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, July 22, 2019

JUDGE SLOM TO RETIRE

(Scroll down below for exclusive video of THE BROWARD STRANGLER ( (c) Rumpole, 2019, all rights reserved)- a Broward Judge in action. Not safe for children.) 

Say it ain't so Sam
Judge Sam Slom, the Chief Administrative Judge of County Court Criminal Division  is set to retire on October 31, 2019. Boo!
As the Chief Administrative Judge of the criminal division of County Court, Judge Slom took County Court from the era of paper files and pushed, and pulled, and cajoled and led his Court into the future, implementing most of the technology the Florida Supreme Court has required. (Misdemeanor Criminal Files are still paper files, in violation of the order, but shhhhhsh….we won't tell if you won't.)

Judge Slom was a good, capable, and dedicated administrator. He is much like an umpire or referee; you know he is doing a good job when you don't hear much about him or his charges. Riding herd on a gaggle of misdemeanor judges who are just sitting around marking time until their true brilliance is discovered and they are elevated to circuit court is not an easy job.  Egos must be accommodated. Judges who have no idea what they are doing, but think they know it all, are difficult to handle on their best days. 

Judge Slom handled his duties with aplomb. His work and dedication should be recognized and appreciated, and his leadership will be missed. 

But now the real fun: you think there is political intrigue in electing a pope? HA. The Vatican has nothing on the type of political infighting and backstabbing we will see  when judges sense a leadership ring is within their grasp. Who are the front runners? Who are the dark-horses? Stay tuned. 

VIDEO OF THE BROWARD STRANGLER (que spooky music)
Here is the video of the Broward Strangler - a Broward Judge doing what Broward Judges do best: acting insane. 

Judge Rosenberg and the First Step Act. 
And before you're done with todays action packed blog post, check out Judge Rosenberg's Op Ed piece in the NY Times about reducing a life sentence to 20 years under the First Step Act. The piece is here. This is what real judges do readers. 
H/T to the indefatigable Mr. Markus and his top notch blog. 

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Honestly, it looks like she was trying to play like 'i'm gonna kill you'...obviously she was ripping him afterwards, but her hands were clearly not on his throat or around his neck, they were on his shoulders. Just a white dude pissed at being reprimanded by a woman of color. She needs a course or something and let her alone. Lighten up Francis.

Anonymous said...

Goodbye Sam. We hardly knew ya.

Anonymous said...

The Sam-est.
The Slom-est.

Anonymous said...

Sam has ZERO respect for the defense side. Good bye!

Anonymous said...

I win the under (45 minutes) on how long before the race card was played

the trialmaster said...

Back to AL. E. GATOR.

Anonymous said...

Sam was a nice guy but he drank way too much soda

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the insight Trump...now, am I wrong on the part about it being blown up a bit much?

Anonymous said...

Sam is a cash register. All he ever cared about was making money from all those guilty people. Me no fan of sam.

Anonymous said...

Dear Judge Slom,

I wish you well in retirement. You worked hard but, I hope you find a heart in retirement.

You had thousands of meetings with prosecutors and almost never invited PD or FACDL. Judge Pooler (Katie) never did that. She respected all sides.
You refused to set up meetings with the full Bar and the judges.
You did everything possible to make money for the State.
You almost always denied defense motions to suppress. You believe a cop can stop us with no reason whatsoever. You favored the police 99% of the time.
I had a DUI client years ago who lived in NJ and had stage 3 breast cancer. I got a letter from her doctor saying she had about 3 months left to live and was too sick for airline travel. I asked to simply continue the matter until she passed. You said “why not just plead it out.” I said she needed to drive to and from chemo. You forgot to say...”I’m sorry” she is sick. She died 3 weeks later. When I presented the death certificate, you forgot to say anything kind. You lost me forever on that one.
We had a major hurricane warning and the county mayor told people to evacuate. The storm turned and we got no damage. The next day you issued warrants for people who failed to appear. We had to call the chief judge to tell you to back off. You had your JA call me the next day to appear in court. My secretary said I was busy moving my boat back...you said “it didn’t even blow 10 mph so, get here right now.
I offered you a ride to a Gator game....you laughed in my face.

Any chance you could retire now and use up your vacation time?

You know who I am.

Please find a heart.

Rumpole said...

I believe the comments at 1:10 PM are heartfelt. Judges often are hard-hearted and turn a blind eye to our client's suffering. Sometimes it is because the judge has been lied to so many times s/he has lost their perspective. Sometimes it is because the lawyer has lost their credibility with a judge.
Being a Judge is a hard job. But sometimes they need to step back and remember what they are doing and how they can affect a person's life.
I think Judge Slom should respond to this comment. If you're a robed reader and you see this, give him a heads up and ask him to respond.

Anonymous said...

Here's the gracious ending of another judge's career in Ohio.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/courtroom-chaos-video-shows-judge-dragged-away-after-her-own-n1032401

Anonymous said...

It is very telling that nobody seems to like Judge Slom. I have known him for years and he's a nice guy but, I never liked the way he handled court. He acted like he was there to make sure the prosecutors won.

Judge David Young used to tell every single defendant how great his or her lawyer was. It was kinda strange but, it had me leave his court with a smile every time. I never saw Slom be rude to anyone but, I never also saw him show respect for the defense side of the table either.

BTW, Slom isn't the only judge who issued warrants the day after a mandatory evacuation. A circuit judge did that to my client too. I remember the chief judge getting all those warrants rescinded.

I'm just saying.

Anonymous said...

I was once told by a respected litigator who later became a high ranking judge, "that the lower the office of the judge, the more respect they demand. The great EDNY judge John Gleeson, never wore a robe except in jury trials. Never demanded that lawyers rise. Treated all with respect and dignity. LeRoy Moe, the former Broweird judge would treat a calendar call like it was a US Supreme Court introduction with OY-AY Oy-Ay Oy-Ay and the speech that follows as lawyers rolled their eyes at how ludicrous that was. The same with the Kangeroo Kounty Kourt judges, former bottom feeders looking for a paycheck and a pension because of a lack of talent and ambition. Very Sad to spend your entire career at the REG. Slom is a perfect example.

Rumpole said...

Gleason didn't wear a robe because his mentor the greatest district court judge in the county Jack Weinstein of the EDNY didn't wear a robe in court.

And I have had the unique experience of appearing before Weinstein, Gleason and Moe. The first time I saw the show Moe's bailiff put on in Broward, my mouth was agape. It was bizarre.

the trialmaster said...

Moe was bizarre. He actually lived in his chambers while his divorce was on going. He would leave very early before attorneys arrived, then come in to make it appear he had just arrived. He also would walk around with a parrot on his shoulder. A very big ego for a low IQ individual

Anonymous said...

I knew Slom would not respond.

Anonymous said...

Judge Slom probably didn't respond to the stupid comments here because the anonymous nasty messages about a man who spent a life in public service are not worthy of a response.

Judge Slom, if you are reading this blog, enjoy the hell out of your retirement. You are a kind, decent man who worked hard to make a difference. Thank you for your service!

Anonymous said...

Does anybody know if Judge Slom was the only county court judge who would not entertain motions to dismiss at an arraignment? His reason was that it would bog down the process. According to the Rules of Criminal Procedure, the time to make motions to dismiss is precisely at the arraignment. If you don't do it by then, you waive your motion. He was the only judge in 20 plus years of practice who has refused to listen to a motion to dismiss at an arraignment. Anyone with similar experiences please share.

Seth Sklarey said...

Perhaps you don't remember but Judge Arthur Rothenberg used to open his County Court proceedings by regaling the traffic court defendants with a 15 minute historical tome starting with the Magna Carta, through the Assizes of Clarendon through the English Common Law. Not one person in the Court other than me had a clue what he was talking about.

Anonymous said...

Judge Slom refused to listen to motions because he really only cared about the prosecutors case.

Honestly, he should retire now and get out of town.

Anonymous said...

I was a county court supervisor at SAO and I can tell you that Judge Slom was very kind and respectful to me and others at the SAO but, now that someone mentioned it, he never seemed to have the defense side at the table for any meetings.