Election Central .....
Circuit Court Group 47. Maria de Jesus Santovenia now has an opponent.
An Attorney using the name ALEX JIMENEZ LABORA has filed to run against Ms. Santovenia for the open Circuit Court seat.
BUT, HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM .........
There is no Alex Jimenez Labora that is licensed by The Florida Bar to practice law in the State of Florida.***
The Florida Bar does list an Alexander J. Labora as an attorney who has been practicing law in Florida for 18 years. (He also happens to be married to one Judge Deborah White Labora).
Now, suffice it to say that both Horace and I have always been big supporters of Judge Deborah White Labora and the Drug Court Program on this BLOG. But, fair is fair. And in the past, when someone has filed to run for Judge using a name different than the one they are licensed under, and when that different name just happens to be an Hispanic name, we must call Mr. Labora out on this.
***We checked at SunBiz.org for the name Alex Jimenez Labora and we were only able to find an Alexander J. Labora listed as an RA and/or an Officer in three different corporations. We also checked Fictitious Names, Limited Liability and General Partnerships. We did find one listing for an Alexander Jimenez PA that was formed in 2008 but the addresses do not appear to match up to Mr. Labora. Mr. Labora does state on The Florida Bar web site that his firm name is Alex Jimenez Labora, but there are no corporations or fictitious names found searching "Alex Jimenez Labora".
Mr. Labora specializes in foreclosure defense, bankruptcy, commercial transactions, personal injury and probate. He went to school in Mexico at Universidad IberoAmericana graduating with a chemical engineering degree in 1979. He furthered his education with an MBA obtained in 1983 at the Wharton's School of Business at the Univ. of Penn. He then went to law school at the "U" and got his JD in 1992. He has been a Hearing Officer in the 11th Judicial Circuit since 2010.
For the record, there are now four contested Circuit Court races. Also, there are currently four contested County Court races. The only non-incumbent who has yet to draw a challenger is County Court candidate Tanya Brinkley in Group 28.
JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS UPDATE:
We are waiting to hear from Governor Scott on the replacment for Judge Scola.
The JNC sent six names up on December 16, 2011 and the Governor has 60 days. Those names are:
Miguel de la O
Richard Hersch
Alan Sackrin
Rodney Smith
Deborah White-Labora
Bonnie Riley
The JNC is accepting applications for the following open seats:
County Court - the seat of Norma Lindsey (she was elevated to Circuit); application deadline is January 30, 2012
Circuit Court - the seat of Julio Jimenez (he passed away last week); application deadline is February 16, 2012.
Captain Out .....
Does DS moderate posts?
ReplyDeleteNo. Bur I don't post comments that just contain crude attacks. For instance, the person who thought it would be fun to tar the memory of a dead circuit judge because of the semi-public nature of some of personal problems while she was on the bench. Let her rest in peace. No need to slur her memory.
ReplyDeletePerhaps someone should run against Labora's wife when she is up for relection. Isn't there a great candidate, Maria Goldstein-ez.
ReplyDeleteBut what if the "slur" is her memory Rump? With the good in our lives comes the bad. If we talk about everything when we speak of the living, why is it not proper to continue in that same vein with the dead. Why in death do we re-write history?
ReplyDeleteanything to have a hispanic name and curry favor with the unenlightened. if he was smart he would change his name to Moishe Jimenez Labora so he could get what is left of the Jewish vote.
ReplyDeleteisn't this a repeat of the same crap that took place a few years ago in broward county?
Captain, your comment wreaks a little. This does not appear to be the case of some third generation American who has never identified as Hispanic, poaching great-grandma's maiden name and plopping it on a billboard for some perceived political gain. He's apparently acknowledged the name throughout his career, just chose to use an initial when filling out some bar paperwork. Where was the guy born?
ReplyDeleteIn response to the Barrister of Ballenrtrae concerning the Candy Mossler case, I think, but am not sure, that Walter Gwynn represented her. Walter was a real gentleman. Even a motion for a continuance would be accompanied by a memorandum of law demonstrating why he was entitled to it.
ReplyDeleteI have NO Control over what is posted or otherwise put up on the blog. My comments are reviewed just like all others.
ReplyDeleteIt’s just that I don’t personally believe in trashing people for the sole purpose of trashing them. I know lots of disagreeable Attorneys, but see no reason to blog crap about them.
Rumpole controls what is posted, and if what you posted did not get on the blog , it is because it didn't pass the Rumpole muster.
D. Sisselman
You can always send me your (nasty) comments about DS to ME at my work email:
DSISSELMAN@PDMIAMI.com
Not that that will get them posted , but I will allow you to vent your venom
Alex is an acceptable derivative of Alexander and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteAlso if the initial J in Labora's name stands for Jimenez, as many hispanic names are hyphenated or contain the mother's maiden name, then the use of his full middle name is quite permissable.
This is not the same as Adrien attempting to change his name to include his grandmother's name, which he never incorporated in the past.
Leave the guy alone. He is running on his wife's reputation, but it is his name. You don't seem to mind that Deborah White decided to be Deborah White-Labora.
As we say in Yiddish, nischt is nischt.
If my last name was only Schwartz - Ferguson - Rodriguez I could be Mayor.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the problem with Jimenez Labora. Like Michelle Alvarez Barakat and Denise Martinez Scanziani (previous targets of some in this blog), he IS Hispanic. Like them, he's not faking his Hispanic heritage to get votes and is not adding a Hispanic surname that he does not have from birth.
ReplyDeleteHey everybody, LABORA is a hispanic name too.
ReplyDeleteSHIMEEK GRIDINE, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. 1st District. Case No. 1D10-2517.
ReplyDeleteOpinion filed December 30, 2011.
37 Fla. L. Weekly D69c
Criminal law -- Sentencing -- Holding of United States Supreme Court in Graham v. Florida that the
Eighth Amendment prohibits life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles convicted of nonhomicide crimes does not prohibit imposition of seventy-year sentence on juvenile defendant
convicted of attempted first-degree murder -- Seventy-year sentence is not the functional equivalent of a natural life sentence without the possibility of parole.
(HAWKES, J.) Appellant, Shimeek Gridine, argues that the United States Supreme Court's holding in Graham v. Florida, 130 S.Ct. 2011 (2010) [22 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S328b], prohibits Florida trial courts from imposing a seventy-year sentence on juvenile defendants. We disagree with his assertion that his sentence is the “functional equivalent” of a natural life sentence without the possibility of parole and affirm the trial court's finding that
“[b]y the express holding of Graham, the term of years sentence imposed does not run afoul of the United States Supreme Court's decision.”
On April 21, 2009, Mr. Gridine approached his victim, pointed a loaded shotgun at him and demanded he hand over whatever money and/or property he had on his person. When the victim attempted to run, Mr. Gridine fired
the shotgun at him, “striking [him] on his face, head, neck, shoulder, side and back.” Security cameras at a nearby gas station recorded Mr. Gridine fleeing from the scene of the shooting. He was fourteen years old on the date he shot the victim
... As in Thomas, we agree that at some point, a term-of-years sentence may become the functional equivalent of a life sentence. See United States v. Mathurin, 2011 WL 2580775 (S.D. Fla. June 29, 2011) (finding that a mandatory minimum sentence of three-hundred and seven years' imprisonment for a juvenile was unconstitutional). Nevertheless, we do not believe that situation has occurred in the instant case.
The Barrister
Life expectancy of a male in the United States, according to the US Department of Health, Life & Death Tables is 74 years. A 14 year old receiving a 70 year sentence would be 84 upon release. That assumes no gain time and early release, etc. He would have to live ten years beyond normal life expectancy.
ReplyDeleteWas there any empirical data presented in the briefs or in oral arguments?
Cap Out .....
I think Phil Maniatty is right that Walter Gwynn was local counsel for Candace Mossler. As I recall, her primary counsel was Marian Rosen (formerly from Miami) and her partner, whose name I don't recall. They were top attorneys from Houston.I attended a Habeas Corpus hearing, which lasted for one week before Judge Schultz. There were lines to get in the 6th floor courtroom at 73 West Flagler.
ReplyDeleteHe is Mexican and emigrated to the us after college. Hispanic as it gets, nothing phony there!
ReplyDeletecant speak re alan sackrin but the rest of that list is pretty lame. this is the best we have to offer? i think this is caused by the fact that judges have had pay cuts and pension cuts and the fact that any appointee will likely face a challenge from a non-qualified person with a better name for the electorate.
ReplyDeleteOh come on, it's only going to FEEL like a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteAs Morphonios replied to a man lamenting that he couldn't do life imprisonment, "Do as much of it as you can, son".
ReplyDeleteTo 7:38 -- you are dead on, my friend.
ReplyDelete