Florida's enactment of the disorderly intoxication statute- which is the majority of my business.

Rumpole said...

that should read anonymous idiot.

Anonymous said...

Free Shumie now!

Anonymous said...

Rump does it drive you mad that you offer such substantial content each post, and on several occassions, the end result of a post is about flying mash potatoes and shumie? So come 2009 what do you think the process will be to get that file? I suggest The Iliad by Homer as reading material. Okay seriously.
Now back to the President of Iran, the KKK, President Bush and oh yeah most importantly Jews.

Anonymous said...

Dude! No way! Shumie's in?

Anonymous said...

Shumie's so in.

Anonymous said...

I will work for food.

Anonymous said...

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Anonymous said...

Ronnie could deliver a line. Nothing more. He was a simpleton who was at the right place at the right time. Communism was collapsing under its own economic weight... nothing the U.S. did pushed it over any faster.

Rumpole said...

I'm seriously considering asking for a VOLUNTARY BAN on all "Shumie" and "Q" comments for a week just to see how it goes. We are not on the inside of these jokes and they are getting a bit pedantic.

Rumpole said...

Lots of people get married and divorced. And yes the information is available on dockets on line. That being said there really is no reason to splay someone's divorce on the pages of the blog absent some relevancy to the issues of the day. There being none in this case, the comment is not posted based on relevancy.

Anonymous said...

Come on Rump - The Broward blog has a Ross fixation, yours has a Shumie obsession

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

to 6:39 pm

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

There were remarks made about Federal Judge Ungaro that David found to be inappropriate.

It's David's blog and he has every right to feel the way he did. The questions is, similar to the ones that Rumpole faced on this blog, before he went to moderation - should the moderator have any control over the comments and if so, to what degree?

You can decide for yourself if the comments were inappropriate by visiting a fellow blog that posted them. It is called Above The Law and is published out of New York.

Anyone who knows Judge Ungaro or who has ever appeared before her knows that she is the consummate professional and a well respected jurist.

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

Anonymous said...

"Was anyone really worried that he would convince any rational individual that the holocaust didn’t happen?"

If I didn't know you, I'd think you were stupid or naive. I know you're not stupid and don't think you can possibly be that naive. Therefore, I think you're being disengenous. Anyone with any knowledge about the middle east knows that the answer to that question is a resounding "yes." The anti-semites (which make up the vast majority of the population) WANT to hear that message, believe that message and teach that message to their kids. And they do.

Don't think for a second that we (Westerners with zero credibility in the Arab world) can have a rationale discussion with a raving lunatic about this issue in the Arab world. There cannot be an exchange of ideas when people can't hear the argument (because he suppresses the media) or don't want to hear one side (which, unfortunately, is the norm).

One of the biggest mistake that we (Westerners) are making is that we believe that the Arabs share our views and play by our rules. They don't. That's why they didn't embrace our foray into Iraq for more than the time it took for the looting to start, even though we deposed one of the cruelest and most oppressive leaders the world has ever seen. Your libertarian views don't play in a fundamentalist society. You're making the same mistake as our beloved President (gotta love the irony in that).

I think it's arrogant to assume they'll just succumb to "our truth" (regardless of the fact that we all know the holocaust occurred).

Batman said...

This is the real Batman and the poster at 5:33 is an imposter. If the picture is not there then it is not me.

Rumpole said...

9:59- I have to admit I was looking at the issue from the "western" point of view, and did not think for one moment that there is a serious and widespread belief that the holocaust did not occur. But I do think you are correct in that there are apparently many cultures that after decades of anti-semitism, may now believe the holocaust did not occur.

However, I do not think I am being arrogant by believing they will "succumb" to our truth. The truth is the truth and I do believe that because of the electronic age it is virtually impossible for a government to keep the truth hidden from their citizens. Even in North Korea the outside culture is seeping in. Given choices, people will choose freedom and the truth. I firmly believe that. Since the President of Iran has unfettered access to his own people, I still think my statement is correct in view of the fact that the audience he was speaking to in NYC was the western world. But your point is well taken.

Anonymous said...

Pedantic?

Rumpole said...

The Shumie/Q comments, which are silly and nonsensical, are pedantic:
These adjectives mean marked by a narrow, often tiresome focus on or display of learning and especially its trivial aspects.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't the whole point of the Nuremberg Trials to offer indisputable documentary (most of obtained it from the Nazi's own meticulous records) and testimonial proof that the holocaust did occur? If the educated portion of the Arab world is willing to ignore this proof, we have a lot more problems then we can even imagine.

Rumpole said...

Lets not be too hard on "Arabs". Weren't there studies done in which something like 80% of americans surveyed were against the rights enumerated in the bill of rights when they were read the information and not told it was in the Constitution.

The Nurenberg trials; the Holocaust Museum in DC; Yad Vashem in Israel. The death camps that are preserved in Poland and Germany. The living surviors with tatoos on their arms. They all stand as reminders to that which every human being should never forget. And yet there will always be a segment of the uneducated and ignorant population of any country that will buy into anti-semitism. Or any form of racism that appeals to them. It's not the ignorant people who scare me. It's the intelligent ones who prey on the ignorant ones for power that concern me. That's what hitler did.

Rumpole said...

I'm up way too late for me. Goodnight.

Anonymous said...

Judge Jordan Spanks Jack Thompson for Including Gay Porn with Court Filing

Anonymous said...

Batman (w/poster):

You are a lameass.

Anonymous said...

What happened to the president of Iran is a disgrace. Let me preface that by saying I am Iranian and my father worked for the Shah before the revolution. My families life was turned upside down when this current regime, whom i detest, took over. My uncle and numerous relatives were murdered and jailed so my position with this government are evident.

That being said let me further state that Ahmadinejad is an idiot with ridiculous views that unfortunately reflect on my country. But being ambushed by the people that invited him to speak makes our country (i was born here...USA...USA!!!) and its higher institutions of learning look like vultures.
Imagine if our president was invited to speak at a foreign university and the dean started off by calling him a coke head who only wants to line his pockets with the blood of young American soldiers in exchange our oil contracts. I just thought it was in bad taste...

Batman said...

yes maybe so, but at least I don't steal other's identities. But then again if I was Bob "The Scum" Levy I might pretend to be someone else too.

Anonymous said...

Batman (w/poster):

You're not funny, but it's ok most middle-aged attorneys are not that funny.

3:45:00 PM:

For the record, the president is a coke head.