NFL WEEK 12 2025

Substack Update: Tech support looked at our issue- no publish button and eventually said "hmm that doesn't seem right." So we have written a post, but cannot publish it- for now. Stand by, unless anyone has experience with this app that is beginning to get on our nerves. Like snapchat, which no one under 21 can figure out how to use. 

Okay we took the plunge. Subscribe (for free, we don't need your pennies) to our Substack and be prepared for even more brilliant 

The topic on everyone's mind; the chatter you hear at the cafe's in Miami as people sip cafecito and nibble pastelitos is....who is going to win the REGJB award winning survivor pool this year? There is Team Tibbett, with people pulling for the appellate lawyer the State Attorneys and the assistant attorney generals hate to see coming. And there is Team Rumpole, vying for yet another win to go with his current league leading Fantasy Football team (because we are smart enough to not draft Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, unlike an otherwise brilliant legal jurist). 

Dan T is rolling with Seattle this week while sipping his Starbucks, while Rumpole is having some Dungeness crab and picking the 49ers. 

Our picks. 

Injury update: Aaron Rodgers is out for the Steelers, and Mason Rudolph will start. That changes the calculus for the better for the Steelers we think, as Rodgers has recently been struggling and missing wide open receivers. Steelers +2.5 over the cardiac Bears who keep struggling until the end of games may be a pick worth some Pittsburgh kielbasa, pierogi, and an Iron City Beer. 

Chiefs /Colts is the game of the week and count us as someone who has had enough of being let down by KC in yet another must win game. KC is a small -3 at home, and they are the pick, but we can find better places to wage our money. 

Like...

Giants +12.5 at Detroit. NY has enough to keep it close, so we will take the points, making this one as easy as green beans cooked with cream of mushroom soup. 

J...E,,T,,,S Jets Jets Jets  +13.5 against the Ravens. Tyrod Taylor is starting at QB for the Jets because he is the better QB on the team, and something is the matter with Lamar Jackson- embattled QB of the Ravens. Baltimore wins a close one at best over a Jets team with no cranberry Sauce Gardner anymore. 

Philly at Dallas is intriguing. Dallas is getting a lot of chatter, and that's all it is. The Eagles are by far the better team. Take Philly -3 in Dallas to beat the stuffing out of the Cowpokes.  

The MNF get even game is a real Turkey 🦃. But take the 49ers at home -7 over the Panthers just because we said so. 

Querry: Several people we trust (so not any judges) have told us to go on Substack and write. Would you follow Rumpole on Substack and subscribe (no cost)? 

A REMARKABLE DISSENT

 "Fasten your seatbelts, this is going to be a bumpy ride." 

 We are not being literary. THIS is how Fifth Circuit Judge Jerry Smith's dissent in a Texas redistricting brawl case begins. And the first several pages are an unmitigated attack on US District Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown, both sitting as a three-judge panel on a district court more fractured than Miami civil judges fighting over chambers in the new mega-civil-courthouse which will be open in December- Memo to our civil colleagues- get those summary judgment motions filed! 

The dissent is personal and angry. Judge Smith brings up prior cases where his nemesis Judge Brown was reversed, as a way of expressing his complete disdain for Judge Brown. Maybe the nicest thing Judge Smith said about Judge Brown was that he exhibited "pernicious judicial misbehavior." Really. 

These two guys need to meet in some El Paso bar, down a cold one, step out back, and resolve their issues. And someone needs to record it for Tik Tok and IG. 

Let's just say if you invited these two judges to your Thanksgiving, gravy and mashed potatoes would fly. A turkey leg would be used as a mace to batter the other. We know Judges don't just dislike but despise each other. But rare is the fight that breaks out in a published opinion.  And we would never pass up the opportunity to fuel the flames.  Almost as good as the infamous Miami Fax machine contretemps in civil circuit that long-time and careful blog readers will remember. Enjoy. 

gov.uscourts.txwd_.1150387.1439.0 by Anonymous PbHV4H

NO BUBBLE

 We note the conference call Wednesday afternoon after the stock market's closing bell by Nivida. CEO Jensen Huang said in no uncertain terms that he sees NO bubble in the AI market, and then reported that in the last quarter- forgive us for using technical terms- his company blew the doors off. They cannot meet demand for their chips and racks. Forget about companies, but most countries on earth are reaching out to buy chips for data centers. Indeed the current administration is using access to Nvidia chips as a carrot to countries in their efforts to negotiate the end of regional flareups. 

 Make no mistake - here's where we are with AI. Remember when (some of you) used typewriters and people began talking about using a computer and some program called Word to replace the typewriter and that the program could store the document for easy editing, and had spell check? And most people said they were afraid of computers and didn't think typewriters would be replaced? That was circa 1986-1990. Not too long ago. 

That is where we are with AI. Agree or not, it is here to stay and will fundamentally change life from how you are served cafecito, to how you drive, to how you work, to how you get your health care. And if you don't think AI will impact all areas of the law, including those who wear black robes, get your head out of the sand, We used to pay up to $100,000 for jury focus groups in trial prep. We just did one three weeks ago with AI for a tenth of the price, and nailed a quick NG. 

How you read your depos and search for terms; how you research; how you prepare opening closing and cross- AI right now is changing the legal world, 

The only thing it cannot change is a Judge who thinks all they need to do is call balls and strikes and deny motions. But that too will change. 

For you Gen X,Y,Z and A judges and lawyers- here is what we are talking about. 

Coming next: Our emails released 😨

GEN A MONDAY HURRICANE CARTER BLISS

Monday Update: Required reading: The NY Times Article on Chaos at the Justice Department. Do not miss this.  

If you didn't catch it, check out our football post yesterday where our secret theme was Gen A slang. 6-7.

For those of you not Gen A, think about this. Your childhood punishments were going to be early, not going to the party, being grounded at home.  For us Boomers, those are now our ideals.

The Ballad Of The Hurricane.

For you Gen X,Y,Z lawyers and Judges, there was a man named Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, from Newark New Jersey, who was the number one contender for the middle weight boxing crown in 1966 (back when that meant a whole lot).  Newark was erupting in flames over race-riots, and there was a triple murder at a bar downtown. In another part of town Rubin and some friends were stopped by the police ( or as Dylan sings, "Rubin was driving around with no idea what kind of shit was about to go down."). A known (white) felon was found in the bar with the bodies, but he said was just there to do a robbery when three black men came in and shot the place up. The police saw an opening to close the case and take down a hero to the African American community. One person in the bar survived the shooting, so they brought in Rubin for a show-up at the hospital. The surviving victim affirmatively stated that Rubin Carter was not the man. Nevertheless, with the use of white cooperating witnesses found at the scene of the murder, the all-white jury convicted Rubin Hurricane Carter when he was at the peak of his career. That set off one of the saddest legal odysseys in American Criminal Law. 

Carter was convicted in 1967. The Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1976. Carter was convicted at a re-trial in 1976, that was if anything, more tainted by racism, prosecutorial misconduct and discovery violations. A federal habeas petition landed on the desk of US District Judge H. Lee Saorkin of the New Jersey District Court- a heroic judge. Saorkin issued a scathing opinion stating that Carter's conviction was "predicated on racism not reason" and "based on concealment rather than disclosure [of exculpatory evidence].  Judge Saorkin ordered Carter's immediate release. NJ Appealed to the Third Circuit and lost, and the US Supreme Court, back when defendants had a chance there, denied cert. The case was then dismissed with prejudice. Carter moved to Canada (can you blame him?) where he spent his remaining years as an advocate for the wrongly convicted. He died in 2014, a majority of his adult life taken from him by a racist criminal justice system in the greatest country in the world (note the sarcasm in the last part of that sentence.)

 We once played this song in closing argument. In federal court. Really. It is one of our favourites, and it gets you thinking about the "greatest" justice system on earth, that took a man's life, and destroyed it. 

Our favourite line: Dylan singing about the use of an informant: "How can the life of such a man, be in the palm of some fool's hand?" 

NFL WEEK 11 2025 OLA! AND SECRET THEME EDITION

Madrid Update:  If you ask ChatGBT or Perplexity about the worst coached game in the history of the NFL, the gremlins are busy adding a picture of Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDonald. Because today, with the game tied, the ball on the goal line, less than a minute to play, and Washington out of timeouts, McDonald the genius elected to run the ball and eschew a game winning field goal. Now, not only did the Commanders know that Tua was going to hand off the ball to Achane, but the Madrid family of four, who has never seen an NFL game and was sitting in the upper deck with free tickets, knew the ball was going to Achane.  Perhaps the worst coaching decision in the history of sports. If you had the Fins -2.5 you had to be beside yourself with incredulity at the stupidity of the decision. 

The fact that Miami escaped with a win because DC QB Mariota thew an INT on the first play of OT, and McDonald elected to now kick a game winning FG from the 20, does not change the fact that your Miami Dolphins are being coached by a person with the football IQ of a turnip. 

We gave you the under, and Achane rushing over 80, and our sweet 250 parlay on those two events has put us solidly back in the black for November. 

 OLA! Your Miami Dolphins are in Madrid, fresh off their slay of the Buffalo Bills, looking cooking, bussin for this game, and playing a Washington Commanders team with a back-up QB and just going through the motions. Which means...the Dolphins are sus and will let you down.  If you want them, you have to lay 2.5 with your hard-earned Euros. Pass, cap. 

Enough with the overs which have drained our Hard Rock Account, cap. We are going under 47 and big over 80 rushing yards for Achane. Achane over rushing has been ate, and our savior all year, and we need him to break off a few big ones so we can get back to ordering Petit Syrah's instead of hard seltzers, and get the king crab that will be hitting the 305 this week. 

Survivor is down to two- Rump vs the strategic master of appellate law- Dan Tibbett. We are both going AFC north this week. Tibbs rolling with the hometown Steelers, whose defense has been dog-water and got wacked by the Bengals just a few weeks ago, and may have revenge on their mind. Rump's maxxing with the Ravens, playing in the mistake by the lake, as the Browns are a team in more disarray than the US Attorneys Office for the SDFL. At least that's the Tea about that office. 

We have a secret theme for our picks this week. Can you guess it? 

Many of the games are mid and we are looking for value because we need our picks to slay. 

Ravens -7.5 over Browns.  Number seems high. Should be like 6-7.  Everything about Cleveland's game is basic, while the Ravens are bussin lately. We are taking Baltimore to add to our bankroll and avoid an L in Survivor. 

Eagles -2.5 at home over Lions. Philly plays Ohio at times, but we think they are skibidi. 

And the game of the day,  (no it's not Houston at Tennessee) it's KC at Denver.  KC is -4 at Mile High, which means the Broncos, with a lit D but mid offense are a home dog.  We're mogging Mahomes playing with his back to the wall for a playoff spot, and since he's our FF QB, we are locked in with Mahomes and the Chiefs, and while we are glazing Mahomes, we think he will be cooking. KC -4. 

So before you say Just Put The Fries In The Bag, Bro we are done. Hope your Sunday slaps. 6-7.

Judge Dube Has Passed Away

 To start, we have the sad news that retired federal magistrate judge Dube passed away. Head over to DOM's blog where has up his post in 2013 about Judge Dube when he retired. Judge Dube was a wonderful and decent man, a pleasure to appear in front of, a Marine, and the kind of Miamian that made this city great. 

There are 48 days left in 2025. Wow. And speaking of trials, that leaves the next two weeks, and the weeks of December 1, 8, and 15 to get those trials in. And it is never too soon to remind all of our readers on the very first and most important of Rumpole's rules for practicing law- never ever ever agree to allow a case to be set for trial the first week of the new year- and the first two weeks if you can help it. 

What Rumpole is reading: Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhorn- a murder mystery novel taking place in Maine in the 18th century. Be prepared to be cold with the amazing descriptions of Maine's winter.  The War of Art, by Stephen Pressfield. How does resistance manifest itself in myriad forms in the artist, and what the artist can do to overcome it. American Coach, The Triumph and Tragedy of Notre Dame Legend Frank Leahy, by Ivan Maisel.  A Big Mess in Texas by David Fleming, about the 1952 Dallas Texans, the team, and Buddy Young's fight to become an NFL player and overcome his diminutive size and racism. Gettysburg: The Tide Turns, by Bruce Chadwick- an oral history of the battle at Gettysburg told though diaries, letters and firsthand accounts. 

What Rumpole is watching- the new Springsteen Biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, (naturally), and on Netflix- Death By Lightening- the series adaptation of the remarkable recent book about the election and assassination of President James Garfield. The first two episodes are superb. 

A beautiful November weekend awaits, and perhaps a winner in this epic REGJB Survivor Pool battle. 

  

A GREAT DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY

 Today November 13 is a great day in American history. 

A seemingly minor domestic spat set off a chain of events that resulted in an interpersonal relationship that over a period of several years changed everything. 

It just goes to show you that not all domestic arguments should end up in DV court with the 800 week program. Sometimes a simply change of scenery and roommates is all it takes. 

Enjoy. 

TNF: The streaking Jets, suddenly the hottest team in football going 2-0, play the revamped Cheaters, suddenly the leaders in the AFC East. Jets -13 seems a bit much, but fresh off our disastrous over pick on MNF (was the score 3-0 at halftime?)  we are going with the over 43 tonight in the hopes that more action will lead to less drinking, and less of a hangover tomorrow as we head into what is nothing less than a glorious So Fla weekend. 

WHO IS GOING OFF THE RESERVATION

 There is chatter that judges want to do away with zoom. 

And why wouldn't they? 

It helps lawyers. 

It helps litigants, many of whom cannot afford to pay for parking. 

So why wouldn't those who wear black all the time and don't feel respected unless they sit above everyone else want to end the single most helpful innovation in the law since Westlaw made Shephardizing a case as easy as clocking on a button?

Ah, but as we dive deeper into this pending contretemps, it turns out it is not all of the judiciary. We paint with too broad of a brush. So who could it be? 

It's not the DCA judges. They're busy cutting back on oral argument, so any lawyer lucky to get an invitation to appear is going to jump on it. 

And it's not the Circuit bench because they need to wrap things up early and polish that DCA / US District Court application. 

The feds never really had it. Plus you don't get hearings on most matters. Write a motion, prepare an order denying it, keep track of your CJA hours, and you're all set. 

So who could it be that feels undervalued, disrespected, and needs to throw a temper tantrum like North Korea so they won't be ignored?

Why it's the County Court criminal judges who want to do away with Zoom!

Why? 

Because they will not be ignored. They are doing really really important stuff and unlike those pushovers in Circuit, they need lawyers and litigants on bended knee, begging for their attention so the important business of imposing a w/h or adj and court costs and time to pay can be resolved with the Solomonic wisdom they all possess and just need everyone else to know about.  ("Did you see the way Judge XYZ adjudicated that woman which means she will lose her SNAP assistance? Brillant! Just Brillant.") And if the poorest people in the system miss work and have to pay for parking, which means they cannot shop for food for the next day, then....just work harder, duh! 

They can do what they wish. We never go there anyway.  But we will tell you this, they drag defendants and lawyers to county court every day for their nonsense and do away with Zoom, we will harp on this every day until our last day blogging (June 30, 2026).  And we will give credit to those behind the push to do away with Zoom.  Because there is no reason the judges who do away with Zoom should not get all the credit they deserve. Over and over and over. 

So as they say in pleadings, 

Kindly Act Accordingly. 

VETERANS DAY

 We run this every year. It's important. Here it is again in 2025, when our veterans are called, privately, as dumb for risking their lives for our country. 

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
beneath the crosses row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly;
Scarce heard amid the guns below,
We are dead. 
Short days ago, we lived, felt dawn glow;
Loved and were loved 
and now we lie
In Flanders Fields. 
If Ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow 
In Flanders Fields.
John McCrae
WWI Solider who died on the front in France of pneumonia in 1918.




While you're at it click here and read Judge Jon Schlessinger's moving tribute to his Uncle Edward Kielich, who was buried with full honours at Arlington Cemetery. 


They’ve seen things we could never imagine.

They’ve done things people were not meant to do.

They risked their lives so we can live in freedom.

They are our veterans and today we honor them.


107 Years  on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 the guns of the great war fell silent.

Our Boys, The Doughboys, lie at rest in places with names like Flanders, Bony, and Belleau. They died on battlefields named Marne, Somme, and Verdun. Almost 5 Million Americans were in uniform for World War I, and over 100,000 died, and more than half of those deaths were on the battlefield.

It was the first time American boys would be asked to save Europe. It would not be the last.

Our nation has answered the call time and time again. Mostly for the right reasons, but not always. Yet we’ve always answered the call. And the price has always been high. Our young men and now our young women lie in battlefield graveyards all over the world, never to grow older, never to see the results of their sacrifice. Sacrifice given with the full assurance that their country would never let them down and would never forget. Sacrifice that Abraham Lincoln called "The last full measure of devotion."

Today we remember. And at 11 am, stop for a moment and take two minutes and reflect on the good things in your life. Think of your home, or your children, or your parents, or the freedoms you enjoy, and your comforts and remember none of that would have been possible without them.

Thank you. It doesn't seem enough, but Thank You, each and every one of you.

MONDAY 11 10 2025 NEWS AND NOTES

 Good Monday morning REGJB! Court is opened Monday and closed Tuesday (11/11). Good luck with jury selection today. 

Come Tuesday morning we will have our first cold snap of the fall, when temps start dropping late this evening. By Tuesday morning it will dip to 49! Sweater weather! We love it. And remember to skip that extra large Starbucks coffee order and donate to a local Miami food bank. 

On Sunday night, as blog readers were counting their winnings (we gave you Fins over Cheaters, the Jets blowing the first pick by beating the Browns, and Seattle over Arizona) a group of senate Democrats were agreeing to a temporary funding bill that would re-open the government until January.  Air travel would return in time for Thanksgiving (unfortunately that includes MIA which we abhor), and SNAP would be fully funded allowing people to use their recently worthless TRUMP cards (Terror Reigning Under Meal Payment cards). In return, the Democrats did NOT get relief for those paying the exponentially higher premiums when renewing their Obama care. 

So let's summarize. To punish the democrats for not agreeing to the government funding bills, the republicans made food and health care unaffordable for many working-class Americans. Seems to us like a good election strategy for the midterms: take away food and health insurance. Sure, that works. The only thing left is to raise taxes on those earning less than $60,000.00 a year to incentivize them into working harder and earning more. 

What did you miss most about the government shutdown? Visits from pesky USDA inspectors? The FDA regulating new medicines? Air safety? 

Don't forget to thank your favourite federal courtroom deputy from showing up and keeping court running smoothly without being paid. Ditto to the federal PDS. 

You can make your donations to help feed Floridians using the money saved skipping your Starbucks drink here:

Feeding South Florida 

or  These Florida Restaurants have stepped up with free meals to people with worthless SNAP/Trump cards. 

We are down to TWO in the Blog Survivor contest, as Carolina let Lucy Lew down. It's just Rumpole vs. the appellate master of disaster: Dan Tibbett. 

NFL WEEK 10 2025

 Guten Morgan, we start our day with the Colts and Falcons in the NFL's first ever game in Berlin. The Colts are -6 favourites and you have to ask was last week an aberration or has the whole season been an aberration? We are going to go with last week being just one of those weeks for Indy against a motivated Steeler D. We like Daniel Jones, who is continuing the tradition of failed NY first round QBs having a second chance somewhere else. And no "sauce on side" for us, as Sauce Gardner joins the Colt's secondary fresh off his early release from the NY Jets.  So we are JFK'ing this with an Ich Bin Ein Berliner  bet and starting our day off with a heavy dose of beer and schnitzel on Indy -6, [PUSH] with a tiny parlay on Jonathan Taylor over 93.5 yds rushing (a little too high but what the heck, it's Germany) and Penix under 232 passing yards. [WIN 15 got us 50]. 

The rest of the week, including the big power matchup everyone is talking about, a bit later after we finish our Vietnamese Coffee brew (we are obsessed). 

First up is the Bills at Miami. Will the Fins keep it close? Who knows? Who cares? The Miami fans have abandoned this team because that is what they do. Take the points as the Bills have KC hangover and there may be a back door cover.  Like for five bucks- no more. The fins stink and could lose 38-10.

Giants at Bears (our survivor pick). Chi -4 seems a bit light. Lay the 4 and get  the hotdog 🌭 with tomato, onions, relish, mustard and a pickle spear on a seeded bun. We love a good Chicago dog.

Arizona at Seattle. The Cardinals have disappointed us. But it's the offense of both teams we like today. A hawk beats a cardinal every time, even with -6.5, and over 45.5. 

Okay, here it is, the matchup you have circled since the schedule was released last year. Browns! Jets! It does not get any better than this in the NFL.  This is the battle for the first draft pick in 2026. The Browns will be looking to draft their 234th first round QB since 1990 (or as many cabinet members that resigned in the dear leader's first administration).  But if there is one thing a die-hard Jets fan can count on is their team to screw it up. They got off the schneid last week, and in their battle for the first pick of the draft next year, the    J E T S Jets Jets Jets screw this up by winning a close one at home. Maybe on OT FG in which the entire stadium will be praying for them to miss it.  Who knows, other than it will be entertaining. 

This friends, is what football is all about.  Jets +2  because they screw things up like John Thune presiding over the longest ever shutdown of the government. No Snap payments? Happy Thanksgiving.🦃 * Wanna fly home? Have you considered Uber?  

SURVIVOR 

Lucy Lew has Carolina on her mind. Rumpole likes Da Bears, and Dan Tibbett, showing why he is the master defense strategist, has taken his bye, giving him a chance to win the whole shebang without risking losing.  It is just amazing how many of you bust out without ever using your bye. 

*  We are going to start the angry-old-guy-rant now. We DO NOT want your insipid email on November 26 wishing us happy thanksgiving. We do not need it. We do not want it.  Nobody cares about you wishing them a happy thanksgiving. They do not sit down to eat turkey and ham and say "Wait! Did we get that happy thanksgiving email from that law firm that started spamming us a few years ago?"  Let's be real. The email is just you saying "Hey! Look at me! I'm relevant. I'm sincere. I'm sensitive. I'm thinking of you so please think of me!"  And it is none of those things. It is just a silly ego inflating exercise that spams our inbox on a day we do not want to think of law, you, or emails. So be a real mensch, and make a donation to people who are missing Snap payments, and do it the right way- anonymously, and you will have good karma. Email us, and bad times will follow. 

Make a donation to people who are hungry in America in 2025 here:

Feeding South Florida 

or  These Florida Restaurants have stepped up with free meals to people with worthless SNAP/Trump cards. 

If you know of a Miami restaurant offering free meals to Snap recipients, please let us know and we will give them tons of free JB Blog publicity. 

Nvidia is worth 4 trillion; Apple 3T, Microsoft 2+T, and we have hunger in this country. We have people dying without medical care. It just does not make sense to us. It is a shame that a child wakes up hungry after going to bed hungry and we are all spending `11 dollars on some stupid coffee drink. Make your own coffee today and donate ten bucks. Ten freaking dollars! If everyone in the REGJB did that, we could feed thousands of Miamians who need some assistance. If you do not like government taxes to help the disadvantaged, and we do have some philosophical differences with altruism as a forced government philosophy, step up and do it yourself. Pay it forward. Make a difference and you just might feel better about yourself come new year's resolutions time- when all some of you can think about is being tougher on defendants, or charging more for that no action you had nothing to do with. (And they say we are never tough on crim def attys. Sheesh. Read the damn blog will ya? And stop yapping about crap you know nothing about.) 

CHASING SHADOWS

 This NY times article about a senate investigation of federal judges who responded to a NY Times inquiry about the Supreme Court's shadow docket caught our attention. 

The Republicans are going after federal judges who had the temerity to criticize the nine members of the highest court in the land. Impeachments may follow. 

Why did this catch our attention? Because of the renewed grumbling at 1350 NW 12th avenue about your humble blogger. 

"Something should be done"; "file a bar complaint"; "have you read what he wrote in the comments about our office?"

The third comment irks us the most. WE DO NOT WRITE THE COMMENTS, GENIUS. Others do. You might want to thank us for letting you know how lowly your office is viewed. 

Back to the federal judges, who we now, uncharacteristically find ourselves sympathizing with.  Fear not, denizens of courtrooms with ultra-high ceilings, we feel your pain. And we (you members of the judiciary and us- your blogger) are in good company.  Forty-six different aliases were used by commentators /authors of the federalist papers. And if Publius was good enough for Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, then Rumpole suits us just fine. There is a long tradition of using pen-names to spark discussions about issues, The practice pre-dates the republic. So to you ASAs grumbling about us: as James Madison would say: stuff it!

And if you would like to learn more about the Supreme Court's shadow docket, then our own modern-day Federalist Judge Milton Hirsch will be giving a CLE zoom lecture about this very topic. His latest constitutional calendar on Milton's Paradise Lost...Guy de Maupassant... Ernie Banks...Mark Twain...Ulysses Grant, had this missive about an upcoming CLE. 

On an unrelated note: Although the Supreme Court normally rises on or before the July 4 holiday and doesn't reconvene till the first Monday in October, this past summer saw a torrent of path-breaking opinions (and "shadow docket" orders without opinions).  I'm doing a one-hour Zoom CLE on those cases at lunchtime next Thursday, Nov. 13.  If you need an hour of CLE, you can get it painlessly from the safety, comfort, and convenience of your own chair and computer.  Here's the link: https://mbba.wildapricot.org/event-6409682

So there you have it. A defense of pseudonyms. 

A Pennsylvania Farmer 

(the pseudonym of federalist John Dickinson - one of our favourite Founding Father). 

ONE SMALL TINY PROBLEM

Wednesday the Supreme Court ("Textualism, textualism, textualism!!!) takes up the challenge to the Dear Leader's willy-nilly imposition on tariffs without congressional approval.  "Barbados thinks it can win a trade war with us? Think again tough guy."

The Dear Leader's justification for his careful and well thought out imposition of tariffs?  A Jimmy Carter era law: International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”). 

The question is simple?  Has Congress given the president the authority to impose broad import duties (i.e., tariffs) by invoking an emergency-powers statute that was originally aimed at foreign threats? 

The answer is simple to the six conservative justices on the Supreme Court: Of course the President is right. The law gives him the powers do impose tariffs when he wants, for how much he wants. If it's Wednesday, the tariffs on China must be 30%. If it's Friday, the rate is 11%. 

And of course, the legal reasoning that the majority will use is textualism. Just rule based on what the law says.  People will die- sorry, Textualism does not allow us to intervene. The planet will be destroyed- sorry, Textualism does not allow us to intervene. 

Textualism rules the day. So all the majority needs to do is read the IEEPA (which sounds like a bad local pub brew in Cleveland) and simply point out that the law gives the President the right to impose tariffs in an emergency. Should take about three pages- The Dear Leader wins because he always wins (except when prosecuted in NY State Court). 

One eeny, weeny, teeny  tiny small problem. IEEPA never mentions imposing tariffs or duties, nor creating taxes. Under past precedent, tariffs are legislative‐taxing measures belonging to Congress. 

The United States Court of Appeals for the DC Federal Circuit ruled 7-4 via Textualism reasoning, that the Dear Leader exceeded his authority under IEEPA by imposing sweeping tariffs. The majority held that the statute did not clearly authorize tariffs and in fact did not have the word tariffs in the statute. 

So now, that truckload of valium in DC being delivered to the Supreme Court will be used by six judges whose two loves in life: their sole desire to please the Dear Leader, and the use of Textualism to accomplish all their personal goals, are in conflict. 

What to do? Oh what to do? Will their love of unencumbered presidential power - when they like the president- carry the day? Or will they demonstrate the kind of intellectual honesty that their love affair with textualism requires? They love giving speeches about how textualism often requires them to rule in ways that they personally would not do. (If it hasn't happened in the past, in the future the audience should cough **bs**bs** bullshit** bullshit**). 

Call us pessimistic, but we predict the kind of legal yoga that will allow these sycophants to support their Dear Leader. 

Something like, "Textualism can be carried a bit too far. It is perfectly reasonable to apply the legal principle to deny starving children food, dying people medicine and medical insurance, but it must yield when a Republican President that we like declares an emergency. Plus, the president says he sees the word tariffs in the statute, and as we have often ruled recently, if the president says it, then it must be true. "

So let's see how intellectually honest these six bootlickers really are. 

NFL WEEK NINE 2025

 Your Miami Dolphins fired their GM after Thursday's thrashing my the Ravens. With the Dolphins in free fall, the front running Miami fans can turn their attention to the Heat for the start of the NBA season. 

If you didn't watch games 6 and 7, you missed classic October World Series drama. Props to the Dodgers who were fire and won two on the road to come from behind 3-2 in the series. And in case you're worried, Rumpole, sitting on a juicy Blue Jays to win it all bet in May, laid off his action in games 6 &7, placing bets on LA (against our ticket) that paid off and guaranteed us a 50% win on our bet, which was still a nice five figures score and putting us in the black for MLB 2025 after suffering all those losses on the Mets and Red Sox. Pitchers and Catchers report in 100 days.  Cannot wait.  

Slim pickings this week. Often by November a team's tendencies have been established and it's hard to find lines that are off and give the bettor an advantage. 

Detroit -8.5 at home over Minnesota? Pass.  Ditto Giants  +2.5 at home over San Fran; and most of the other games. 

So let's take under 48 Giants/Niners; under 48.5 Vikes/Lions;  under 51 Bears/Bengals; under 51 Colts/Steelers. 

The game of the week that everyone has been waiting for is Jacksonville/ Raiders   Chiefs at Bills.   And while we love us a home dog, which the Bills are at +2 we are going to take the points and the Mahommes to win this sucker as the marquee afternoon matchup. 

As to the Jags /Raiders clash? An ethics discussion between KFR and a Judge from the 3rd DCA would be more interesting. The Rules of Ethics are a serious two-digit underdog in that matchup. 

SURVIVOR

We are down to three. Rumpole (naturally), Daniel Tibbitt, and Lucy Lew. 

Rumpole and Tibbitt are rolling with the Rams and Double L has the Chargers. We could crown a 2025 champion in what could be Rumpole's last hurrah. 

You know what we did Halloween night? Watched Abbott and Costello v. Frakenstein and Dracula. They don't make movies like that anymore. 

FINAL THOUGHT

We have remained silent as the royal contretemps played itself out these last few weeks, ending in the removal of a royal title, eviction from a royal estate, and bandishment to the King's private estate at Sandringham, a cold and dank place on the North Sea. 

But this is what we are thinking. If Andrew Montbatten Windsor takes up painting, as Churchill did from time to time... (wait for it)

Will he be known as ...(hang in there until the end)

The Artist Formally Known as Prince?

LMAO....

THE BALL BOUNCES FUNNY IN OCTOBER

 This world series is turning out to be a classic. The Blue Jays, in last place last year, had the world champ Dodgers down 3 games to 2 heading into last night's game six in Toronto. And then something happened, which showed once again why there is nothing better in sports than October baseball. 

But before we get to last night's game, we will briefly talk about a similar play in what we consider to be the greatest world series game ever played: Game Seven, Yankees at Pirates 1960. The Yankees were overwhelming favourites in the series. And as the series played out, it showed. The Yankees won three games 16-4, 10-0, and 6-4. Getting to game 7, the Pirates won 6-4, 3-2, and 5-2.  Now Game 7 1960 is famous for the only game 7 bottom of the 9th walk off home run. Bill Mazeroski hit it, and the Pirates shocked the Yankees and became world champs. 

But before Maz's famous dinger, there was the bottom of the eighth inning. The game had see-sawed back and forth with the Pirates going up 2-0, and then 4-1 before the Yankees went up 5-4 and then 8-4. In the bottom of the 8th, Bill Virdon came up with a runner on first and no outs. He hit a sharp grounder to Tony Kubek at short. It was an easy double-play ball. But the infield in Forbes Field had small pebbles in the dirt. The sharp grounder hit a pebble that kicked up and hit Kubek in the throat. He collapsed and was subsequently taken to the hospital. 

The ball can bounce strangely in October game sevens.

 Without the double play, the Pirates had two on, and slugging catcher Hall Smith bashed a three-run homer in what turned out to be a five run Pirate inning. The Yanks tied it back up  in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for Maz's clutch immortal home run. But none of that happens if the grounder doesn't hit a pebble that causes a freak injury to Kubek. You can hear Mel Allen on the call mistakenly thinking that the ball hit Kubek in the face. 

Which brings us to Game Six in the current Series Friday night.  The Jays were down 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth with a man on first. Addison "Bam Bam" Barger came to bat and was the tying run. Barger hammered a fastball from Roki Sasaki to deep left-center, over the head of the outfielders. The runner from first scored, and the Jays were down by one with a man on second. A walk off world series championship hit was in the cards. 

Except it was Halloween and the ball bounces funny in World Series games in October. 

Barger's ball stuck in the bottom of the fence... what??? 

  We shall repeat it, because we did not believe it. The ball stuck in the bottom of the fence.  We have NEVER seen that in a baseball game (of course no one had ever seen a grounder hit a pebble and take out a shortstop either). The umpires called it a ground rule double, the runner that scored was moved back to third- and this being October baseball, the next batter flied out to short center and Barger, thinking the ball was going to drop, was doubled off second-  this being the first 7-4 double play to end a world series game. 

GAME SEVEN TONIGHT! 

This is just the best time of the year. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

 

Happy Halloween! 

Want to be really scared? 

Did you notice how nice and easy the REGIB was this week? 

That was because your favourite Judge most likely was in Orlando swilling gin at a judicial conference. 

So the scary news is ......they're baaaaaackkkkkk! (Cue Poltergeist music). 

CANDY

MMs or Reese's Pieces? 

Three Musketeers or Nestles Crunch? 

Candy Corn or Sour Patch? 

Snickers Bar or Hershey's Bar? 

MMs plain, peanut, pretzel, almond, or other? 

Friday the 13th or Halloween or Poltergeist or The Exorcist? 

For our money, the Exorcist is one of the finest films ever made. 

THE JUDGE BRONWYN MILLER POST YOU'VE BEEN SCREAMING FOR

 Last week came the formal news, not unexpected, that 3rd DCA Judge, and Miami SAO Alumnus Bronwyn Miller was accused of placing bets on the Miami Heat with inside information. 

Wait! No. We got our Miami scandals all mixed up. Miami Heat player something Rozier was accused of tanking to get under prop bets on his performance to payoff. 

Judge Miller was accused by the JQC of something much less egregious- essentially being a prosecutor in robes. Granted by the time robe wearers get to the 3rd, it's much easier for them to simply PCA criminal convictions (Defendant was beaten until he confessed, not read Miranda, and prosecutor urged jury to send a message to the community about crime- PCA duh) - so we don't usually see this level of prosecutorial advocacy with appellate judges (at least not before January 20, 2025). 

You can read the complaint below. Nothing less than a conspiracy to subvert justice between an appellate judge and the elected State Attorney. But they were BFFs donchaknow, and like Snapchat is soooo hard to use when you're over 30, so they had text. 

Make of it what you will. There's no excuse for this conduct. And at least the complaint is semi-vindication for Judge Wolfson, who should win a JFK Profiles In Courage Award for not backing down and speaking truth to power- the kind of Judge everyone but the Governor and President want on the bench.

But we are so done with this court which avoids the hard criminal cases by PCA'ing the convictions, that it is tough to summon the outrage that this conduct deserves. 

Not to mention the money we have lost on the NBA- but give us credit. We walk into a poker room with an NBA coach and see fish jam the turn and rivers on two-outter gutshots and have it pay off more than once a night, and we know there's a mechanic* in the game. 

What all of us didn't know was that there was mechanic* wearing a robe out by FIU dealing from the bottom of the deck to the State. 

Just one more reason that come the end of June we are D O N E done. 

Notice - Formal Charges Redacted (1) by Anonymous PbHV4H

* A mechanic is wise-guy 70's speak for a card player who cheats, especially when they deal. 

NFL WEEK 8 2025 WE FEW WE HAPPY FEW EDITION

UPDATE: Consistent with the Battle of Agincourt, the J E T S Jets Jets Jets have gotten off the schneid and defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, knocking out three players in our Survivor Pool, and leaving four. Also, your Miami Dolphins thrashed the Falcons 38-10. We few, we happy few...

Coming Monday: The Judge was a mechanic. 

Saturday, we posted about the NY Mets 1986 World Series win and the magical game six with Mookie at bat.

October 25 is also St Crispins day

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d  

and the Battle of Agincourt anniversary where Hank, otherwise known as King Henry V gives his famous speech to his small army on the eve of the battel against France. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...

So we happy few, let's take the Bengals -5 over the winless Jets, and the Bucs, our best bet, -2.5 at New Orleans.

Less confident, but we like Da Bears +2.5 in Baltimore against the Lamar-less Ravens, and the Titans +100 (actually +15) against the only team with one loss in the NFL this year- your Indianapolis Colts.

SURVIVOR POOL 

Until we get the Survivor Pool up, enjoy this speech.

WEEK 8 by Anonymous PbHV4H 

ENJOY  

GAME SIX

 It's game two of the World Series Saturday night. FYI we have the Jays at 20-1 to win the World Series- we placed the bet in the Spring. 

But October 25 is the anniversary of the greatest world series game we have ever seen. 1986. Mets v. Red Sox in Shea Stadium New York. The Sox were up 5-3 going into the bottom of the tenth inning. If the Sox win, they are world champs. 

There were runners at the corners, the Sox were up 5-4 and there were two outs when Mookie Wilson stepped to the plate. The Red Sox were one out from being world champs. But this is why we love October baseball. 

The first event during Mookie's at bat was a wild pitch that moved Ray Knight from first to second. Kevin Mitchell, who was on third, scored the tying run on the wild pitch. 

Vince Scully, the greatest baseball announcer, was on the call. 

Pay attention to how Scully calls the famous error. Starting with a normal call of a little roller towards first, his voice rises as the ball goes between Buckner's legs. Then after declaring that the Mets won, he and partner Tim McCarver remain silent as the Mets and all of Shea celebrates. 

Fun fact: earlier in the game a Mets fan parachuted into the stadium during the game. The player at bat when the parachutists landed? The ill-fated Bill Buckner who had ignominy waiting for him a few innings away. 

Enjoy this great call of perhaps the best at bat in World Series history. 

Go Blue Jays!

WALK TALL AND HAVE AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER STRIKE GROUP

USS Gerald Ford On Way To Kick Some Ass In The Caribbean 

We will be sleeping better tonight. 

The most advanced Carrier in the US Fleet: The Gerald Ford has been sent to the Caribbean.  Whew! Thank goodness. 

Let's see Antigua act up now. They talked big when there was no carrier in the Caribbean. 

And Bimini? Won't hear nothing from them no more. Just who did they think they were messing with? 

Now what tough guys?  

These Caribbean islands may have been laughing at Biden and walking all over him and America, but no more we are telling you- No More.  MTCFOAA (Make the Caribbean Frightened of America Again). 

Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan Hill, the invasion of Grenada, and now the Ford Strike Group. Do not mess with us in the Caribbean!

Item: The US has sent the USS Gerald Ford Strike Group into the Caribbean. 

(NB: This post has not been approved by the dear leader and reading it may result in deportation by Ice)

FED PDS HAVE A DAY

With apologies to Mr. Markus for intruding on his milieu, whose blog has the sappier/mushy side of yesterdays events here, several alert blog irregulars have forwarded an FACDL email (we must just pause to state that not getting 20 emails a day asking "does anyone have a recommendation for a paralegal that speaks Spanish?" has made life, not to mention our email in box, immeasurably more pleasurable): 

CONGRATS to AFPDs Ashley Kay, MaeAnn Dunker, Victor Van Dyke, and Ian McDonald. These two trial teams BOTH got NGs yesterday in federal court.

 Ashley and Mae’s client was found not guilty of two counts of assault on a federal officer in front of Judge Ruiz.

And Victor and Ian’s client was found not guilty of conspiring to export and controlled substance and attempted to export a controlled substance in front of Judge Williams.

Query: Is anyone sensing a backlash against prosecutors in general and AUSAs in particular?  What with the feds knocking down the white house  (time to go- the sales for the 1600 Penn Ave condos are through the roof, and each one comes with an exact replica of the oval office) and outlawing vaccines except for horse antibiotics, and prohibiting the production of art. books, songs, and other literature not approved by the Dear Leader, maybe citizens are a bit more skeptical these days of the benevolence and truthfulness  of the feds. 

Of course the not guilty verdicts may be the result of the US attorneys office firing most of the experienced prosecutors and using the sight-impaired food service staff (who do a wonderful job BTW) as substitute prosecutors in the short term until they can hire more lawyers than they can fire, which at the moment is a Sisyphean task. 

Coming tomorrow: The Dear Leader announces plans to develop the Washinton Mall and knock down the Washington and Lincoln Memorials. As to the Mall, he said, "its prime undeveloped space", and as to the memorials he said "One is a giant pencil and it's ugly, and the other celebrates a war mongering president who got rid of slavery and slavery was not all bad you know."  No word yet on the proposed designs of the Stalin and Putin memorials set to take their place. 

THE ONE WE LEFT OUT

 

Attorney Al Krieger- who became part of our local bar later in his career, commanded every courtroom he walked into. His cross examinations were conducted with a surgeon’s scalpel and delivered with a bulldog growl.  

He was born in Manhattan in 1923, attended New York University on a football scholarship, graduating in 1945. After a brief Army stint, he earned his LL.B. from NYU School of Law in 1949. And from there, he went on to have a sixty-year career in the law.

He started by defending OC figures in NYC including Joe Bonanno in the 1960s, and famously John Gotti in 1992. His cross examination of the turncoat/rat in that case was legendary.  

But to us, Al Krieger became the GOAT when he- pro bono- defended approximately 150 defendants of the American Indian Movement after they occupied Wounded Knee in 1973. He obtained dismissals or acquittals for nearly all defendants. This was an achievement that ranks as the very best in the history of American Criminal defense. From this point on Al Krieger was a superstar.

Al Krieger was a founding member and president (1979–1980) of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and also helped to establish the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia, in 1985, training generations of defense attorneys.

Al Krieger received the NACDL Lifetime Achievement Award and Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award, as well as the ABA Charles R. English Award.

Albert J. Krieger’s name remains synonymous with courage, integrity, and excellence in criminal defense—a “lawyer’s lawyer” whose advocacy helped elevate the defense bar to a position of national respect and influence.

So where do we put him?

He was every bit the trial lawyer of Lee Bailey(3)  and Roy Black (2). It’s like asking where do you put DiMaggio in an outfield of Mays, Aaron and Clemente?

So we leave you with this – the top three criminal defense attorneys of the last 50 years were Spence, Krieger, Bailey and Black. You figure it out.