Wednesday, October 16, 2013

A STORY ABOUT HUMAN NATURE

It's a story about a government acting irresponsibly and its representatives acting stubbornly and in violation of the law. 
The federal government shutdown? 
No. 
We speak of the Limited Registry, and FACDL Super lawyers Michelle Estlund, Jude "The Hammer" Faccidomo, Carmen Vizcaino and Roy Wasson,  have put a stake in its head as it slithered through the mud like some parasitic slug feasting on the carcass of Gideon v. Wainwright 372 U.S. 335 (1963), and the Due Process Clause. 

Recall that the State of Florida decided that in the scheme of due process and criminal justice, the role of the defense attorney was nearly valueless. To that end the State enacted a payment scheme wherein attorneys (having sold their seemingly worthless "Vichy -stained-souls") signed a contract to "defend" clients at rates so ridiculously low that the top fee of $2,000.00 was reserved for murder cases. To be eligible for this "windfall", the attorney had to sign a contract agreeing to "never ever ever ever" seek compensation above the cap. 

Of course no lawyer can defend a client at such rates. All a lawyer can do is meet the client, shake their hand, convey a plea offer and then stand next to them and nod solemnly as they take part in the farce of a plea colloquy in which they pretend that if the client had so decided, they would have investigated the case, taken depositions, subpoenaed witnesses, and gone to trial. In reality these lawyers were and are nothing more than overpaid stock boys, hauling the bodies of their clients on to a criminal courthouse conveyor belt that runs to the state prison. 

Confronted with the law, see, Makemson v. Martin County, 491 So.2d 1109 (Fla. 1986) the State lawyers waived the white flag and entered into the below stipulation, effectively killing the limited registry. 




For those lawyers to whom taking a stand for a principle at personal cost is an anathema to their very being (you know who I am talking about- the type of lawyer who wouldn't have defended Rosa Parks; the type of yellow coward who would be the first to turn in their neighbors when the storm troopers knocked on their door) and who have in fact joined Vichy France/The State of Florida and signed up for the Limited Registry-it is these lawyers who will unfortunately benefit the most from the work of the unpaid FACDL lawyers of whom these limited registry collaborators are unworthy to sharpen their pencils, much less be members of the same Bar. 

Such is the nature of the law in general, and criminal defense in particular, when the very best work, done by the very best lawyers, benefits the very worst among us. 

See You In Court. 





16 comments:

  1. The lawyer got paid not a single cent.

    They are heros.

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  2. Hang the scabs from the highest yard arm, matey!

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  3. What BS...Mourning gets a ticket instead of BOT like everyone else!! Another example of double standards for the rich and famous....

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  4. So let me see if I understand this correctly. Pursuant to the Stipulation, the scabs who signed up for the Limited Registry will not only continue to get all of the cases but will now be able to bill over the cap? Or does that mean that all of the lawyers on the General Registry will now sign up for the Limited Registry, thereby, in effect, resulting in only one Registry? Still an outstanding effort by the FACDL attorneys.

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  5. This gov't shutdown was ridiculous. Lawmakers and the President are inept and horrible leaders. Las Vegas has been hurt as much as any other area in the US because of it. Shame on them.

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  6. You must clarify how this benefits the lawyers who took the high ground and did not sign onto the Limited Registry. We remained on the General Registry as we were advised to do and have been hurting financially. Now what ? Are the registries going to merge? If they do merge, do the %#!? who have been getting all the cases get put to the end of the line?

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  7. Judge Perry: Escaped killers 'had some help' in forging paperwork
    Inmates forged orders granting their release from life sentences, authorities say.

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-killers-loose-orlando-florida-20131017,0,900122.story

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  8. Mourning deserved a break. She is a wonderful gal and gives her time to charity. Don't be a fucking hater.

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  9. Perhaps you all shouldn't be turning to Rumpole for advice on whether to stay on the GR or join the LR. Perhaps you should attend an FACDL meeting and find out.

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  10. 12:00 am. I pay my FACDL Dues but never get a notice of any meeting. Thanks for being so helpful. It's attitudes like yours that give lawyers a bad name and leads to the fiasco that we saw unfold in Washington.

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  11. Although this stipulation covers only the Miami-Dade case, I spoke with Christian Lake of the Justice Administrative Commission and he said that JAC will be honoring the terms of this statewide. I think that everyone should now sign up for the Limited Registry.

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  12. Jude, Michelle, Carmen and I also still have a petition for certiorari pending in the Third DCA seeking to have the Limited Registry declared unconstitutional.

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  13. 7:45am, the FACDL-Miami Meeting is the 3rd Wednesday of every month at the Federal Public Defender's Office conference room. It has been held at the location, according to that schedule, for as long as I can remember.

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  14. Best of all, the Mourning case was an arrest by Officer Closius.

    Does anyone but me think there was something fishy about this? He never agrees to drop charges on anyone and I mean anyone.... not eve a cop's wife or kid!

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  15. Closious will have season court side seats. Watch ...

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  16. Congrats to closius for getting on the VIP list of every Heat event this year.

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