BOP'ED

 This was big. 

A SDFL judge giving a downward variance to a health clinic owner convicted of fraud? This was bigger. 

A DeSantis drone granting a motion to suppress? This was bigger. 

Mexico actually paying for the wall? This was bigger. 

Are you ready? 

Spain BEAT France in the World Cup semi finals. 

This is huge, 

This is the 69 Miracle Mets underdog stuff. 

Rocky Balboa going the distance against Apollo Creed kind of thing. 

Mbappe? He got BOP'ed. Won't see him no more. 

And now Wednesday our lads go against Argentina with a clear path to the coveted world cup. 

It's like it's 1966 all over again. 

SUMMER DOLDRUMS

woooooweeeeee UPDATE

Judge Willians just slammed the president, the DOJ, referred the lawyers involved in the stinking mess over the settlement of the president's lawsuit against the IRS to the Florida Bar, referred the acting attorney General to the New York State Bar (Motto- "Florida doesn't want our lawyers, so we don't want theirs") and skewered everyone associated with the case for trying to get the Court's imprimatur on a backroom deal. 

You know the order is a barnburner when everyone's favourite federal blogger Mr. Markus starts his post about the order with a very uncharacteristic "woooooweeeeee" - and that's an actual quote from his post here, which has a link to the order, because we counted the o's and e's. 

'

Here we are mid-July. The temperature is stifling. A commentator on the England /Norway match, played at the South Florida Hard Rock stadium called the heat and humidity during the match "soul sucking." 

And yet, in perhaps one of the oldest anachronistic traditions, male lawyers must wear a jacket in court. Doesn't that seem bizarre? It's over 90 degrees but one half of the population who are lawyers must wear a coat/jacket. 

And people wonder why we are quitting law. 

Speaking of which, the blog will be going on a sabbatical starting the end of July through mid-August. Interns will clear the comments, and some posts may go up. 

During out rest we will consider the future.

The recent success of The Captain getting the governor to make long overdue judicial appointments tells us we fill a role of some sort. And to the extent the current judicial administration and SAO administration despises us, we know we are doing some things right. 

Let's put it this way- we will decide something long before the current federal administration secures the Straits of Hormuz (if it ever can, which is now more and more doubtful). 

The sudden and unexpected death of Senator Lindsey Graham is a very big loss to the country.  He was the last of the Three Amigos- Senators Graham, John McCain, and Joe Lieberman. Across political and ideological differences the three men were perhaps the last of a group of leaders who believed our common ideals as Americans were more important and brought us together more than our political differences. 

Now? Ha. 

Apple running nicely Monday morning. As Jim Cramer famously said more than a decade ago, "Own Apple, don't trade it."  Applied Materials is not running well today, although Goldman Sachs doubled down on the company, reaffirming its price valuation as 650 a share- although Monday it opened down well under 600. Our view? Buy more and thank us in December (actually well before). 

 

 

ENGLAND ADVANCES!

 The lads came through in Miami, with your humble blogger present and cheering them on. 2-1 over a very game Norway team. 

WE HAVE A NEW JUDGE ON THE 3RD DCA .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

"A MOOSE IS NOT A BEAVER"*

CONGRATULATIONS TO NEWLY APPOINTED THIRD DCA JUDGE THOMAS REBULL .....

Governor DeSantis has finally appointed Judge Thomas Rebull to replace retired Third District Court of Appeal Judge Kevin Emas.

Congratulations to Judge Rebull.

It only took 115 days, countless unanswered emails and telephone calls, and a Petition for Writ of Mandamus filed in the Florida Supreme Court by the ACLU of Florida before the Governor complied with the constitutional duty he swore to uphold.

Judge Kevin Emas retired on March 31, 2026. Earlier, on March 17, the Third DCA Judicial Nominating Commission had certified six nominees to Governor DeSantis.

Article V, Section 11(c) of the Florida Constitution could not be clearer:

"The governor shall make the appointment within sixty days after the nominations have been certified to the governor."

Sixty days came and went.

No appointment.

Your humble CAPTAIN JUSTICE then began asking a very simple question:

Why?

Blog posts were written. (They can be read here and here.)

Emails were sent.

Telephone calls were made.

Voice messages were left.

General Counsel David Axelman and Assistant General Counsel Taylor Gustafson—who oversees judicial appointments—never responded.

Not once.

With no explanation forthcoming, Captain Justice contacted the ACLU of Florida and asked that it consider filing a Petition for Writ of Mandamus to require compliance with the Florida Constitution.

The ACLU agreed.

Judge Kevin Emas agreed to serve as the petitioner.

The lawsuit was filed on June 30, 2026.

The Florida Supreme Court promptly ordered Governor DeSantis to respond within ten days, setting a deadline of Friday, July 10, at 5:00 p.m.

The handwriting was on the wall.

Earlier today, Governor DeSantis finally appointed Judge Thomas Rebull to the Third District Court of Appeal.

Then, at approximately 4:30 p.m.—just before the Supreme Court's deadline—General Counsel David Axelman and Assistant General Counsel Taylor Gustafson filed the Governor's response.

Did they acknowledge that the constitutional deadline had been missed?

Did they apologize?

Did they explain why the Governor ignored the Constitution for nearly two months beyond the deadline?

No.

Instead, they asked the Supreme Court to dismiss Judge Emas' petition as moot because the Governor had "already" made the appointment.

Problem solved.

Nothing to see here.

Move along.

What an extraordinary way to defend a missed constitutional deadline.

Congratulations again to Judge Thomas Rebull. By all accounts, he will make an outstanding appellate judge.

We also understand that Judge Rebull is presently drafting a letter to Captain Justice. We imagine it goes something like this:

Dear Captain Justice:

Thank you for your tireless service to Florida's legal community. Nobody keeps a closer eye on judicial appointments and judicial elections than Captain Justice. We especially appreciate your continuing coverage of "The Name Game."

Thank you for refusing to let this constitutional deadline disappear into the Tallahassee bureaucracy. Had you not continued asking uncomfortable questions, writing blog posts, sending emails, making telephone calls, and ultimately involving the ACLU, I might still be waiting.

As a newly appointed judge, I promise to do something my appointing authority failed to do for 115 days: faithfully follow the Constitution that I have sworn to uphold.

Sincerely,

Thomas Rebull

(Editor's Note: The preceding letter may contain slight embellishments.)

Now we turn our attention to the Governor's next four judicial appointments: two Circuit Court vacancies (Judges Marcia Caballero and Jose Rodriguez) and two County Court vacancies (Judges Yara Klukas and Jason Reding Quinones).

The constitutional deadline is July 19.

We'll see whether the Constitution matters this time.

*"A moose is not a beaver" may be the greatest opening line ever written in a Motion to Dismiss.

The quote comes from litigation filed by Buc-ee's against the owners of the Mickey Mart chain of convenience stores in Ohio. Buc-ee's claims trademark infringement because Mickey Mart's logo features... a moose. (Buc-ee is a Beaver).

Counsel for Mickey Mart responded with the immortal observation:

"A moose is not a beaver."

Sometimes, lawyers really do write the best comedy.

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

REBULL APPOINTED TO 3RD

 Judge Rebull was appointed to the 3rd District Court of Appeals by the Governor on Friday. 

ZOOMING IN MIAMI

 This is an only in Miami story. 

Miami Courts had zoom. 

Then we did not. 

Now we do, but......

In the infinite wisdom of the leaders of our court system, we have zoom only as long as the Court does not tell anyone the zoom addresses of any judge. 

Yes, you read that right. They REMOVED the Zoom information/ directory from the Miami-Dade Court website. 

So you can in theory Zoom. But the Court system will not tell you the Zoom address you need. 

So then we thought we'd just post the directory here. But then we thought far be it from us to be a thorn in the side of the Court administration. You know us: "Go along and get along" That's our motto. No muckrakers we. 

So should we post the stupid directory or not? 

Meanwhile there is a race to greet and welcome visitors at the REGJB. 

The Clerk says Hello: 

Not to be outdone, our chief judge (and anti-zoom zealot? We mean, do they remove the zoom directory from the website without her okey dokey? Just wonderin...) wants to welcome the rogues gallery of REGJB visitors as well: 

So come visit the lobby of the REGJB! There is so much to do. Pose for selfies besides the bust of Richard Gerstein, look at the CJ poster, and then the Clerk's poster- with that finger pointing! That was made for a social media selfie if we ever saw one. And then stroll down the hall, past the elevators and pop into El Chapo cafe for a colada. Oh wait, never mind. It's cerrado. 

Fun fact: When we took the first pic of the CJ poster, we noticed a distinctively Rumpolian silhouette in the reflection. We have come so far in protecting our identity and were almost undone by a mocking post of the court administration, which if you think about it would have been poetic justice. But alas, to the chagrin of the powers that be, we live to Blog another day. 

GO USA SOCCER! We got a healthy ESP/USA parlay working as we write this.  And congrats to our lads who won on the Mexican pitch. Can a Rumpole seat at the Norway/England match this weekend in Miami be in the works? Well, first we need to win our parlay to afford the price of the ducats. And then we need to locate a prime pair. Email us if you have some you want to sell at a decent price. 

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

 Happy Fourth of July.  

America has had some ups and downs along the way to 250 Independence Days. And the lesson is that we always bounce back. 

We were going to write a snarky, Rumpolian critique of the Declaration of Independence. But then we decided to shelve that brilliant piece of commentary for the moment and reveal something more compelling on the Fourth:  OUR WORLD-FAMOUS CHILI RECIPE. 

Yes, after decades of blogging and fending off bribes of all sorts, we decided to share with you blog readers the chili recipe guaranteed to make your guests ask for second and third chili-dogs. 

The first part is the secret. Shhhsh. 

Lightly oil a cast-iron skillet and once hot pout in one cup of all-purpose flour. Reduce heat until the flour turns brown and there's a nutty flavor to it. Pour into a bowl and set aside. 

Use one to two pounds of chop meat (or more depending on the size of your crowd.) (Today, with bounce-back wagers on England, USA, and Portugal, we are using wagyu beef.)  

Sweat some chopped onions and shallots and add the beef and brown. Add a few tablespoons of tomato paste until the beef has a red hue.  There should be a decent amount of fatty juice- pour into a bowl and reserve. Once the beef is almost done begin adding scoops of the browned flour. The mixture will immediately thicken. Begin adding back the beef juices and continue to add the flour. Once the beef juices are fully incorporated, add a quarter cup of chicken broth. Continue adding flour and chicken broth on a low heat until the chili forms a smooth pudding-like appearance. (Pictures to follow shortly) 

This is a classic Texas Chili- no beans. But feel free to add beans; cooking should be about creativity and what makes you happy, the best rules to follow are ....none. Enjoy! 

Season as you wish. We use ancho-chili powder, tomatillo sauce from a jar (fresh tomatillos are also delicious and we use them when we remember to buy them) and various canned chili peppers, pouring in the juice with the chilis. Want to be radical? Add a half a can of beer, or more! 

Cover on lowest heat and let sit a few hours. Turn heat all the way off after about 45 minutes. 

Cook your dogs and burgers and generously ladle on the chili, along with cheddar cheese, raw onions, and enjoy with a cold beer. Lately (since January 1 actually) we have been enjoying the Athletic brand of non-alcoholic beers. 

In our gym the other day we sparked a heated debate over the use of ketchup on hot dogs. Rumpole does a line of ketchup, a line of mustard, and a thin sliced pickle on a seeded bun. 

Happy Fourth of July.  

CRANCH AND MORE

WORLD CUP UPDATE: Just when all seemed lost, cometh the moment, cometh the man -England's brilliant striker Harry Kane at the 74-minute mark tied the match ⚽with          CR Congo, and an entire (small island) nation exhaled. 1-1.  

AND Harry Kane did it again! Scoring the go-ahead goal ⚽and the lads advance and will travel to Mexico to play the home-town hombres this weekend. NB: Harry Kane has now scored more world cup goals ⚽ than the legendary GOAT Pele! ⚽

Rest assured we are watching every moment. These Congoians (???) play some tough D- like the 86 Bears or 75 Steelers. 

Happy July 1! We are still around (for now). More on this in the coming days. 

July First is, as everybody knows, Bobby Bonilla day! The NY Mets signed Bonilla to a five-million-dollar contract in 1999 and Bonilla agreed to defer his money until starting in 2011 at which point the Mets have for every year paid Bobby B 1.93 million dollars. The deferment payments continue until 2035.  Not a bad deal.

Here's our take on the 14 Amendment Birthright Citizenship decision. 

First, a ton of history. CJ John Roberts starts with a lengthy exposition on England, the colonies, and who was a citizen and how they became one. Both the majority and dissenting opinions quote a lot from decisions in the Cranch legal reporter, as well as every justice who wrote an opinion quoted Fredrick Douglass, both his books and speeches to support their own reasoning. Recall that the 14th Amendment was enacted to confirm citizenship to Black Americans who had been slaves. Douglass's words about the amendment confirming not conferring citizenship on former slaves are very persuasive. 

Which is why we think the dissents of Justice Thomas and Alito carry the day. Their reasoning that the 14 Amendment provided citizenship to a group of people born in the United States who were domiciled in this country and owed no allegiance to foreign powers simply makes more sense in both the historical and current context.  

When you read all the opinions, much is made of what does and does not constitute the establishment of a domicile- the kind of late-night arguments we envision occurring in the comfy wood-paneled law offices of legal sharpies who work on top of a garage.  So read the opinions for everything you wanted to know about the law of establishing a domicile, and more. 

Now the more reactive and less learned of our readers will react with outrage of our support for the dissents. "How could you say (fill in the blank) is not a citizen?"  They were born here and blah blah blah." 

The more educated readers will understand that our opinion is not an expression of anti-immigration sentiment. We are firmly of the belief that we are a country of immigrants (other than Native Americans) and that we are stronger because of it. 

But on the legal question of whether the 14th Amendment confers citizenship on someone who simply happens to be born here- like in the case of birth tourism- Thomas and Alito got it right (as much as it pains us to say it). Roberts got it wrong, and Kavanaugh punted with his narrow concurrence on a 1940's statute being the reason the executive order was wrong and the reason to uphold the New Hampshire District Court's decision. 

The Supreme Court Term is over, and like them, we are planning our summer sojourns to far flung areas of the planet. Whether we return for the first Monday in October is an entirely different discussion.