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, September 14, 2020

GOV. DESANTIS TO NAME (maybe) NEWEST FLA. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE .......


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

GOVERNOR NAMES JUDGE JAMIE GROSSHANS

Grosshans serves as a judge on the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach. She was an assistant state attorney in Orlando before going into private practice and then becoming a judge. In private practice she specialized in family law, including divorce, custody cases, and adoptions. She got her law degree from the University of Mississippi. She is a member of the Federalist Society.

Grosshans has been a member of The Florida Bar for less than 14 years. She began her legal career as an ASA in Orange County where she worked for one year. She spent nearly ten years in private practice running her own law firm which specialized in family law and criminal defense. She was appointed to the County Court bench in 2017 at the age of 38 by then Governor Rick Scott.  In 2018, Scott elevated Judge Grosshans to the 5th DCA. So, in just three years, Judge Grosshans has risen from the County Court bench all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.
=============================================


TAKE YOUR WRIT OF MANDAMUS AND SHOVE IT WHERE .....


Well, that’s not an exact quote from the esteemed Harvard educated, Trump-loving, Governor DeSantis, but it might as well have been.

BREAKING UPDATE:

The Florida Supreme Court has now officially entered their WRIT OF MANDAMUS ORDERING THE GOVERNOR TO MAKE THE APPOINTMENT BY FIVE PM. The ORDER can be found here.

FURTHER BREAKING NEWS:

At 5 PM today, Governor DeSantis will hold a press conference in Tallahassee where he is expected to name our next justice.

To recap:

In November of 2019, Florida Supreme Court Justices Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa both resigned and accepted appointments to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In December of 2019. the Florida Supreme Court JNC, they of the "if you are not a member of the Federalist Society" don’t bother to apply group, interviewed 32 candidates for the two open seats on the Supreme Court of Florida. Those candidates included several "qualified" persons of color including our own Judge William Thomas and Judge Daryl Trawick of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.

On January 23, 2020, the JNC sent nine names to the Governor, only one of which was someone of color, and that person, Judge Renatha Thomas, was NOT qualified to sit on the Supreme Court of Florida.

Under the Florida Constitution, the words state that the Governor shall appoint a judge from the nominating list within 60 days of receiving the names. Well, Ron "call me the textual" Governor DeSantis, ignored the text of the Constitution and blew the March 23, 2020 deadline.

Finally, more than two months after the March 23 constitutionally prescribed (in words actually written in the Florida Constitution) deadline, the Governor "appointed" two replacements, John Couriel and Renatha Francis.

Of course, at the time of her "appointment", on May 26, 2020, Judge Francis was NOT qualified to serve by virtue of her not being a member of the Florida Bar for at least ten years. This requirement also appears, in words actually written, in the Florida Constitution.

In stepped elected Democratic state Rep. Geraldine Thompson from Windermere who filed suit in the Florida Supreme Court asking them to rule that Francis cannot sit on the court because she was not "qualified". After a hiccup in that lawsuit when Thompson had to file an Amended Complaint, the High Court finally ruled in Thompson’s favor. Five justices stated (Couriel did not participate in the decision) in a unanimous opinion that:

"The constitution’s 10-year Bar membership requirement and 60-day appointment deadline are bright-line textual mandates that impose rules rather than standards and prioritize certainty over discretion," the justices wrote. They continued: "To some, enforcing rules like these might seem needlessly formalistic when the result is to preclude the appointment of an otherwise qualified candidate. But "formalism," as Justice Scalia observed, "is what makes a government a government of laws and not of men."

They ordered DeSantis to name a justice from the list of seven remaining nominees by NOON today. Well, guess what, the Governor blew that deadline too.

In a comedy sketch right out of Saturday Night Live, the Governor’s legal team attempted to defend the "appointment" of Francis, by arguing that she was not actually appointed on May 26th, but instead, the Governor was only making an "announcement". The Court mentioned that that argument was ludicrous and pointed to the Governor’s previous pleadings where they stated that she was "appointed" and even his Press Release which stated:

May 26, 2020 Press release from Governor DeSantis:

"Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of Judge Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court. Francis’ appointment fills the vacancy of former Florida Supreme Court Justice Robert Luck, who now serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit after being appointed by President Donald Trump."

So, what has the Governor done so far, instead of naming a replacement for Judge Luck.

DeSantis took his show to the road, and last Wednesday, in Miramar, he stood on the stage with several elected black mayors (all Democrats) and excoriated the Florida Supreme Court for denying the citizens of Florida the chance for him to make history by appointing a Jamaican black female to the high court. In what can only be described as out of this world, Judge/Justice/Judge Francis not only appeared on the stage, but she spoke at the rally. (There must be a few Judicial Canons against that activity).
 
YOUR NEWEST FLORIDA SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, MAY OR MAY NOT BE NAMED AT SOME POINT TODAY .....

..... From the list of seven nominees remaining.

The remaining nominees are:

Judge Jonathan Gerber (Fourth District Court of Appeal)

Judge Jamie Grosshans (Fifth District Court of Appeal)

Judge Norma Lindsey (Third District Court of Appeal)

Judge Timothy Osterhaus (First District Court of Appeal)

Eliot Pedrosa (executive director, InterAmerican Development Bank)

Judge Lori Rowe (First District Court of Appeal)

Judge Meredith Sasso (Fifth District Court of Appeal)
 

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com





21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ron, Stop being a jerk like Trump and obey the court order.

They really mean it and you are not above the law.

What an idiot.

Anonymous said...

grosshans

Fake Judge Elect Rosy Aponte said...

Judge Rowe- Don't be measuirn the curtens for youre chambers just yet. Just sayin...
Your colleague
Judge.justise Rosy Aponte

Anonymous said...

Hey Rump, you spelled Desantis wrong.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

JUDGE GROSSHANS & JUDGE FRANCIS .....

Two interesting takeaways from today's press conference.

First, Gov Desantis announced today that he called President Trump and asked him to find a seat on the federal bench for Judge Renatha Francis.

Second, Judge Grosshans spoke at the press conference and stated: "I was always faithfully apply the text of the Constitution" to all of my decisions. Kind of ironic given that it was the "text" of the constitution that DeSantis failed to follow that led Grosshans getting this appointment.

Cap Out .......

Fake Judge Elect Rosy Aponte said...

Missed it by that [....] much!

Anonymous said...

Lets see...a car "happens" to tragically hit Ruth Ginsberg. Trump replaces her with Lagoa and PRESTO! Spot for Francis on the 11th circuit.

Fake Judge Elect Rosy Aponte said...

I would like to thank the governer and cityzens of Florida for consierdation to be a Supreme Coirt Justece and I pledg to wurk ever hard to mert selectin when the next spot opens

Anonymous said...

Call me disgusted. Neither the President nor the Governor gives a hoot for any Constitution. Their reading of "textualism" is blind obedience to whatever they say.

Anonymous said...

This is just batshit crazy. Francis graduated as a mediocre student from a bottom feeder law school, has never tried a case as an attorney, never set foot in a federal courthouse, never handled a case in federal court and wouldn't know the federal rules of criminal or civil procedure if they bit her in the ass. Those of us who practice in federal court - and our clients - deserve better. smh.

Anonymous said...

Persons of color?

Rumpole said...

5:16/pm do you know how this blog works? When you see “the captain “ do you just think that is me using another name for fun?

Anonymous said...

Wow, there's really a push by Desantis to give this wholly unqualified judge a lifetime appointment spot. He must be really close with her. I mean really close. I mean really, really close with her.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


Hey 5:16 PM.

I write 1006 words, and 5,221 characters, and all you can do is tell me I spelled DeSantis wrong one time (out of the eight times he is named). How about "nice job Captain on a well written story", or "you should have been a journalist"; you know, something I could show my mother.

And here's a hint. If the title of the post says THE CAPTAIN REPORTS and the end of the post it says CAPTAIN OUT, then Rumpole is not the author. He's the one that picks all the NFL winners and makes us all rich $$$; I'm the one who writes about judicial elections, the JNC nominating process, and appointments to the bench made by the governor.

Cap Out .......

Anonymous said...

It’s so clear why everyone is posting anonymously against Judge Francis. This blog is so anti-Black it is sickening. But you let the white woman get off scott free. You should all be ashamed of yourselves in your kkk sheets.

Anonymous said...

11:18 - Make no mistake. Jamie Grosshans to the Florida Supreme Court is a joke, too. Another Federalist Society stooge fast tracked to the highest court in the state following an undistinguished career as an attorney.

Kissimmee Kid said...

Dear Monday, September 14, 2020 11:18:00 PM;

Let us say that a right-wing Republican asshole Governor picked a white Phi Kappa Alpha for a spot on the Florida Supreme Court. Assume that said white boy was a mediocre student from a bottom feeder law school, has never tried a case as an attorney, never set foot in a federal courthouse, never handled a case in federal court and wouldn't know the federal rules of criminal or civil procedure if they bit him in the ass. Are you really claiming we would not point that out. Really?

Equal treatment does not mean that an incompetent, unqualified, black gets a pass for being incompetent and unqualified.

Sorry your feelings were hurt, but, not everything is about your race.

Kissimmee

P.S. Where do you get off criticizing posting anonymously in an anonymous post? Perhaps you are a white man, posting as a black just to troll us.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


POINT OF INFORMATION:

Of the nine nominees, eight of them were members of The Federalist Society. Only Judge Gerber was not.

Cap Out ....

Anonymous said...

The unfortunate truth is that we no longer see accomplished attorneys successfully navigating the JNC process. Scott and DeSantis simply don't care about getting the "best and brightest" on the bench. Very few, if any, of the Scott and DeSantis judicial appointees have been board certified in any area of legal specialty. Likewise, very few were AV rated before assuming the bench. Instead, Scott and DeSantis have micromanaged the process to advance the careers of young, inexperienced Federalist Society ideologues who will advance their agenda.

Anonymous said...

2.43 has hit the bullseye: People who know they will not have a chance do not apply. Since Jeb Bush (who has publicly admitted it was a horrible mistake he made) fouled the entire JNC selection process (all now appointed to JNCs by the Gov, who can and often does ignore The Florida Bar's recommended list of candidates), the idea of "merit appointments" has become a statement which, when made, is usually accompanied by a smirk and a smarmy wink.
When I read J Grosshans's bio on the SCt webpage, I thought, well, a quick elevation from county court, but OK; lot of experience in family law litigation. The Herald did a deeper dive, and revealed that she, like the late and professionally unlamented Cheryl Aleman, is a hot activist in the Christian Legal Society, who has written publicly about the group's pro-Christian (and anti-Other or No Religions?) views.

Anonymous said...

2.43 has hit the bullseye: People who know they will not have a chance do not apply. Since Jeb Bush (who has publicly admitted it was a horrible mistake he made) fouled the entire JNC selection process (all now appointed to JNCs by the Gov, who can and often does ignore The Florida Bar's recommended list of candidates), the idea of "merit appointments" has become a statement which, when made, is usually accompanied by a smirk and a smarmy wink.
When I read J Grosshans's bio on the SCt webpage, I thought, well, a quick elevation from county court, but OK; lot of experience in family law litigation. The Herald did a deeper dive, and revealed that she, like the late and professionally unlamented Cheryl Aleman, is a hot activist in the Christian Legal Society, who has written publicly about the group's pro-Christian (and anti-Other or No Religions?) views.