DEFENSE MATTERS

 The Los Angeles Dodgers are the 2024 World Champions of Baseball.

Did you know that the Dodgers name goes back to when they were the Brooklyn Dodgers and patrons had to "dodge" trolley cars on the way into the ballpark in Brooklyn? 

Defense wins - championships and trials. 

In the fifth inning Wednesday night the Yankees were up 5-0 when the Dodgers came to bat. The end was near. The better baseball team was about to show why they are better and the worse team was about to unequivocally show why they were the inferior team.  

The Yankees made a string of errors that a little league baseball should not make. 

Pitcher Gerritt Cole, pitching the game of his life, failed to cover first base on a grounder to first, allowing the Dodgers to score and keep the inning alive. Yankee superstar Aaron Judge, who  in the first inning broke out of his slump and hit a massive home run, and later made a spectacular catch in center field, allowed a routine fly ball to go over his head in the fifth inning. No Willie Mays he.  Somewhere Vic Wertz is smiling. 

Here is the whole firth inning in its inglorious Yankee ineptitude. 

Defense wins championships. 

The Yankees have superstar hitters and pitchers. But they do not have a team of fundamentally sound baseball players. And it showed in this series. 

The better team won. 

How many days until pitchers and catchers report? 

ON AN REGJB NOTE: 

What's the deal with election day next week? 

Trials occurring? 

Riot gear required? 

TIME TO REMEMBER

 There are certain people who spent their life in our little corner of the legal world, and we do well to remember them when they are gone. 

Thus, we remember on 10/28/2024 the passing of REGJB legendary Judge Gerald Klein, who passed away on this date in 2012. 

For you young judges, prosecutors, PDs, and REGJB staff members, you would do well to ask a colleague about "Fast Gerry."

Here's our original post. 

Here's a report on his passing. 

THE POLLS ARE OPEN - ELECTION CENTRAL - COUNTY COURT - RUNOFF

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION CENTRAL - COUNTY COURT - RUNOFF

The polls open today for EARLY VOTING. Over the next 14 days, you can cast your ballot at any of the 33 locations open daily from 7am until 7pm. To find a polling location, you can go to this link.  If you pass on this opportunity, you must have ordered your Absentee ballot from the Department of Elections, or, you will need to show up to your own precinct on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

The only judicial race facing voters in Miami-Dade County is a runoff in County Court.

Group 29 (Judge Myriam Lehr retiring)

Christopher Benjamin v. Alina Salcines Restrepo

In the August primary, this was a three-person race. Christopher Benjamin received the most votes garnering 98,108 (39%) of the 253,299 votes cast. Alina Salcines Restrepo received 91,044 (36%). Former Judge Scott Janowitz was eliminated from the three-person race after collecting 64,147 (25%).

Christopher Benjamin has been a member of The Florida Bar for 22 years. He is Of Counsel with International Law Partners, LLP., and a panelist with the ADR firm of Salmon & Dulberg. He works in the areas of general litigation and serves as an arbitrator, mediator, and special magistrate. He has been a certified mediator and arbitrator for 15 years and in 2010 he was appointed as a Hearing Officer in the 11th Judicial Circuit’s Traffic Division where he served until 2020. In 2020 (and again in 2022), he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives to represent the people of  District 107.

Benjamin has raised $111,096. Benjamin did not loan his campaign any money. Of note, in his Financial Disclosure, Benjamin lists his Net Worth at NEGATIVE -$292,937.

Alina Salcines Restrepo has been a member of The Florida Bar for 24 years. She has worked in a law firm with her brother who is also a lawyer and she has been a solo practitioner as well. She concentrates her practice in the areas of real estate, probate, criminal, civil, traffic, estate planning, and bankruptcy law.

Salcines Restrepo has raised only $35,014, but she has added $40,000 to her campaign in the form of a loan. She lists her Net Worth at $1,170,733.

The winner earns a six-year term and an annual salary of $186,034.

IN OTHER ELECTION NEWS .....

It looks like a dead heat heading into the final two weeks of the presidential campaign. Seven states will decide the election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada are the only states polling too close to call. In Florida, Rick Scott continues to hold a healthy lead in the polls over his opponent, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. 

What are your predictions on the outcome of the Presidential race? Regardless of who is declared the winner, will there be endless court battles in some of these key states? Will any of those cases end up before SCOTUS?

CAPTAIN OUT .......

Captain4Justice@gmail.com

NFL WEEK SEVEN LIGHTS OUT EDITION

 It's week seven in the NFL season, and you know who are not watching the games? The residents of Cuba, as the entire island's power grid failed this week due to the unavailability of oil to power the system. Venezuela and Russia have reduced by 50% their shipments of subsidized oil, and Cuba has not been successful seeking fuel from the spot market. 

From each according to their abilities, to each according to their ability to live in the dark. 

And while it is dark in Cuba, it was not lights out for our NY Mets on Friday who came roaring back after dropping two in Queens (and severely diminishing Rumpole's bankroll). It is game six tonight in LA and we are taking the Miracle Mets +1.5 to keep hope alive and take the pennant series to a game seven. 

Cheaters at Jags. Really? What's the line when no one is watching and no one cares? You have to be really desperate to plunk down something on this snoozer. 

There are two really interesting games today. Lions at Vikes, and KC at SF. 

We will take the Lions getting 1.5 in Minny, and give 1.5 with SF handing KC their first loss. Brock Purdy is really really solid in executing the SF offense and it is time for KC to take a tumble. 

The Bengals -6.5 will brat the Browns who stink, and the Eagles /Giants will go under 42.5. 

Lets Go Mets! 

THIS OR THAT

 It's time for another edition of everyone's favorite....THIS OR THAT? 

It started this week sitting in a bar when the patrons began a spirited discussion of chicken wings- 

Wing or Drumette? 

Buffalo or Ranch? 

Voir "deer" or Voir "dire"?

REGJB old courtrooms on 2 & 4 or new ones on 7?

3rd DCA or 4th DCA? 

PDs or RC3? 

Reno or Rundle? 

Mets or Yanks? 

Cubs or White Sox? 

Cazolis or Pickle Barrel or El Gordo? 

Briefs or Boxes (any person using any pronoun can answer) 

Marino or Elway? 

NY Pizza or Chicago Style?

Obama or Clinton? 

Reagan or Eisenhower? 

Grapes of Wrath or To Kill a Mockingbird? 

Disco or Rock or Rap? 

and finally.... 

Markus or Rumpole? 

NFL WEEK 6 2024 IMAGINE EDITION

 Imagine. Saturday John Lennon's 84th Birthday was celebrated in Central Park. More on this below. 

Our NY Mets start their march to the World Series tonight in LA. Hard to win a road playoff game, but they are rested and have their pitching lineup set, while LA's bullpen is in tatters. Our Mets bets have been beyond $pectacular and we are playing with house money and riding them all the way through the World Series. #LetsGoMets!  Game 1 tonight 8pm ish. 

Your Cleveland Browns are a disaster. Their QB is a sexual predator, never a good thing, and the have no team cohesiveness. They are in Philly today and it is just what the doctor ordered for the up and down Eagles. 8.5 is a lot to give but we are doing it and under 42.5 because there's no O in Cleveland. The only good news is they are on the glidepath to a top pick in the draft and there are plenty of good QBs coming out of college. 

Houston at the Cheaters. The Texans were our "it" team this season and we blew it. We should have tagged the Vikes, at which point we'd be eyeing that flat we have our eye on in London. But whatever. Cheaters starting their rookie QB Drake Maye. Maye-be he does ok. Something just tells us to put a few dollars to work on NE at home +6.5. 

The game of the day is the Commanders against the Ravens in Baltimore. Maybe a new rivalry is brewing now that DC has a team.  They are fun to root for, so we will take the 6.5 for DC to keep it close. 

We are still on a football losing streak so don't go crazy, other than Mets +145 to win the series against LA.  Also, a very profitable bet for us this season has been pitcher o/u strikeouts in any particular game (thank you Pirate rookie phenom pitcher Paul Skeenes!). Tonight, we like Mets starter Kodai Senga over 2.5 strikeouts at -110. Parlay that with the Mets +1.5 and a Hundee bet pays 275 which will cover our wine needs for the coming week). 

IMAGINE

This was the scene in Central Park Saturday celebrating John Lennon's 84th Birthday (which was October 9). Imagine if he had not been senselessly murdered? Do yourself a favor and mark your calendar and spend an October 9 in Strawberry fields one morning-afternoon. It's kinda sad...kinda bittersweet...and kinda nice being with likeminded people who like to imagine a world with no war, fear, and pain. 

Survivor coming soon. We are out 😡

COURTS OPEN FRIDAY IN SOUTH FLORIDA

 Court's will resume "normal" operations (including Hialeah, which is why we put "normal" in quotation marks) Friday. If you work for the court system, you need to report for work. If you're an attorney, you need to send an associate because nothing significant will be accomplished. 

Some unique facts about Milton. 

Because Milton made landfall south of Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay experienced a "reverse storm surge" in which the effects of Milton pulled (or to use a meteorological term "sucked") all the water out of Tampa Bay instead of flooding Tampa. 

The State housed post-storm workers in the Tampa Bay Rays Tropicana stadium. Prepositioning and all that. 

 

As you can see,  Milton blew the roof off the stadium. 

Where was Rumpole during all of this? 

NOT Florida. We learned our lesson after Andrew. We do not stay. 

Instead, like Tropicana stadium, we were in another place where a giant shot raised the roof- but this was a good kind. 

If you follow baseball at all, what the NY Mets are doing is absolutely unbelievable. In the playoffs- they are 4-0 when down. They have won three games with home runs, and hit two ninth inning home runs to get the lead, including a miraculous shot by Pete Alonso, in Milwaukee, when down to their final two outs of the season. Alonso's HR put the Mets into the Division round of the playoffs about a week ago. Lindor's home run, which we saw live, put the Mets into the Championship round of the playoffs. 

Very simply, life is baseball and baseball, when it plays like this, is life. 

So here was the scenario on Wednesday. Mets were down 1-0. They had squandered away a prior bases-loaded situation a few innings earlier. They loaded the bases in the 6th, and then  Franciso Lindor walked to the plate (and oh yeah, we had him +400 for a Benji to hit a dinger. The odds for a grand salami were +8000 and we kid you not our finger hovered over the bet button before we moved on. Oh well, we will take the 400 which paid for our celebratory dinner in the city afterwards - well not all the tab, bit most of it- the Caymus Cab 2018 was a bit pricy with the restaurant markup). 

Enjoy. 

COURTS CLOSED WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY

Rumpole Request/Rant: Covid redux. Remember the early weeks of the Covid shutdown when a few, very annoying individuals would spam your emails (and the blog) "I have been in constant communication with the chief judges and there is something called Covid which is a very serious virus and everyone needs to wear a mask and courts are closed..."  and they would send this over and over for weeks after courts were closed as if anyone on earth had by that time not heard about Covid. 

Well, the same people are at it again with the Hurricane, forwarding over and over emails from various officials telling us that there is a hurricane coming, as if anyone in Florida does not know. "Hey honey, did you see the 14 emails from Billy Busybody and his partner Sally Saysitall forwarding the emails about...wow I guess there is a hurricane and courts are closed?"

"Yes dear, I just saw them, and thank goodness they sent them, because despite the two dozen emails from judges, mayors, and various officials, I was not sure what was happening until Busybody resent me all the emails and I am so glad he did because I was wondering how I was going to drive to court in 190 mph winds."

So do us a favor- STOP FORWARDING THE SAME EMAILS WE ALL GET OVER AND OVER. No one needs you to forward the email from the Chief Judge that courts are closed.  If anyone has not gotten the email and is stupid enough to actually go to court during the storm, then they deserve what happens to them. If you have this much time on your hands, go take a spoon and head to the beach and volunteer for the Sisyphean task of filling up sandbags. 

UPDATE - Courts are closed Wednesday and NOW THURSDAY for a weather related event that the same people who do not believe in a Covid vaccine, do not believe is caused by global warming. This is what happens when you ignore science- science does not ignore you. 

Update - the 11th judicial circuit has issued a media advisory  

Couple of thoughts: First, why is  the 11th circuit advising the media on the hurricane ? Do they feel the media is stretched too thin by the absence of former ace Herald reporter David Ovalle  and they are helping the media ? 

Second - not too sure,  but we think the last 11th circuit media advisory we saw was congratulating President Clinton on his reelection. So let’s just say you’re better off getting updates from TMZ than our own 11th circuit media division.  But we applaud the effort.  

Federal and State courts are closed Wednesday. 

Has anyone seen the Governor’s comments? How does he describe the phenomena without reference to words that he has banned (rhymes with mobile horning)?

Take over 43 KC/ Saints tonight if you need to get even. 

More important question if anyone knows- does Starbucks stay open if the courts are closed? We need our Pumpkin Spiced Latte (PSL for the insiders) every day it is available. 

MEDIA ADVISORY

11th Judicial Circuit of Florida
For Immediate Release
October 8, 2024
Contact:  Eunice Sigler, Director
Office of Government Liaison & Public Relations
Phone (305)349-7189 - Fax (305)349-7190 - Cell (786) 348-7381

 

 

 

 

  HURRICANE MILTON ADVISORY #1

 

Miami-Dade Courts Closed

Wednesday, October 9^th, Due to Hurricane Milton

 

 

The Miami-Dade Courts and all Court Facilities will be closed on Wednesday, October 9^th, due to expected weather conditions caused by Hurricane Milton.

  

First Appearance hearings will take place on a weekend/holiday schedule.

 

Questions regarding an upcoming hearing should be directed to the presiding judge’s office – a judicial directory is found here.

 

The Eleventh Judicial Circuit will continue to closely monitor the path of Hurricane Milton in the coming days, and any further closures or changes to court schedules will be announced as soon as possible.

 

Court closure information may be found at the Eleventh Judicial Circuit’s:

 

- Emergency Hotline at 305-349-7777

- Website at www.jud11.flcourts.org
- Social Media @miamidadecourts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

 

 

Please continue to monitor news and weather reports, and the Eleventh Circuit’s website, hotline, and social media for future announcements.

 

 

 

HURRICANE MILTON

 Who wants to start with the jokes? 

Meanwhile check out DOM’s excellent letter to President Biden on using his pardon power as his term winds down. 

And the Giants knocked us out of the survivor pool. 😡

NFL WEEK 5 AWAY GAME EDITION

 We are playing yet another away game this upcoming week, picking a jury Monday as the away team in a strange forum. Where is Rumpole? Let’s just say canned tomato sauce on noodles is their fancy pasta dish, and placed on dry toasted bread is their version of Pizza and when we ordered breakfast they looked confused when we asked for avocado toast ( “Which meats do you want with that?’ “Umm, can I have fruit? I’m trying to avoid angioplasty for another twenty years.” “Well, we have canned peaches….” “Thanks. I’ll pass. Just the toast and coffee please.” ).

Anyway, we are dealing with some significant tech issues which may delay the posting of the survivor pool. To keep things on the up and up, we will post our pick: Seahawks. 

This is another challenging week. We have avoided posting the player picks we are making on Draft Kings that is keeping us in Opus One. Yesterday  for example, Mets Pitcher Senga over 2.5 strikeouts seemed like a lock. He did cover with three before being pulled in the third. And overall, we have been riding the Mets winning streak and will continue to do so. They keep getting +1.5 on the road and they keep winning and we keep cashing.  That game 3 9th inning comeback over the Brewers and Pete Alonso go ahead home run was one of the best baseball moments we have seen in the last 25 years. #LetsgoMets. 

As to football, Jets/Vikings under 42.5 in our favorite city- London. Game starts at 930 Miami time so get those bets in now. 

Browns/ Commanders under 43.5. Wake us in 2025 when the Browns get a new offense and QB. 28-10 Commanders seems like a reasonable final here. 

Bills at Texans. Texans are our team in 2024, but look for Buffalo to make a comeback and take the point, 

Cheaters getting 1.5 at home against the suddenly hapless Dolphins looks intriguing- nauseating but intriguing. 

And our best bet is the Monday night get even game- Saints at Chiefs over 43.5. Yes we realize KC has no WRs other than our rookie pick X for our faltering FF team. But the Saints have game and the Chiefs will find a way to keep up and hit the over. 

SO WHAT

 So What?                                                                                                                                                       I'm still a rock star                                                                                                                                       I got my rock moves                                                                                                                                 And I don't need you                                                                                                                               And guess what?                                                                                                                                       I'm having more fun                                                                                                                                   Now that we're done                                                                                                                                  I'm gonna show you tonight                                                                                                                     I'm alright                                                                                                                                                   I'm just fine                                                                                                                                             And you're a tool                                                                                                                                       So, so what?                                                                                                                                              I'm still a rock star                                                                                                                                         I got my rock moves                                                                                                                                And I don't want you tonight...

So What, Pink

Pink had the best "So What?", and the most famous, until Wednesday, when the court in DC ordered a partial disclosure of the evidence against the former president #45 and here's one of the things it showed: 

After the former president posted on X (formerly Twitter) that "Mike Pence (formerly the vice president) had let them all down", it enraged his supporters (formerly Americans) and the mob focused their attention on finding and harming (killing) Mike Pence which then caused the Secret Service to take extreme actions to save the Vice President.  

According to the Smith/Special Counsel pleading that was unveiled, that caused an aide to rush into the room the President was in watching television. The aide told the President what was occurring and the mob's desire to find and kill Vice President Pence, which caused the President to say.... wait for it....

"SO WHAT?'

From the special counsel's pleading: "The content of the 2:24 p.m. tweet was not a message sent to address a matter of public concern and ease unrest; it was the message of an angry candidate upon the realization that he would lose power." 

The "so what" utterance has become the most infamous idiom in American Presidential History.

Lincoln spoke about our better angels. 

FDR told the nation that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. 

JFK challenged citizens to ask what they could do for their country.

Ronald Regan spoke of a shinning city on a hill where it would always be, for him, morning in America. 

And POTUS 45, after inciting a mob to storm the capitol and kill the vice president, sneered "so what" when told the secret service was worried about their ability to protect the vice president. 

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a mental health condition that causes people to have an inflated sense of self-importance, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. People with NPD may appear boastful, arrogant, or unlikeable.   

SO WHAT that we are not a doctor; we can make a diagnosis. 

This is one of our favourite non-Springsteen songs, enjoy:

                     

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 Happy 100th Birthday to James Earl Carter, the 39th President of the United States. 

This op ed piece in the NY Times says it better than we can. 

I hope you know what it means to white Southerners like me, then and now, to have had your example at a time when there were vanishingly few role models among white Southerners. Or what it means to white Christians like me, then and now, to have had your example of what living by the Gospels really means.

...

You are a child of the Jim Crow South who grew up on a farm at a time when Black sharecroppers were hardly more than slaves. But even raised in that world, you understood the injustice of it. “The time for racial discrimination is over,” you said at your gubernatorial inauguration in 1971. Your audience audibly gasped, but for the rest of your political career, you worked to even the playing field for Black Americans.

...

Your presidency was doomed by wars and unrest in the Middle East that led to oil and gas shortages here and to a hostage crisis in Iran that broke your heart and ours. But you recognized the looming threat of climate change even then, understanding that reliance on foreign oil was not the real danger we faced. I can’t help but wonder where the world would be now if Americans had embraced the environmental policies you initiated nearly 50 years ago.

Much of what you worked to do for the environment during your presidency was nothing less than visionary. Using executive powers, you protected a vast swath of the Alaskan wilderness, in the process doubling the size of the national parks system. You directed federal funds toward the development of renewable energy and installed solar panels on the White House. You began an enormous federal effort to bring the country to energy independence and tried to lead us by calling on our own better angels to make it through the crisis in the meantime.