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.

Monday, August 11, 2014

EVERY LIFE MATTERS

BREAKING: ROBIN WILLIAMS DEAD
Apparent suicide. 
Comedians are the saddest people. 

We received this comment:



Just another angry black man said...
Last month a minister named Kenneth Johnson was killed during a robbery attempt in Liberty City.
Yesterday a rabbi was killed during a robbery attempt in NMB.
NMB's response: here. 

Do you recall hearing about MDPD or MPD increasing police presence in Liberty City when Rev. Johnson lost his life?

You didn't because it did not happen. When the power structure in this town devalues the value of the lives of its black citizens, don't be surprised if its black citizens de-value the worth of all life.

The death of Rev. Johnson is no more or less tragic than the death of Rabbi Raskin. But you would not conclude that from the reaction from the news media and Jewish community. Ask ourselves if you even bothered to put down your coffee when you read about Rev. Johnson in the paper last month. WHY NOT? The death of Rabbi Raskin while tragic may ultimately serve to save more lives if it makes the power structure provide ALL communities with the law enforcement needed.
Sunday, August 10, 2014 2:34:00 PM


Rumpole says: consider that violent crime is endemic in Liberty City and not in the Jewish Community of North Miami Beach. Thus, the murder of the Rabbi was a rare event, while, tragically, the murder of Reverend Johnson was not. 

The first way to fix this is to make the murder of Reverend Johnson a media event. If the media and community draw a line and say "NO MORE" then the police and politicians should respond to the pressure. All it takes is one person refusing to ride in the back of the bus. It's called a tipping point. 

See you in court. 



18 comments:

Anonymous said...

First off did the minister get killed by white dudes? The rabbi got robbed by two black teens. Lets be real for just a second. Good blacks are the best people in the world. The problem is that there is a lack of parenting in the black community ie dads. Combine that with a poor black boy and often times that makes for bad news. This is a better reason to move to the interior united states then rumpole's economic predictions.

Anonymous said...

I don't mean to minimize what happened to either of these two crime victims but to refer to that area of North Miami Beach as a Jewish community is sort of a distortion. I had my office in NMB area for over 10 years and this area of Dade County is a high crime area also. I finally moved out of the area earlier in the year because the neighborhood kept getting worse and worse. There is an orthodox jewish community surrounded by primarily a rough high crime neighborhood.The area is not safe and my old office was less than a half of mile from the scene of this senseless murder.

Having said that I agree with the original premise of the post. Both murders are tragedy's.

Anonymous said...

Before you shout racism, you should have your facts straight:

From the Miami Herald:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/11/4230664/liberty-city-minister-shot-killed.html

"They tussled and Johnson fought back. Several shots rang out and the young suspects fled into a nearby apartment complex."

...

Miami police, who had added extra patrols in the area because of a rash of shootings during past months, quickly rounded up two suspects — one of whom had changed clothes — and found the gun. They arrested Larry Flowers, 20, and Tyreke Desire, 19, both of whom have arrest records."

...

"After the shooting, in a quickly assembled press conference in Liberty City on Friday morning, Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa said his department will continue to flood the area with more officers."

...

"In addition to adding more officers, the department also will reassign problem-solving teams from less crime-ridden areas to the Liberty Square community, Orosa said."

Re the Rabbi:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/09/4280988/two-men-sought-in-fatal-shooting.html

No indication that the police are stepping up patrols or otherwise doing anything beyond the normal - seeking help from the community.

So, would you care to correct your post?

Probably not, because you are somewhat right - society in general does tend to treat the death of black men as less of a concern than whites. It is sad but true.

Instead of rising up as a community that decries murder and violence only when a white murders a black, or a pastor is murdered...the community needs to stand up to the black on black crime that predominates the crime statistics.

The community needs to end a unhealthy tolerance of thuggery that you only need to drive from the criminal courthouse to downtown Miami along 6th 7th or 8th street to witness first hand.

I am no fan of the police by any means...but it strikes me as problematic that on the one hand a self-proclaimed representative of the black community will (incorrectly) decry the lack of increased police presence when a black minister in murdered, while others in the black community will decry as racism when the police come into the community and increase pressure upon the young black men that you only need drive along some back streets to see on various corners, likely doing unsavory things - or at least tolerating them.

So, really, am I a racist? Or, am I trying to engage in an honest discussion to address a problem?

Anonymous said...

When the power structure devalues the life of blacks then blacks will devalue all life...' bla bla bla. Angry black man listen here.
You know what? Forget it you wont listen anyway. I hate excuses.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


2:34's comment is quite provocative. It's hard to disagree with much of what he said.

I did see on TV and read about the murder last month. I watched several stories on the tragedy covered by the media. I was schocked about the senseless violence. I recall that they stole or tried to steal a chain from his neck and it wasn't even real. I recall the rally and march down the street that followed.

But the poster is correct that there was no call for more police presence or speeches by the Mayor.

Leadership from within that community can ignite the change the poster calls for. It's never going to start from the Mayor or the police director or chief. Someone or some group must rise up and decide that they are going to say enough is enough and cause the leaders to listen and respond.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...



THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

Vote....EARLY VOTING BEGINS TODAY.

Don't forget to vote.

CAP OUT .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

Your next two Circuit Court Judges:

Will come from the following list. They will replace Judge Gayles and Judge Bloom. The JNC will send up to 12 of these names to the Governor. The Governor will choose two new judges and he will likely do so about ten days before the general election in November.

Ayana N. Harris
Julio Gomez
Isadora Velazquez Rivas
Laura Ann Stuzin
Gloria Gonzalez-Meyer
Jason Bloch
Jason Emilios Dimitris
Steven Lieberman
Rodolfo A. Ruiz II
Adriana Collado-Hudak
Julie Feigeles
Candace R. Duff
Bruce S. Reich
David Alschuler
Charles Kenneth Johnson
Diana Vizcaino
Gladys Perez
Christopher A. Green
Wendell Graham
Lourdes Simon
Carlos L. Fernandez
Val Aubourg
Erik M. Vieira
Veronica A. Diaz
Julie Harris Terry
Gera Ruben Peoples
Mario Quintero Jr.
John William Wylie IV
Lauren Fleischer Louis
Michelle A. Delancy
Aubrey Webb
Flora M. Jackson
Karl St Hope Brown

Cap Out .....

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


If you have strong feelings for or against any of those applicants, please contact one or more JNC members and voice your concerns in writing or by phone. Please contact:

Christine Hernandez-Baldwin, Chair
Miami Dade State Attorney's Office
1350 NW 12th Avenue
Miami, FL 33136-2102
Phone: (305) 547-0100
Fax: (305) 547-0330

Daniel Scott Fridman, Vice Chair
Holland & Knight, LLP
701 Brickell Ave Ste 3000
Miami, FL 33131-2847
Phone: (305) 789-7412
Fax: (305)789-7799

Johnette Hardiman
Office of the State Attorney
1350 NW 12th Avenue
Miami, FL 33136-2102
Phone: (305)547-0664
Fax: (305)547-0772

Melanie E. Damian
Damian Valori
1000 Brickell Ave., Ste. 1020
Miami, Florida 33131-3014
Phone: (305)371-3960
Fax: (305)371-3965

Paul C. Huck, Jr.
Hunton & Williams, LLP
111 Brickell Ave., Ste. 2500
Miami, FL 33131-3126
Phone: (305)810-2548

Daniel W. Schwartz
Akerman Senterfitt
1 S.E. Third Avenue, 25th Floor
Miami, FL 33131-1700
Phone: (305)374-5600
Fax: (305)995-6964

Robert H. Fernandez
Robert H. Fernandez, PA
500 South Dixie Highway, Ste. 302
Coral Gables, FL 33146-2768
Phone: (305)503-2990
Fax: (305)774-5908

Hans Ottinot, Sr.
City of Sunny Isles Beach
18070 Collins Avenue
Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160-2723
Phone: (305)957-1302
Fax: (305)949-4113

Luis Eduardo Suarez
Boies Schiller & Flexner, LLP
100 SE 2nd St., Ste. 2800
Miami, FL 33131-2124
Phone: (305)539-8400
Fax: (305)539-1307

Anonymous said...

I'm gusssin that Rumpole's last line was referring to a certain Doobie Brothers' song

Anonymous said...

Obviously these thugs are not students of judism. Any one would know that on the sabbath these Orothodox Jews do not carry money.

Anonymous said...

Rudy Ruiz would make a great circuit judge.

Anonymous said...

I know you guys concentrate on the judicial stuff but really don't you read the news. Gimenez the idiot mayor has dismantled most of the police special units including those that target robbers and drug sellers. He has proposed layoffs of 255 police officers and not filling classes as officers retire. The story about the Rabbi's death was all over the NY press as well as in Israel. It was a horrible event and a tourist death as well (does anyone remember those?). This County is in real trouble. Read Leo Affairs Miami Dade Police blog sometime and as John Rivera advises "Citizens should arm themselves".

Anonymous said...

Charlie Johnson and Lourdes Simon would be fine picks!

Anonymous said...

6:29 is joking, right? The police union is our local version of the mafia. You've never met a cop that did anything wrong. Special units? Are you kidding me? Like the ones that never met a young black kid that they didn't think looked better with a bullet in his back?

Take your boogeyman/the sky is falling bullshit, your bloated salaries ... oh ... and your shameless brutality and shove it.

You're so concerned with making the community safer? Start by outing the thugs with badges that you work with.

Anonymous said...

I too thought that comment saying Rivera was right had to be written by Rivera himself.

John the union prez is the biggest thug in the world. He has a simple plan: Cops are never prosecuted, cops are paid 50% more than cops around the country and how dare anyone cross him.

Rivera needs to go away.

Anonymous said...

1042.........you do now that a substantial number of officers in our community are black right?

Cops are just like the rest of us. They come in all shapes, sizes, races, nationalities, and creeds. Some are great, many are good, most are average, and some are are horrible.

That said, they all hold a dangerous and demanding job that most of us would never want. They deserve to be compensated for that. Unfortunately, when they "go bad," they cause almost indescribable pain and damage.

The reality is that never going to fix things until people tone down the rhetoric and have an honest discussion about how to do so.

In other words, quit your overheated whining, engage in a positive/constructive way, and make a difference.

BTDT

Anonymous said...

BTDT, it's usually easy to ignore you and I'll never get the two minutes of my life it took to dignify you drivel with a response, but who the hell are you and why do you keep posting here? You're either an absolutely contrarian hack, who whores out for a few bucks or a prosecutor. I hope it's the latter because I shutter to think you're representing people.

A productive/constructive conversation would be great. But for that to happen there would have to be some acknowledgment from people in the SAO, police unions or the departments themselves that some -- just some cops -- are bad. When it stops taking years to inevitably clear cops in officer involved shootings, or when cops stop covering for each other before, during and after the trial of an intoxicated colleague who nearly killed people with an ATV, or when one -- just one -- shooting of an unarmed kid in the ghetto by a cop gets treated with any sort of efficiency and transparency, then -- and perhaps only then -- can we have a productive/constructive discussion.

Crawl back in you hole.

Anonymous said...

Being a roofer or garbage man is more dangerous than being a cop. Cops hold the community hostage and legitimate services (schools, transportation) suffer for it.