Baltimore joins the long list of American cities caught in the throes of upheaval and rioting and civil disturbance sparked by police misconduct. Our city- Miami- burned more than once in the 1980's. At some point people just won't take it anymore.
Speaking of burning, as per @davidovalle305 's tweet, there was a small fire in the REGJB Monday morning.
Plus someone defecated in the hallway on the second floor.
Miami- see it like a native.
We don't practice civil law.
We are admittedly not experts in pleadings, motions for summary judgement and other civil stuff. But we're pretty sure this pleading is not a winning one. We've admittedly wanted to end a pleading with the words "You control nothing. You are nothing. And you can do nothing. F*ck you. Die", as this pleading ends. And there is a certain stylistic rhythmic theme to the coda of this document. But we've never done it.
Yet.
27 comments:
one more comment about the "little girl" judge comments you have received: rumpole, you would not allow comments about "little black judges," or "little hispanic judges," or even "little gay/lesbian judges" - so why on earth do you allow these sexist comments? yeah, yeah, free speech and all of that, but you moderate many other comments... so why not moderate sexist ones? not saying you can't complain about female judges, just do so on the facts, or the merits, not just based on their sex.
That is fantastic
and that it was filed in federal court makes it Fuckin' fanatic!
It't admittedly a fine line I walk. And I do my best and sometimes I blow it.
I allow it for two reasons.
First, the comments appear to be from more than one individual and thus appear-and this is just a guess on my part- to reflect the sentiment of at least a segment of the legal population.
Second- my view is that the very best way to deal with repugnant speech and thought it to publicize it and let the marketplace respond to the ideas put forth.
Are the comments sexist? Yes.
Are some female judges bad and not prepared for the bench? You bet.
Are some male judges bad and not prepared for the bench? Absolutely.
Is there a stereotype of young female judges running and winning and then creating a "mommy bench". Yes. I have heard such comments.
Is there a stereotype of older middle aged men running for judge because they couldn't make it in private practice? Yes.
so these thoughts are out there and in my opinion need to be dealt with. So I print these comments so you can respond and rip them to shreds for being sexist idiots. Have at it.
I used to kind of respect this blogger. Now I realize - he's simply a hack. How our images are dashed... Sad.
Out of curiosity, what kind of legal background and life experience do you all expect from a judge? And of the judges you respect, do they have that experience?
I expect a judge to have a solid educational background; good writing skills, and life experience outside of the law. As well as solid courtroom experience before taking the bench.
The Judges I have found to be extremely impressive:
Jack Weinstein, EDNY. - Best Judge in the county.
Denny Chin- formerly of the SDNY, now on the US court of appeals.
Burt Jordan- formerly of the SDFL, now on the 11th Circuit.
Judge Gonzalez- SDFL
Judges Moreno, Cooke, Marra, Bloom, Scola, - I am sure I am leaving many out.
Not a full list by any measure. But take Judges Marra and Cooke for a moment. Vastly different people who came to the bench with vastly different work backgrounds, yet each of them brings, besides an excellent legal mind, a certain type of common sense that allows them to imbibe wisdom into their decisions. And they treat everyone with kindness and respect.
Jose Gonzalez- I tried a case before him many years ago. Called my client's mother to the witness stand. The jury was out of the room and we were waiting for them and she sat there, very nervous. Judge Gonzalez leaned over and stated making small talk with her. They discussed the island where she was born and Gonzalez started talking to her about his visits there. By the time the jury entered she was much calmer and Gonzalez sat back, a smile on his face, knowing he had comforted a mother during a very distressing time in her life. You can't teach those types of things- wisdom, kindness, ability, to a judge. You just have to hope they have it.
Flash to a judge in Broward- Imperato. Im representing a young gay man brutally beaten by the BSO and forced- literally forced to be a CI and kidnapped by them for the better part of a day until they decided to arrest him for possession. I put all this shocking police misconduct before her, and she sits on the bench with her arms folded handing notes to her clerk, snickering and making snide comments about how long this was taking. My response was that it was going to be twenty hours less than the time the police kidnapped my client and beat him. She scowled at me. Motion denied before I had a chance to finish my argument. Rude. Sarcastic. Demeaning. And I am left explaining to my client and his parents about how this is Justice in America.
This is a brief snapshot of my personal experiences.
I agree on Imperato! She is rude and has no place being a judge. She is a former police officer and prosecutor on the bench. She gets annoyed at defense attorneys defending their clients.
I know a bunch of really nice black Americans. I believe that every time a bunch of black guys loot and riot like they did in Baltimore, my decent black friends suffer more than I do.
If I wore a police uniform and someone threw a big rock at me, I think I would be justified in shooting the mother fucker right between the eyes.
But, I'm white.
"I expect a judge to have a solid educational background; good writing skills, and life experience outside of the law. As well as solid courtroom experience before taking the bench."
Sounds like a good list. How many candidates EXACTLY like that lose to the latest member of the Mommy Bench? In fact, those are the exact candidates that Bob Levy and Armando Gutierrez and the rest of that cabal target for Mommy Benchers to run against.
The "Mommy Bench" comments come as a result of the proliferation of young, female, Latina women who make it to the bench not becuase they have any of the qualities Rumpole lists, but becuase they are young, female and Latina. (Many do have courtroom experience, since they are usually prosecutors. But a half a dozen years as an ASA leaves you knowing nothing about the larger legal world, running a practice, or the complexities of justice.) This does not describe every female judge, nor every Latina female judge. But the list IS long, long enough to be a "type," and recognizing this isn't racism or sexism. It is simply acknowledgment that Miami creates a political environment that fosters this phenomenon and opportunism.
Some of these young prosecutors dedicate themselves to learning and to justice and rise to become good judges. Many never do, and you know their names by heart.
I agree with Rump's named great judges. However I would add Emas, Thorton, and Blake on our bench in dade. I have had both civil and criminal cases before US District Judge in the Eastern District of NY, Judge John Gleeson. He is the finest judge I have had the pleasure of appearing in front of. No robe on motions and doe not tolerate fools. Former prosecutor of Gotti. Read some of his opinions on Rule 35 and the min-man sentencing.
The only thing I want from our criminal judges is to have some real world experience other than working at the SAO-so that their view of criminal Defendants is not shaped solely by that work experience.
Imperato will probably get the boot from the JQC because she has two DUI convictions. Otherwise, all that stuff in so many JQC cases about it being a first offense and forgiving the judge will all go out the window.
You won't see anybody in the defense Bar feeling sorry for her. She's the Broward version of Victoria Brennan but, Victoria hasn't been arrested.
If ESPN is reporting correctly on Dion Jordan, then whatever it is he ingested, just cost him $5.6 million dollars in salary and bonuses for 2015.
Can you say ouch.
The Captain Reports:
Miami-Dade County will name a new County Attorney .....
The Miami Herald is reporting that current MDC Attorney Robert Cuevas is retiring later this year. It appears that his successor will be Abigail Price-Williams, the current First Assistant.
Cuevas is currently the top wage earner in County Government with a salary of $350,000. He has worked for the office for 45 years and has been the County Attorney for the past eight years.
I am sure that several of our "older" readers will remember Abby from her days at the State Attorneys Office. She work for Janet Reno from 1985-1990 before joining the Office of the County Attorney in 1990.
If she gets the job, she would become the first woman and first African American to hold the position.
Here is her bio page:
http://www.miamidade.gov/attorney/profile.asp?pid=20
Assuming she gets the job, we wish her an early congrats.
As the saying goes, "You've come a long way, ".
Cap Out .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com
FACDL list serve about to explode again.
Who could it be?
None other than Fancy Nancy Wear.
While everyone was doing that stupid congrats email blasts thing over and over about Michael Pizzi getting off and getting his job back as Mayor, Nancy said this:
Sorry, folks. While I am a personal fan of both Ben and Michael, Mr. Pizzi should have gone to jail. I cannot celebrate this event; Mr. Pizzi has a lot in common with the former congressman, David Rivera: lucky don't mean honest. Regards, Nancy Wear
captain,
Think you're a week late - this was reported 2 weeks ago and the county commission approved her last week.
The comments about "little girl judges" are ridiculous. However, I am sympathetic to the complaints about the large number of inexperienced, lazy, and marginally competent (if that) judges we deal with on a daily basis these days (from both sexes).
As far as the female judges................................. it's worth noting that some of Miami-Dade's best judges are women. My guess is that the poster is just trolling for responses.
BTDT
Speaking of "little girl judges," what's up with Veronica Diaz being pulled off the bench this week?
Rumpole,
Re: your 10:17 comment, I do not believe you would post racist comments about African-American judges, even or especially if they "reflect[ed] the sentiment of at least a segment of the legal population."
You should answer 10:03 pm: would you allow comments about "little black judges"? How about "little black boy judges"? If you feel it was a mistake to allow "little girl" judges or "mommy bench," why not admit it and moderate more rigorously in the future?
I would under certain circumstances post a racist comment made by someone who truly believed it under the theory that the best way to deal with such repugnant ideas is to shine a harsh light on them. Racists and sexists thrive in the shadows where they can skulk and mutter their ideas to themselves and fellow travelers. Those ideas die when exposed to light
What irks me is that the people who feel they are justified in calling these judges "little girls" or the "mommy bench" because of a rationalization on their part, don't realize that this is still in fact sexist.
I have never heard a young unqualified male judge referred to as a "little boy." And there are many of them. With children. Why aren't they called the "daddy bench?"
And the stereotype Rumpole mentions of older middle aged men running for judge? "Older middle age men" is still a respectful term. Why aren't we realistic and call them the Old senile ED man bench? Because for some reason we still think it's okay to use gender to demean women if we can rationalize it somehow.
Kenny W would make a great jurist and he would be a nattily attired one to boot.
4:44. Thank you for the update.
I was not aware that she had been already approved. I see now that she will take over on October 1, 2015.
It's worth noting that if she had spent her entire career at the State Attorneys Office, she would be thirty years in this year. And her salary would probably be around $125k
At the County Attorneys Office, where she has been at since 1990, her salary is already $335k and will undoubtedly go up with her new title. I believe that most of the attorneys in that office make way North of $150k a year.
So, if you want to stay in the public sector, looks like the County Attorneys Office is the way to go,if you can get a job there. For those "lifers" at the SAO and the PDO, they must clearly love what they are doing, and they are doing it for a whole lot less $$$$.
Congrats again to Ms. Price-Williams.
Cap Out.....
My city in ruins. Rise Up. Rise Up.
The people sure are rising up.
Not sure if this was what Bruce had in mind though.
Racism, sexism, bigotry, hatred, and intolerance should not be welcome in any place "decent people" occupy. I know it's not my blog, but to say that you allow that so that the free market place of ideas can rip them to shreds is at the least naive and at the most just dumb.
"Racists and sexists thrive in the shadows where they can skulk and mutter their ideas to themselves and fellow travelers. Those ideas die when exposed to light." I guess that would be the light of anonymity....sounds about right. You want to post racism or bigotry take the anonymous hood off of your head, stop being a coward, and put your name on it.
You nailed it with your assessment of Marra. He is a real class act with common sense. He treats everyone with kindness and respect. A humble family man with a lot of wisdom.
Rumpole,
Ideas don't die when exposed to light. People die when pernicious ideas become culturally acceptable. Jim Crow. Third Reich. You make misogyny culturally acceptable, in the context of this community, by posting sexist comments on your blog. This is professionally and personally destructive to the women in this community.
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