Casablanca: In case you're interested, he greatest movie of all time is on tonight, PBS, 9:00 p.m. Enjoy.
Judicial investitures tends to be happy events. But dignified. Until now.
The Judges of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit file in, robed, distinguished, the great legal issues of the day on their minds (Joes for lunch? That new sushi place in Midtown for dinner?).
The Chief Judge calls the proceedings to order. Friends of the new judge introduce him or her. There is a spiritual moment, when prayer is offered for the judge to find the wisdom to rule on the difficult cases ahead.
And then the Judge speaks.
Such was the investiture today of Judge Veronica Diaz. Yup, she made it to the bench despite the inherent difficulties of being named " Diaz" in Miami. And here's what she wants you to know:
Her life has been great. A great upbringing. She flew to Miami with a stuffed animal of some sort next to her on the plane. Everything has been just fantastic. No Horatio Alger story her. Unlike some of her colleagues who scraped by on scholarships and grew-up in the projects and routinely heard gunfire in their neighborhood and took the bus to their first job in law because they didn't have a car, it's been a fairly easy ride for her.
Good for her. Nothing wrong with that.
And then, a first.
Some Judges follow precedent, others set it.
Judge Diaz is already in the latter category.
Finishing her acceptance speech, standing on the podium, the elite and power of Dade County law before her, she, to the best of our knowledge, took the very first ever….
JUDICIAL SELFIE!
Ed Cowart is rolling over in shame.
Beautiful weekend. Enjoy. See you in court Monday.
"And when you smile for the Camera, you know I love you better…."
When you see something that is not right, not fair, find a way to get in the way and cause trouble. Congressman John Lewis
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35 comments:
Maybe you all need to stop being curmudgeons. Selfies are common practice.
Just another little girl who has no business being a judge and has no trial experience or life experience like the great late Judge Ed Cowart, probably the most humble, best judge ever to donn a black robe. Most of the judges on our bench are little girl who won with hypened last names who are not fit to carry the robes of Ed Cowart.
Only in Miami
Victoria Diaz? There is Victoria Ferrer and there is Veronica Diaz. Which one of them are you talking about because there is no Victoria Diaz?
It was a total disgrace.
spot on
Bigoted Biased Jerks
oh get over it. report on real news.
It's not curmudgeonly to expect dignity and decorum from a judge. She is an embarrassment. "I'm clueless" she says from the bench. OK, at least she is honest, but she has NO wisdom, the most important attribute for a judge. Sigh.
Rump,
Do you mean VERONICA Diaz or VICTORIA Ferrer?
I
Love
You
GB
Why are you guys always so mean? So petty! Ever heard of different strokes for different folks? I thought criminal defense lawyers were less judgmental than the average Joe. You guys sound like my mom!
Why are you guys so mean and petty? Ever heard of different strokes for different folks. I thought criminal defense lawyers were open minded people.
Listed on the court's website as the investiture of Veronica Diaz
Judge Kardashian!
Relax, people. The "staid white guy" monopoly on the bench is so 1950s. Get over it. Next thing you know you'll have to be calling black guys "Your Honor." Ouch! And before those "little girls" went on the bench they were taking your clients. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a nation of broken down old white guys turns its lonely eyes to you . .
Love the steely dan update. Perfect touch rump. When you smile for the camera you know I love you better.
1:15. Those little girls with hyphened or hisspanic last names (for the most part) Brennan and Walsh excluded ) never could take any clients of private attorneys in that they could never have the guts to go into private practice and are career asa's or pd's. Walsh seems ok but Brennan is totally unqualified as the other little girls now on the bench. Our bench is a disaster.
Friggin selfie during an investiture. What's this world coming to?
Saturday, February 07, 2015 1:15:00 PM: Best comment yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTahMtbAecY
Egregious and abhorrent.
Taking the bench is an enormous responsibility and ought to be treated with some solemnity (big word, look it up, hyphens). But that's not how it's perceived by this new breed of judges with no real world experience. Your "real world" experience is paying off your student loans, texting your BFFs and posting pics of yourself on Facebook.
Sure, I get the fact that your happy happy that you get to be a judge, and wear a robe and everything and want to take that selfie to show it all off to the world...just like your pics at the club you went to or your vacation in Key West or the amazing birthday brownie you ate.
Your a JUDGE for God's sake. Show some respect for the honor you've been fortunate to have bestowed upon you.
Did anybody notice that former judge and clerk of court Marshall Ader died? He was an interesting character not only in the building but in the city.
Is a client going to care that a Judge took a selfie or rather if the Judge is fair and impartial to both sides in Court. Let's wait and see.
She was completely inappropriate. It's women like these that make it so hard to be taken seriously as a female in the legal profession.
The investiture speech was all about her and the alleged hard times in her life. To anyone who has actually had real obstacles to overcome, it was infuriating. I'm not saying she needs to have a hard life to be a good judge. However, I do think that she should understand the strengths and weakness she brings to the bench. She should have the basic common sense and self-awareness to understand that her strength is not life experience. She mentioned "humility" in her speech. That should have been the real theme.
What I hope she understands is that her strengths (hopefully) are an ability to understand the unique issues of a diverse immigrant population, conscientiousness in dealing with those who come before her, lack of bias towards state or defense, and a strong work ethic. I also hope she understands that this isn't a game. She didn't win Homecoming Queen. Being on the bench SHOULD mean conducting herself with decorum. Certainly, she's not gained any respect the way she's behaved so far. I hope she does better in the future, and I hope she surprises all of us by being a wonderful, fair-minded judge.
In other news, guy who posted at 2:49--you're a moron. How about you learn how to write a grammatically correct sentence before you start criticizing Brennan and Walsh about their alleged shortcomings.
Why do so many of these comments put down Hispanic females judges? Is it fair to say they are all incompetent?
How does cracking a joke & taking a selfie make you incompetent. Senators, Heads of State, even Presidents of the USA take selfies during serious matters to remain lighthearted and not take themselves too seriously. Which too many of you on this blog clearly do! You guys need to relax and base your opinions on a Judge's temperament, intelligence and work ethic. I don't mind selfies during events, as long they show up to motion calendar on time, make the right ruling and treat lawyers with respect!
And by the way, she took the selfie with Chief Judge Bertila Soto. So, if you have a problem with the selfie, you should go see the Chief Judge in person; instead of whining like school children.
No, there are plenty of extremely good hispanic female judges. The impression is created when an inexperienced lawyer of any background runs for judge because it brings a steady paycheck and public esteem. In this particular race, the choice was absolutely terrible. Neither candidate was qualified for office.
I foresaw and spoke publicly about what was going to happen in judicial elections 10 years ago and was vilified for it. Vindication is comforting. Enjoy it. Your bench is a joke. Send your thank you notes to Bob (Gutter Snipe) Levy, CABA and the idiots on the Miami Herald Editorial Board.
News Flash - I'm neither white, nor a guy, nor officially "old"....
Which makes the sheer stupidity of a judicial "Selfie" all the more infuriating.
What's next? Facebook posts with pics of her 1st Death Sentence?
Please stop calling women judges "girls." Shows how pathetic you are.
Yes, Not an Old White Guy, YOU'RE a judge. It's called grammar, a lot of pesky rules, look it up.
You got beat up a lot as a kid, didn't you?
Hey 6:01.
Thanks for the promotion Mr. BrandSpankinNew ASA.
Hope you do well at YOUR 1st arraignment calendar.
You must be as old as Judge Cowart. Oh! I forgot. He's dead. But he would be 95 if he were alive today. If not, you're certainly and old fart. Judge Diaz's charisma, which you obviously are jealous of, hopefully will blow some life into the judicial zombies and clerks walking glassy-eyed through the tombs and catacombs of the Eleventh Circuit. But lest I rush to judgment, let's not forget the building itself is so old and depressing and morally degrading it could double as the Arkham Asylum on the show Gotham. So Judge Diaz took a selfie. Big deal. It was her day and she had the right to celebrate as she saw fit. As for Judge Cowart, I'm sure he rolled in his grave when he read your blog.
"look it up". Gotta be NW.
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