Judge Fletcher was a former Miami County Attorney and the 3rd DCA's resident expert on Land Use issues.
Judge Juan Ramirez, now Chief Judge of the 3rd DCA was quoted by the Herald as saying this:
In matters of land use, ``his expertise went way beyond mine,'' said Ramirez, now the appellate court's chief judge. ``We miss him dearly when we get a complicated land-use case. . .He was a very persuasive colleague.'
Judge Adrien Stands out....
As the only incumbent Judge with two (2) opponents. The DBR article here notes that with 20 of 80 judges standing for election, only three (Adrien, Seff, and Walsh) have opposition, and Adrien is the only Circuit Court Judge with opposition. (Former Judge Jeffrey Swartz and former Prosecutor Samantha Ruiz-Cohen).
We make no bones about our utter disgust with Adrien as a Judge. We believe that in one sense he is the poster child for why there should be Judicial elections. On the other hand, if Judges were appointed for a term of years, renewable by a commission or an approval election, it's highly unlikely Adrien would be a judge to begin with.
Thus the issue of election versus appointment for judges continues to be a thorny one.
31 comments:
Judicial elections amount to legal bribery in the courts. Simply put, most judges favor certain lawyers because they support their judicial races. And I'm so sick of all the emails from judges begging for money. Spend your own money, And why do all judges want Hector Lombadas approval? What has he ever done in his whole life? He is a zero in terms of legal skill. the system is a joke.
It's a damn shame that Flora Seff has an opponent. Flora is smart, experienced, honest, fair and sensible.
I can't believe that Michaelle Gonzalez-Paulson (less than eight years experience) had the gaul to file against her. Does anyone know anything about her?
I started saying that years ago when he first started in the REG building. I would like to take credit for getting the word out on him but i will remain humble. Thank goodness is all I say. Horrible is mild when describing that mas as a jurist. I knew he would draw opposition. Im just surprised he has drawn so few opponents. I was sure the line would be longer than the line to get in the justice building on Monday mornings.
One of the greatest Judges to sit on the bench.
You will be missed.
Which judges are up for reelection? I am thinking of running, who can / should I run against?
run against jackie scola.
I know why she thinks she may win, lots of folks will look at a name like Gonzalez-Paulson and think of two reasons to vote for her.
Sure wish my name was Gerstein-Ferguson-Hernandez. I could be Mayor.
The Captain has been reporting on that since the begining of the year; DBR is way behind your blog.
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Judge Seff is horrible. Try going in her courtroom and trying a case before her. Feel what it is like to run a calender in her courtroom. She needs to either go back to branch or get off the bench. The latter being more preferable.
BTDT,
In a comment in yesterday's post, you criticized Judge Alan Schwartz for lawyer-bashing, suggesting that if he thinks an attorney should be disciplined he should refer the attorney to the Bar. You must not be aware of Judge Schwartz's many referrals in the past, or the abysmal lack of any response by the Bar to those numerous referrals. You should look at Johnnides v. Amoco Oil Co., 778 So.2d 443, 444 n.2 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001), where Judge Shwartz referred a lawyer to the Bar for "egregious conduct" but wrote "we have no illusions that this will have any practical effect." Judge Schwartz cited more than a dozen cases where lawyers had been referred to the Bar for misconduct, then noted that "none has resulted in the public imposition of any discipline--not even a reprimand--whatever." When it comes to referring lawyers to the Bar for misconduct, then, Judge Schwartz truly has "been there, done that," with no effect.
Lombana.....L-O-M-B-A-N-A....get the spelling right..
11:10 pm...........I understand Schwartz's frustration. As a member of the community, I hate that guilty offenders get off and commit more crimes. Does that mean I think we should ignore or violate their rights? Of course not.
Appellate lawyers represent their clients (in criminal court, they represent the defendant or the state, not the trial lawyers). That means that when Schwartz hammers the trial lawyers, he does so without giving them any opportunity to be heard. Tell me how that is fair. The point is NOT that Schwartz is always wrong (most times, he's right). The point is that it's unfair to circumvent due process protections by unilaterally issuing what feels like public reprimands.
Keep in mind that the trial lawyers have no opportunity for redress when he's wrong.
BTDT
PS----I know attorneys who have been disciplined who would disagree with Schwartz's belief that the Bar is soft!
Holy Shatzer!! Rumpole where's the standard "Miranda on the chopping block" post?!?!
In response to 7:46
I didn't know that Michelle Gonzalez Paulson was French--
6:18 p.m. -
The e-mails I get for the judges I don't care about or don't care for, I delete. It takes a half of a second.
The judges that I think we NEED to keep (1 or 2), I send out e-mails and invites for.
Sorry this inconveniences you so much. Your practice must be huge and therefore you have no time to hit the delete button or, better yet, simply ignore the email altogether.
Please tell us your name so that the Lombanas and little old people like me of the world will not bother your massively important life any longer.
-Supporter of jurists worth a damn
Say what you want about Hector Lombana's influence on the judicial selection process, but you are completely wrong about his legal skills. I have been practicing in the same arena with him for more than 20 years. He is extremely well-prepared during discoovery, is very effective in the courtroom, and he provides a high level of representation for his clients.
The election/appotintment debate goes on. It should always be elections. Sure, you have a judge like Adrien get on the bench, but at least you can get rid of them. Imagine if he we're appointed and only had to get through a retention election. He'd be on the bench forever. The appointment process is so slimy and political.
RUN AGAINST WILLIAM JOHNSON...RUN AGAINST WILLIAM JOHNSON.....RUN AGAINST WILLIAM JOHNSON....HE HAS HID OUT IN JUVY AND GOT A FREE PASS FOR WAYYY TOO LONG!!!!!!!
Spend some time with Flora Seff and you will wonder how she got that job in the first place.
Someone needs to replace her, Joe Fernandez, Jackie Scola, Butchko, and Peter Adrien, to name a few.
All we ask is that judges are on time, polite, respectful, WILLING TO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND ACTUALLY LISTEN TO US, and most importantly, make good judgments.
Is that asking too much?
One more thing, get Ed Newmant to stop being a bully with the lawyers.
No need to attack Judge Johnson. Nice guy, competent judge, truly cares about the kids. Remember in loco parenti!
How does Johnson get a free pass? he consistently works from 9-6(or later) trying cases in juvenile court. He is a consummate professional, he knows all the case law, and he understands reasonable doubt, while having a good bullshit detector. the call for an election opponent probably issued from the lips of an incompetent state attorney who is used to getting all the rulings in their favor from an ex-prosecutor judge.
APPALLED SAYS---
The DBR, quotes newly appointed Judge Lourdes SIMON as saying she is a devout BAPTIST. This is pretty transparent to people who have seen this sort of behavior before and know it for what it is. Please don't bother to say it was taken out of context. I hope it will be remembered come election time.
leave johnson alone.. good judge...doing great job...if you are going to critized adrien for incompetence applaud johnson for excellence..what is going on here???
Yes, Johnson is a good guy.
I too say, leave him alone.
Leave Johnson alone? The man is incompetent and allowing these "children" to run rampant around the County with absolutely no accountability. Lets face it 16/17 year olds are no different then an 18 year old and they should not receive a slap on the wrist because they broke into someone's house a few months shy of their 18th birthday. These "children" are coddled by the system enough and Johnson amplifies that by allowing them to walk all together.
He is unprofessional, unfair and doesn't have a clue about listening to both sides and giving each equal weight. He looks for every reason in the book to sabotage the State's case because he is simply sympathetic to the child's age and not the egregiousness of their actions. Enough is enough already.
If you knew Judge Fletcher, you liked him. He was a true gentleman and a fine appellate judge.
We will miss him.
1:17---how long have you been a lawyer? Maybe if you knew what you were talking about, more judges would listen. Seff knows the law backwards and forwards. My guess is she doesn't need you to tell her what's what.
I enjoyed watching the video of alan schwartz squirming while the supremes reamed him for his antics in the Ronner matter. THe chief 3rd dca judge should tell this cranky short man to it the road.
ALAN SHWARTZ IS ARGUABLY THE GREATEST JUDGE WHO HAS EVER SERVED IN DADE COUNTY. HIS OPINIONS IN THE EIGHTIES WERE A PRIMER ON PRACTICALLY EVERY AREA OF THE LAW NO MATTER HOW OBSCURE. THERE IS NO ONE IN THIS COUNTY WHO HAS THE STATURE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT ALAN SHWARTZ WITH ANY CREDIBILITY. HE MAY BE SHORT, BUT IN THE LAW HE IS A GIANT.
1:44.........I agree that Schwartz is a brilliant jurist. That doesn't give him the right to treat lawyers as he does. Treating attorneys appearing before him like dirt and violating trial attorneys' rights to due process by issuing de facto public reprimands is entirely inappropriate and (ironically) unprofessional.
i personnaly will raise 20k for whoever opposes seff. she's miserable. this is her big chance to pretend she's nice being an election year. miserable! imagine what she will turn into. i feel like running against her.
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