COVID-19 ADVISORY #742,312 -

Rumpole Update: This is a comment that we received that sort of levels the playing field. Things are not always what they seem. 

Paul's e-mail is a little misleading. The judge chose to move forward with a Zoom PVH under the authority of the recent decision by the Third in the Clarington case. Mr. Cariglio objected and said that he and his client had a right to be present in the courtroom (he later also requested that the ASA be required to be present in the courtroom). After that objection and request by Mr. Cariglio, the judge ordered corrections to bring the defendant and for Mr. Cariglio to appear. Mr. Cariglio said it was not ideal but he would be willing to appear in person and also stated that he had been dining out at restaurants during the pandemic The hearing was reset so everything could be arranged. All this to say, its not giving the full picture to claim that the judge decided to conduct an in person hearing over Mr. Cariglio's objection. The judge ordered a Zoom PVH and Mr. Cariglio demanded he and his client be allowed to appear in person. None of this, however, negates the fact that the judiciary should closely examine the decision whether to conduct trials under the circumstances. 

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

COVID-19 ADVISORY #742,312

Regular readers of the BLOG know that we have been posting in the Comments section every time we receive one of these "advisories" from Eunice Sigler, the Communications Director for the 11th Judicial Circuit.

Today, we were alerted to some very disturbing information shared on the FACDL List Serv by Paul Petruzzi. We asked Paul for permission to re-print the information and he encouraged us to do so. Here is what Paul wrote in its entirety:

So, many of you know I share space with Jerry Cariglio. Our office also has staff and a lawyer with health conditions that place them at greater risk for serious complications were they to contract Covid. As an office, we have all been very careful to avoid exposing ourselves and then the rest of the office. Over Jerry’s objection, Judge Fernandez decided to conduct a PVH in person rather than waiting for things to become more safe. The hearing started yesterday and was to resume today. It won’t resume today because the bailiff tested positive for Covid. In the meantime, Jerry had very close contact with the bailiff for several hours yesterday and now has had contact with half the people in our office suite. I encourage the judicial powers that be in state court to rethink their current plans. Paul P.

Needless to say, the feedback on the List Serv was swift and directly to the point.  Judge Soto and Judge Sayfie need to take a long hard look at the decision to resume jury trials on March 1, 2021.  There must be an absolute standing Order signed by Chief Judge Soto that directs all Circuit and County Court Judges to permit the attorney of record to be granted a continuance if they do not feel comfortable appearing for trial in person.

This is a matter of "life and death".

CAPTAIN OUT .......

Captain4Justice@gmail.com

COVID CHRISTMAS UPDATE

 We have a vaccine that probably works. * But things are going to be worse before they are better. 

Item One:  a new strain of the Covid19 virus is racing through England. As with all variants of a virus, this new strain has a genetic fingerprint that makes it easy to identify. The belief is that the new strain is easier to transmit. There is a small amount of data that indicates the new strain is just a simple mutation that is no more deadly than any other strain of Covid19. There is almost no data as to whether the vaccine protects against the new strain. That data will come from England as health officials monitor those who have been vaccinated. If people with the vaccine contract Covid19 5% of the time or less, than the vaccine will protect against the new strain. If 50% of the people vaccinated contract the new strain of Covid19, then it's a whole new ballgame. 

Parts of England have been placed on a Tier IV lockdown, meaning that bars and restaurants are closed, as are most public places, and visitation among households is not allowed. For the hardest hit areas, the ban on visitation extends to Christmas day. 

Europe, no big fan of the UK these days anyway because of Brexit, is shutting down travel with England. The Chunnel between England and France is shut. Ireland, Italy, France, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, Israel, and Saudi Arabia have banned flights from the UK for any passengers other than returning nationals.  Governor DeSantis of Florida invited all of London to Miami, and told them they could leave their mask at home. 

Item Two: California Hospitals are full. We are seeing the aftereffects of people mingling during Thanksgiving. While no patients are being turned away, hospitals are turning operating rooms and garages into Covid19 treatment centers. What this means is that if Americans celebrate the upcoming Christmas and New Years holidays by socializing with each other, than we will see yet another rise in infections and death the end of January. Welcome to 2021. 

Item Three: There are rumblings that the President should impose martial law. There are suggestions being made at the highest levels that the military will "re-run" the election in several close states that the President lost. A republican Congressman (Matt Gatez, Rep., Sleaze, Florida) and a Republican Senator Elect from Alabama, former Football Coach and noted constitutional scholar Tommy Tuberville plan to challenge Congress certifying the results of the electoral college in January. 

Here's how this plays out. The 117th Covid Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2021. On January 6, 2021, Congress meets to count and certify the votes of the electoral college. "The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President." Article II, Sect. I. "Unless the person is a Democrat..." Article II, Sect I, Republican/QAnaon Constitution of the United States of Trump.

If any Congressmember objects to a State's total, then a Senator needs to object as well. If a senator (like Tuberviille)  objects to the State's total, then both chambers of Congress must debate the objection for a maximum of two hours. For an objection to be sustained, both chambers of Congress must vote by a majority to sustain the objection. 

After the objections are debated and voted on, the electoral votes are read out, and Vice President Mike Pence, newly vaccinated and the presiding officer of the Senate will declare the winners of the election. Then the VP will crawl back under the rock he crawled out from. 

Then there will be an inaugural, and on that day, January 20, 2021, Former President Trump will file papers as a candidate for the 2024 presidential election, which will allow his campaign to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. Unless he gets the new strain of the Covid19 from England, and loses his voice for good. 

* We say that the vaccines "probably" work, because it is a truism of vaccine investigation that you really need data from over three million people before getting a very good statistical view on the vaccine's effectiveness and side-effects. That data takes about three to five years. So we are still feeling our way with this new group of vaccines. For example, no one knows how long the vaccine will provide protection for. The only way data on that will be available is when previously vaccinated people get infected with Covid19. So here is what Rumpole says: Once you get vaccinated, be safe. Still wear your mask in public. Practice social distancing, which for a misanthropic blogger like us is easy,  continue to wash your hands and avoid crowds. 

MONDAY MODERNA GOOD NEWS

 Good Monday morning. It's the middle of November and a Cat 5 hurricane is exploding in the Caribbean- not that global warming is real or anything. The virus numbers in the US are waaaaay up and we will try and find some good news. 

First, your Miami Dolphins won convincingly on Sunday, continuing their streak to 5-0.  The Bills lost, and the Dolphins are in the hunt for a playoff spot. 

Second, Moderna, which uses the same virus platform as Pfizer, reported their interim phase three results and like Pfizer's, they were outstanding. Only five people of the 30,000 who were in the study, who received the vaccine, tested positive for Covid-19. That's a better protection rate than the Pfizer vaccine. The Moderna vaccine can be kept in a refrigerator for thirty days, which is better than the Pfizer vaccine which needs to be stored at -80 degrees Fahrenheit.  Moderna will have 20 million vaccines available by the end of 2020, enough to inoculate 10 million people, as like Pfizer's vaccine, the vaccine is administered in a two-dose therapy. 

Meanwhile we face a dark winter before spring and summer. Close to two hundred thousand Americans are getting Covid-19 every day. Remember when 50,000 a day was frightening? And people are dying at an alarming rate. Hospitals in Texas, Arizona, Ohio, and Tennessee are at or near capacity. The Dakotas are overwhelmed. This it NOT the flu, and Covid19 kills young and old alike. Meanwhile Florida allows people to congregate in bars and restaurants and Florida judges are pushing to try cases. It is insane. Count us in as someone who will REFUSE to attend court in person until we receive the vaccine. Period. 

For those few of you who do not follow us on Twitter @Justicebuilding, you missed our tweet this weekend. It is rare that we make specific reference to an individual. We tend to think big picture. But we are aware of one person who typifies the problems all of us are facing. He contracted Covid19. He subsequently was informed that he will be fired in January, and simultaneously will be losing his place of residence for the last four years. Send him you best thoughts and wishes. 

His name is Donald J. Trump. 

CASSIUS AND THE SECOND WAVE

 Every ten days a million Americans are infected with Covid19. Salt Lake City has a positivity rate of 22%. That means if you get on an aeroplane with 300 people, 60 of them have Covid. Fly the infected skies. 

On Wednesday Florida had 5,837 new cases. As we have explained before, that number can reach ten thousand in the blink of a Republican Governor's mask-less eye. 

There are almost 60.000 Americans hospitalized for Covid19 and that means that many hospitals are full. Perhaps this does not bother you because you are staying home and socially isolating and there is little chance you will get the virus. Good luck if your appendix bursts, or you have a cardiac incident or a car slams into you while you are jogging by yourself at night. 

And consider this. There will be an increase in 2021 of cancer deaths because when hospitals are overwhelmed, people do not follow up on preventive testing like colonoscopies, or mammograms.

All in all things are not looking great. 

And then there is the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 

A more dastardly  villain lurks just out of sight. 

Forget for a moment that President Trump will not concede the election.  Consider this- the things the president are saying are causing large number of Americans to question the validity of the election, despite the fact that there is almost no evidence of any voter fraud, and zero evidence of widespread voter fraud. 

What this means is that Senator McConnell will be able to delegitimize  the presidency of Joe Biden. Like he did with President Obama, McConnell will be empowered to block most of Biden's programs, judicial appointments, and generally engage in four years of obstructionist actions. McConnell's actions will not be widely condemned, because many Americans will not view Biden as legitimately elected because Trump will be beating his "the presidency was stolen from me" Twitter-drum every day.  

In other words, Senator McConnell is using the actions of Trump and the gullibility of wide swarths of the American public to assist him in his own power grab.  

When you consider the evil of the Trump White House and you look for villains, look for the one who knows better and still plays along. He is lurking just offstage and out of sight.

There's your Cassius (Julius Caesar) or Claudius (Hamlet). He's the majority leader of the Senate. 

PFIZER TO THE RESCUE

 First the bad news. The numbers across the US, Florida AND Miami-Dade are up. Ominously for Miami-Dade, the positivity rate leapt from 5% to 7% and anything above 5% is PELIGROSO with a capital P. We trust Judges Sayfie, Soto and Bailey know that such an increase requires them to seriously consider halting plans to bring jurors and witnesses and judges and staff and lawyers back into the often-scrubbed REGJB. 

Soto to Sayfie to Bailey is not Tinkers to Evers to Chance "words that are heavy with nothing but trouble"  but it has a nice rhyme to it. 

US Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced early Monday morning that it's Covid19 vaccine is 90% effective with no serious side-effects seen in the early data. A 90% effective vaccine puts the vaccine in the top the level of effective vaccines like the vaccine against mumps and measles. Careful readers of the blog have discerned that Rumpole has repeatedly said that Pfizer would be first to get a vaccine approved as unlike Moderna, Pfizer has vast experience in bringing vaccines to market. Moderna has none. In response to this great news, the Dow futures are up 1,500+ points. 

Pfizer will ask the FDA for emergency use authorization by the end of November. However, because the vaccine news came after the election, President Trump, along with firing Dr. Fauci will be defunding the FDA and all food and drug approvals are being sent to the Four Seasons Total Landscaping firm in Philadelphia- taking care of Philly lawns since 1992. 

 Uno problemo - Pfizer's vaccine must be kept at -80 degrees, meaning the 100 million doses to be distributed will need mucho dry ice. Segundo, the vaccine must be administered in two doses veintiuno dias apart (21 days apart).  But as John Lennon said, there are no problems, only solutions. 

Please look for our on-line petition to have legal bloggers vaccinated first. We will post it shortly. 

Meanwhile, although global warming is a democratic fiction right up there with Biden winning Georgia, Miami has a snow-day as a hurricane churns off the Florida Keys in November. ETA -which is named as such as we went through all 26 letters of the alphabet with named storms and turned to the Greek Alphabet, will enter the Gulf, and much like the magic bullet- will stop- turn 90 degrees, and head back towards Florida, because as we tweeted in our award winning twitter feed @Justicebuilding, Florida voted for Trump, and we believe in Karma. 

Let's end on a high note- YOUR MIAMI DOLPHINS ARE FOR REAL! They took it to the Arizona Cardinals on the road, came away with a win, and may well be headed for the Playoffs. With a hot new QB, a great coach, and an outstanding D and the Cheaters in New England flailing without their cheating QB who got spanked on national TV Sunday night, the future is bright for the Aqua and Orange. 

WHY PHASE TWO DOES NOT MATTER

 As a young man returning from Vietnam, John Kerry appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1975 and famously said "how do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam?"

We pose this questions to the Chief Judges of Florida: "How do you ask a lawyer or juror or trial judge or clerk to die for a trial?"

Because "Phase Two" is just a phrase that is meaningless in a pandemic. The so called "good news" coming from Judicial Circuits and Counties across Florida is that various counties are entering Phase Two is nothing but an artificially created term.  For Courts, Phase Two is defined as 

No confirmed or suspected cases of COVID‐19 in the court facility within a 14‐day  period; or if confirmed or suspected cases have occurred in the court facility, deep  cleaning and disinfecting of exposed areas and applicable employee self‐quarantine  actions have been implemented.  2. Rescission of local and state restrictive movement and/or stay‐at‐home orders. 3. Improving COVID‐19 health conditions over a 14‐day period in the community,  including conditions such as the number of confirmed COVID‐19 cases and related  deaths in relation to a community’s population density, downward trajectory of  positive tests as a percent of total tests, size of particularly vulnerable populations,  and availability of medical facilities including emergency and intensive care capacity.  4. Adequate testing programs in place, increased availability of COVID‐19 tests, and  emerging antibody testing. 

Here is the problem: On September 11, 2020 Florida registered 3,650 cases. There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. One statistic is that the number on 9/11 is a 66% reduction from the high point of infections. But the other way of looking at it is that 3,650 souls on ONE DAY got infected with a disease which can and will kill some of them. And a similar amount were infected the day before and a similar amount will be infected the day after. By the time you read this, more than 10,000 Floridians will be newly infected with Covid-19. Yipee! The numbers are falling- except tens of thousands of people are still being infected every week. These are not the conditions under which it is safe to bring people back into aging Courthouses. Does anyone realize YOU CANNOT OPEN A WINDOW IN THE REGJB OR FAMILY COURT OR JUVENILE COURT? 

Feel like picking six? 

Full disclosure: Judge Soto has repeatedly made it clear that Miami will move very slowly and the announcement of phase two does not equal restarting the jury trial engine. Good for her. But this post is not aimed at just Miami-Dade, although Mr. Markus reported on his blog Tuesday that Judge Moore is sniffing around re-starting Federal Court sooner than January 2021. Nothing in this post is meant to imply criticism of the Miami -Dade State court Judges making this decision. This is a critique of Phase Two- it is meaningless. 

THE VIRUS IS SPREAD BY AEROSOLS: 

The CDC and WHO are resisting what science is telling the world- that the virus is spread by aerosols. Which means 1) Deep cleaning is mostly meaningless. The CDC now recognizes that "fomite transmission" (contact with objects) of Covid-19 is rare. A study of handwashing in England showed a slight decrease in infections; 2) Six feet separation as a safety measure is a fraud.  Six foot separation protects from droplet infection which occurs only when someone coughs or sneezes. No coughing or sneezing makes 6 foot separation meaningless. 

What the CDC and WHO do not want to acknowledge is that Covid-19 is spread by aerosols, not droplets. Aerosols are much smaller than droplets. Whereas gravity affects a droplet (like a cough or a sneeze) and brings it to the ground within moments, an aerosol containing Covid-19 can linger in the air for up to eight hours. 

To understand the scale of aerosols, the diameter of a human hair is about 80 microns, and aerosols smaller than about 50 microns can float in the air long enough to be inhaled. SARS-CoV-2 is only 0.1 microns in diameter, so there is room for plenty of viruses in aerosols.

Imagine a building full of hundreds of people exhaling aerosols smaller than what a mask can trap. How do you get around? It doesn't matter if you only allow one person in an elevator at a time- the aerosols from the last dozen people are in the air. Who wants to sit in a courtroom with 30, 40, 50 members of venire breathing out aerosols that can kill you? It only takes one asymptomatic person to infect a room. 

ER Doctor: I am sorry to tell you that you have Covid-19 and we have to put you on a ventilator.

Lawyer: Cough...cough...please...cough...run another...cough cough ....test. I cannot be ....positive...cough....I was only ....cough...in Court....cough cough cough...after they declared....cough cough ....phase two. How....cough cough...can I have gotten .....cough cough ...sick? 

One need only look at what is happening on college campuses across the country to understand that the simple fact of this disease is that it infects people when they are brought together and social distancing and handwashing and deep cleaning does  not stop transmission of infections. 

And one thing we know for sure is that Covid-19 cares not that a Chief Judge in Podunk County declares Phase Two for the County. 

What aerosol infections mean is that Phase two is meaningless. It is simply NOT SAFE to be inside around people who are breathing. If your judge promises to hold their breath during the hearing, then maybe. But otherwise, as difficult as this is for the Court System of Florida, it is not safe to hold in person hearings and trials until there is quick testing (five minutes or less) AND a safe an effective vaccine. Under those circumstances, a person seeking to enter a courthouse needs to take a five minute test and have been vaccinated. 

Only then will it be safe for people to appear in court. 

Until then, who wants to die for a jury trial? 

LET'S PICK SIX

BREAKING And this is big. You should sit down for this. Now steady yourself for some really really big news. 

That new Florida Grand Theft Statute that raises the threshold for a felony to $750 bucks? Well the 5th DCA has said it is...steady now...RETROACTIVE! 45 FLW D2088. 

 And if the defendant has not been sentenced the case MUST be transferred to County Court.  The circuit court has no...zero...zip...nada...jurisdiction. You can stick out your tongue at your favourite circuit judge and tell them there is nothing they can do with the case. Enjoy. (h/t to Judge De La O who sent a memo to inter alia FACDL, who shared it with us. Apparently Judge De La O is the one person in Miami who reads the FLWs). 

Query- doesn't jurisdiction flow downward? Can't a misdemeanor be handled in circuit court? We always thought so, but we have always been in the minority. And if we are wrong does that mean possession of an undersized Snook cannot be attached to a murder indictment if the crimes are related? 

LETS PICK SIX

 Lots of email and putative comments that Jury trials are back in October and everyone needs to get their trial suits on. 

Just hold on a second before pulling out those juror seating charts. 

There are a lot of moving parts here. We have to enter phase two and that means that the virus numbers need to continue to fall. Do you have any faith that the good and responsible citizens of Miami Dade County are not going to be reckless this weekend?  Judging by the pictures sent to us  of covidiot mask-less groups of  people at parks, beaches, golf courses, bocce courts, and social gathering spots, we have no faith these numbers will fall. 

Even if we do enter phase two there are a lot of issues to resolve. Masks in court or not? Will jurors come? Who pays for the hand wash and does the building need to be cleared if someone on Six sneezes? 

This we know- there are no good options for getting around. Elevators are out. And for our money so are enclosed stairwells with a bunch of out of shape lawyers huffing and puffing out covid infected aerosols as they walk from two to four. And unless we have escalator monitors, no one wants to be crowded on those and if we do have escalator monitors then there will be lines and no one wants those. 

So we are not running out to Hart Schaffner & Marx or Barneys to buy some new trial suits just yet. 

What we do know is that Judges are working and planning for the day when they can turn to their bailiff and confidently say "bring me a panel". 

Personally we believe that should not be until there is either a vaccine or a ten minute test, or preferably both. 

To dispel the rumors that seem to be arising from meetings taking place:

1- there is no rocket docket; 2- no orders demanding judges try a certain number of cases a week have been or will ever be issued.  After all, we are not Broward. 

There are planning sessions and meetings that have been and will continue to take place. 

And that is how it should be. Failing to plan is planning to fail. 

And with that we bid you adieu and wish you a safe and socially distant holiday weekend. A few drinks? Sure! In a Bar? Surely not. 

FOR WANT OF A NAIL AND A MASK

First as to Governor Ron No Mask DeSantis. We thought our post about Mr. 3000  on June 19, 2020 was sad but appropriate. Florida had hit 3000 new cases a day. On June 20 Florida hit 4000 a day and we posted Mr. 4000. Five days later on June 25 Florida hit 5000 new Covid19 cases a day and things were looking bad.  A week after that Florida topped 10,000 new cases a day and our Governor said "everything was fine" and that the rate has "stabilized" as if 10,000 new Floridians getting sick every day with a virus that could kill them was fine at that level. Well, we had no idea. This weekend Florida set the nationwide record for new cases in one day: over 15,000!  We're #1 baby with a bullet! And our Governor? Still will not require people to wear masks in public.

They are calling Miami the "New Wuhan". 

The Governor will not require people to wear masks in Florida. It brings to mind this ancient proverb:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail

For want of a mask a person got sick.
For want of a mask his family got sick.
For want of a mask his family  infected five other families.
For want of mask those five families infected their neighborhood.
For want of a mask that neighborhood infected a city.
For want of a mask that city infected a region.
For want of a mask that region infected Florida.
For want of a mask Florida infected the nation.
For want of a mask the nation infected the world. 
And all for the want of a governor that will ask people to wear masks in public. 
What a complete brainless asshole he is. 

It's true we added a few lines to the original proverb. Especially the last one. 
But if the (horse)shoe fits...

A MATTER OF NUMBERS

On May 14, Governor DeSantis (R, Bizarro-Land)'s stay at home order expired. It was Part-tee time in Flor-reee-dah! There were 680 new cases a day of Covid being diagnosed in the Sunshine State. And the end was near. Or at least as Churchill famously said, it may not be the beginning of the end, but it was certainly the end of the beginning. 
Now a month later into this liberal-Democratic anti-Trump- just like a bad flu- don't tell me to wear no mask- virus, Florida has 2,783 new cases a day. Yahoo! Who says science don't work? 

Just to put these numbers in context, at the "height" of the pandemic, Florida on April 1, 2020 had 1,575 new cases. Way to go low Ron!

 Not.

So you are asking..."What does this mean for me?" Well it means that we are 2,783 people a day from getting to a point where courts can open and we can have jury trials so prosecutors can slink out of the REGJB after another Rumpolian NG. Well actually, our reasoning is a bit off. What we need is a steady decrease of new cases, not what we like to call the Ronny-D Spike.   So much for opening back up safely. Sanely. Scientifically. 

I shot an arrow in the air
It fell to earth I know not where 
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

For so swiftly the DeSantis virus numbers flew high in flight 
I could not follow it with sight
Someone breathed a Covid droplet in the air 
It fell on a passerby who went I know not where 
For who has sight so strong and keen 
It can follow the mist of Covid 19? 

Long long afterward on South Beach
I found the passerby drinking in  a breach
And the virus whose numbers grew 
I found more sick people that I knew 
(Horace Rumpole,  h/t to H.W. Longfellow).

COVID UPDATE AND ZOOM ISSUES

If you practice federal law and you are not getting Henry Bell's Corona Tonight email updates, you are missing a super-quality email updated with memos, motions, and orders from around the county. 

And we should recognize the work he is doing in keeping lawyers in this district on the cutting edge of Compassionate Release and virus related litigation. Well done Mr. Bell. Well done indeed. 

The hallmark of this blog is our willingness to take a stand, make a prediction, and make it in a public forum. Our astounding success rate in picking NFL games lo this past decade and more is evidence of the prognostication powers of this blog's author. 

There will be no Covid-19 successful vaccine in 2020. There probably will not be a successful Covid-19 vaccine until the fall of 2021 at the earliest. There never may be a successful vaccine.  Kindly act accordingly.  Covid-19 is a virus. A virus is an exceptionally hard target for a vaccine. Some virus's resist all vaccines. The Flu vaccine is about 50% effective in any year because the virus changes so much. The good news is Covid-19 is a relatively stable target. The bad news is that relatively stable viruses like, say, herpes, have resisted all vaccine attempts for decades. 

Sooooooo, as we perambulate throughout Miami, and see legions of walkers and runners in Key Biscayne not wearing masks and similar behaviors on the beaches and boardwalks throughout South Florida,  we are left with the inescapable conclusion that tougher times are ahead. 

Miami Courts are admirably working towards opening and reestablishing jury trials. However, are there work groups considering how to keep the courts running if we get hit with a worse second wave in four to six months? We do not think so. 

A word to our robe wearing readers- you are working to open the courts assuming the best- please start assuming the worst: That there will be no treatment, no vaccine, and a second worse wave in October and November. Unlike the executive branch of the State and Federal government, our judicial branches- state and federal-  have inspired confidence in their work, dedication and consideration of medicine and science. Thank you for that. But we remained concerned that, as February and March of this year showed, there is no plan for re-closing the courts when a second wave strikes. Please advise. 

Personally, the first time we qualify for the Boston Marathon, they cancel it. C'est la vie. 

Mr. Ovalle and the Herald have an article about the limitations of Zoom. From unintended backgrounds to shirtless interlopers walking in camera view, there is only so much that can be accomplished by Zoom. We are not big fans. We like staring into the eyes of a witness. Watching where their eyes dart when hit with an unexpected question. See a prosecutor squirm in her seat- or even better seeing two prosecutors arguing with each other as we lob question after question at the witness, the legal equivalent of shock and awe- the tactics that bring legions of lawyers to watch our trials when they know Rumpole is about to rise for the defense. 

Have a safe weekend. Wear a mask and stay far away from us por favor. 

WHY SWEDEN IS FAILING

In support of arguments to re-open society, people point to Sweden- a country that did not engage in lockdowns and only asked it's citizens to practice safe social distancing. Gyms and restaurants and salons all remained open in Sweden.  In the comments sections of this humble blog, arguments flew back and forth much like the current eruption of questions by  Justice Thomas recently at Supreme Court Oral Arguments, on whether it was safe to re-open. "Sweden proves you are wrong Rumpole" is  the main thrust of our opponents argument. 

But Sweden is failing and people are dying. 

"Sweden will adjust a key corner of its strategy for dealing with Covid-19, after the death rate at care homes spiraled out of control." is part of this article on all the things going wrong in Sweden. 
Fact: The death rate of the virus in Sweden is 32 per 100,000- higher than the US and Denmark. From the article: 

Swedish gyms, schools, restaurants and shops have all remained open throughout the spread of the pandemic. The strategy has so far helped shield the economy from the worst, but Sweden’s death rate is about 32 per 100,000, compared with 24 in the U.S. and roughly 9 in neighboring Denmark.

Not locking society down has consequences, including a higher death rate and a higher infection rate amongst the most vulnerable, including the elderly. 

THE COURAGE TO SAY NO

For a decade, a rumpled man, on the far side of middle age, ambled to work alone, continually on the precipice of personal bankruptcy, and advocating a policy no one else endorsed. In his younger years, during WWI, Winston Spencer Churchill, as First Lord of Admiralty advocated the Dardanelles Campaign which was a plan to send the British fleet though the straits of Dardanelles and bombard Constantinople bringing about the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The operation failed in a spectacular manner but Churchill doubled down, calling for a landing of allied troops  on the Gallipoli peninsula. 132,000 British, Australian and New Zealand troops were injured killed before the operation ended in failure and retreat. The British people never let Churchill forget his failure in WWI. In the 1930s, as Germany rearmed, Churchill and mostly Churchill alone stood as a back bencher and warned England against the coming storm. He was ridiculed and dismissed. "Winston being Winston" was what the nicest of his critics would say. Recalling the Dardanelles campaign, no one thought Churchill could ever be trusted again to make decisions and lead England. All Churchill could achieve during those years in political wilderness  was a small increase in the production of British fighter planes to protect England against an attack most were sure would never come. Those few dozen extra planes made all the difference in 1939 as England stood alone and a few hundred young English pilots held the line and beat off the Luftwaffe and saved Western Civilization. 

There is a courage needed to stand alone when you know what is right despite everyone else saying you are wrong. We need this type of leadership now in our court system. Governor DeSantis may decide we cannot survive without the reopening of barbershops (Rumpole desperately needs a haircut), surf shops, and Bingo parlors. So be it. But we do not need to stream hundreds of people every day into a courthouse that will be the breeding ground for a second wave of Covid 19 that will devastate South Florida. We expect Broward to quickly capitulate and  throw open the courthouse doors, science be damned. But we hope Miami's Judges have more foresight, intelligence and courage. 

We need Courts and Judges, but until it is safe, we need the courthouses to remain mostly closed. We need Judges who will stand up to the Governor and not just call balls and strikes to earn conservative street cred so they can get to the 3rd DCA and beyond. 
We need Judges who say "I read the NY Times and Washington Post. I read the articles written by non-political scientists and doctors who are warning about a second wave and I will not ignore science and endanger my fellow citizens." 

Who amongst our judges will-like Churchill- stand alone and endure scorn and ridicule and do what is right? 

CINCO DE MAYO

BREAKING UPDATE: Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Canady has extended the no jury trial order until July 2, 2020. It's a start. And of course, as we all know, the easiest time to get a jury panel is two days before the 4th of July holiday, so that makes sense. Not. Canady couldn't have suspended trials until Monday July 6? Or is that too logical? Safety wise, he needs to suspend trials until the week after the Labor day holiday in September. 

Coach Shula has passed away. The idiots are congregating in parks without masks, and the government is trying to re-open. We have a lot to cover, so pay attention. 

When the news broke Monday that legendary coach Don Shula had passed away, we imagined legions of millennial lawyers and judges briefly pausing to reflect that the "guy who built that road I drive to work on died" before getting back to the serious business of selfies and Insta-whatever. 

It's not just that Shula was one of the greatest coaches of all time. It's not just that he is the only coach in the history of professional sports to coach a championship team to an undefeated season. And followed that season with another super-bowl winning season. It's not just that he is the all-time winningest coach in professional football. It is that at a time when Miami was emerging as city of national importance, Shula helped put us on the map with the Miami Dolphins of the 1970's. Professional sports teams bring an identity to a city and can sometimes carry a city through hard times. The Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970's assumed the identity of the hard steel town, bringing Pittsburgh through the recessions and the change from steel manufacturing to tech and health care. 

While Miami did not suffer those economic hard times, the Dolphins  and Shula brought to this town something that Miami never had before- a winner. And a winning attitude. Shula became more than the Miami Dolphins. He became part of us. And that, dear readers, is why there is an expressway named after him. We will examine Coach Shula's career, and perhaps the best coaching year of his career (hint- it's not the 72 undefeated season) in more detail this weekend. 

COVID 19 UPDATE:
Three thousand Americans will die every day in June from Covid-19. Two-hundred thousand new cases will be diagnosed every day in June. If you take away the declining numbers in New York, the curve in the United States is sharply rising, not falling. We are NOT on the other side of this pandemic. We are in the middle of it.

In February and March we shouted as loud as we could to close the courts and society down. Initially, no one listened. Hopefully decision makers are listening now. 
KEEP COURTS SHUT DOWN THROUGH THE END OF JULY. 
KEEP OUR CITIES AND TOWNS CLOSED.

Very simply, we tell you this. If judges open courts, if politicians open cities for dining and recreation, millions of Americans will die and our economy will be destroyed. We will be involuntarily quarantined in the fall and winter because going out will mean illness with little hope of treatment at a collapsed health-care system,  and possible death

There are some potential bright spots on the horizon. Pfizer along with Biontech, using new RNA technology, has started a small clinical vaccine trial in humans with possible approval for emergency use in the fall. BUT assuming the vaccine is successful, companies still need to scale up for the production of BILLIONS of doses of the vaccine. And that doesn't just mean securing the chemicals for the new vaccine. It means securing the glass vials for storage; securing the delivery systems for the vaccine, be it oral or with syringes. It is a monumental Apollo-type project with several thousand moving parts that must be coordinated. And coordination shouldn't be a problem with a federal government led by a smart, science oriented, motivated president who listens to scientists and makes decisions based on the best interests of all of the citizens of this country....And coordination is going to be a very big problem with no one in the federal government able, or willing to lead. 

Happy Cinco De Mayo. Have a tequilla (at home) on us. 

FINALLY, ALL MIAMI-DADE COURTHOUSES ARE CLOSED .......

Rumpole Update #2: More from Judge Sayfie:
Good morning, please see below. And feel free to post.
1. If you have an out of custody client everybody stays home. 
2. If you have an in custody client for arraignment and there are no “release” type motions or plea that will get him or her released, everybody stay home. 
3. IF IN EITHER OF ABOVE SITUATIONS  the case is still printing, and it may because this is a little messy, STAY HOME, tell your client to stay home, it will be reset in your absence. 
4. If you are walking into REG it is because there is a true emergency on your case or you will be making an argument for release or you have negotiated a plea that will get your client released. 
5. First appearances will continue as normal for now. 
Please call or email me if you have any questions. 
I am cc’ing my fellow Adm Judges in the County, DV & Juvenile. Please direct questions on those divisions to them. Thank you.  
Nushin G. Sayfie, Circuit Court JudgeAdministrative Judge of the Criminal Division

Rumpole Monday Update: Every dark cloud has it's bright lights. More than a decade of dark arts and cheating has finally come to an end and our long national nightmare is over as Cheater QB Tom Brady announces that he is leaving the Cheater Patriots. Finally life can get back to normal. 

Rumpole says get back to work!!!??? What? The foremost proponent of social distancing wants people to get back to work? Yes, under this scenario: 1) Social distancing until the end of April. Get updated virus numbers for US to ensure that the viral curve is flattening; 2) Follow China model and closely examine the use of certain antiviral drugs that China has been using. China will release those numbers shortly and if there is a response to the antiviral drugs, then people under the age of 60 should return to work as long as the US has a stockpile of the drugs. This gets the economy back on track by the summer. 

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS .....
LATEST ORDER FROM CHIEF JUDGE SOTO:

(Breaking News #2: Ohio Governor DeWine reads the Blog. His State has postponed Tuesday's primary and they are preparing to go to an all VBM [Vote By Mail] system. Governor DeSantis - read my Blog Post from this morning).

THE ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA
CASE NO. 20-1
(Court Administration)
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
NO. 20-02

IN RE: COVID-19 EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF COURT
FACILITIES TO THE PUBLIC IN THE
ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA
FROM MARCH 17-27, 2020.
_____________________________________________/
WHEREAS, Supreme Court Administrative Order No. AOSC20-13 sets forth COVID-19 Emergency Procedures in the Florida State Courts.

WHEREAS, mitigating the transmission of COVID-19 is a high priority, and due to the imminent danger posed by this severe acute respiratory illness that can spread among humans by way of respiratory transmission throughout Miami-Dade County, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court has implemented its Continuity of Operations Plan.

NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, under Rule 2.215, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration it is hereby ORDERED:

1. Public access to court facilities is permitted for First Appearances, Baker Act and Substance Abuse (Marchman Act) proceedings, Juvenile Shelter and Detention proceedings, and emergency proceedings noticed by the presiding judge.

2. Except for the above proceedings, no public access will be allowed at any of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit’s courthouses beginning Tuesday, March 17 through Friday, March 27, 2020.

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers in Miami-Dade County, Florida, this 16th of March 2020.
BERTILA SOTO, CHIEF JUDGE
ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA

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

DADE CORRECTIONS CANCELS FAMILY VISITS

Dade Corrections has canceled family visits. Well done. Attorneys may see their clients under glass. Contact the PDs office (1-800-PD NOW) to see availability of video conferencing. Broward corrections responded "Wait- people get visits in Dade Jails??"


The individual in Judge De La O's courtroom that was feeling sick is feeling better. S/he doesn't have the flu and at the hospital an X Ray was done and their lungs were clear. No Covid-19 test was done but as of Thursday afternoon their symptoms were not getting worse which is a differential diagnosis for Covid-19. Your symptoms get worse hourly. 
Rumpole recommended an IV- D5W 5% ringers lactate for hydration. 

There will be BIG news coming from Judge Soto soon (but probably not that Dade Clerks have developed an Covid vaccine). 

If Judge Soto and the 225 administrative judges put their minds to it, they can reduce by 80% the number of people attending Dade Courts every day. 

REGJB RUMORS AND FACTS

Fear is rippling through the REGJB, which is not surprising since the court system leaders completely ignored our entreaties weeks ago to scale back the court system. 
Stay tuned here and we will keep you updated. Here is what we know: 

Judge De La O declared a mistrial in a trial that began on Monday  when a person working in the courtroom became ill. That person will be tested if the flu-like symptoms continue for 48 hours. We will keep you updated on this. 

There is also an issue with Judge Benevides courtroom/staff. 

Tom Hanks has tested positive for covid-19. 

The NBA has suspended the season after a player tested positive. 

What can you do? SOCIAL DISTANCE
Work at home. Even on Wednesday as we went about our day, people tried to shake hands and hug and kiss for greetings. STAY AWAY from people. 
Control your food and beverages. No more Starbucks. No more McDonalds (or 11 Madison Park for us). Make your food at home and do not eat or drink out. 

Call Judges' chambers and ask to call in for reports. Ask for continuances for trials. DO NOT GO TO COURT UNLESS YOU HAVE TO. Our community leaders have failed to lead, so now we have to protect ourselves. 

We will be protected here in Florida. The virus does not survive in heat over 70-75 degrees. That is why winter is called cold and flu season. We are passing that season and this virus should burn out if ...IF we practice safe and common sense practices and procedures. 

JUDGE SOTO- please cancel civil court hearings that cannot be conducted by phone. NO CIVIL JURY TRIALS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. 

JUDGE SAYFIE- please cancel all criminal trials for defendants not in custody. This week there have been several misdemeanor jury trials for defendants not in custody. This is now a dangerous practice-bringing citizens of this county together to try a nonsensical case. PLEASE STOP THIS NOW. 

FLORIDA SUPREME COURT: Please issue an order suspending deadlines on cases. 

Use common sense. Watch your hands. Stay away from large social situations. This will take a month or so and things will start to trail off in the US. While you have some more time, read the blog. 

COVID-19 ADVISORY #1 - MIAMI DADE COURTS

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS .......

COVID-19 ADVISORY #1 - MIAMI DADE COURTS

COVID-19 ADVISORY #1

 

A person who has recently worked in Judge Miguel de la O’s Courtroom 4-7, and Judge Gina Beovides’ Courtroom 2-2 at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, 1351 NW 12 Street, is self-isolating and seeking medical care for flu-like symptoms. Medical professionals have advised that they will test for coronavirus COVID-19 if symptoms persist for more than 48 hours.

 

Persons who have been in either of these two court rooms or in the judicial chambers of Judge de la O (Room 413) or Judge Gina Beovides (Room 204) should follow the self-monitoring steps outlined in the Centers for Disease Control website at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/risk-assessment.html for the next 14 days:

 

• Remain alert for subjective fever, cough, or difficulty breathing.
• If they feel feverish or develop cough or difficulty breathing during the self-observation period, they should take their temperature, self-isolate, limit contact with others, and seek advice by telephone from a healthcare provider or their local health department to determine whether medical evaluation is needed.

 

Self-monitoring means people should monitor themselves for fever by taking their temperatures twice a day and remain alert for cough or difficulty breathing. If they feel feverish or develop measured fever, cough, or difficulty breathing during the self-monitoring period, they should self-isolate, limit contact with others, and seek advice by telephone from a healthcare provider or their local health department to determine whether medical evaluation is needed.

Further updates will be provided as soon as new information becomes available.

 

Please continue to visit our website www.jud11.flcourts.org and social media @miamidadecourts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for future updates.

CAPTAIN OUT ...............
captain4justice@gmail.com

INMATES IN DADE JAIL SEGREGATED FOR FLU LIKE SYMPTOMS

The Dade County jail has confirmed that it has segregated inmates in the jail for flu like symptoms. We are just guessing that the jail doesn't yet have any Covid-19 test kits. 

This story is breaking. 

EVERYWHERE YOU TURN

HAPPY FRIDAY! WE ARE FULL OF GOOD NEWS

The other day, during our perambulations through our old but cherished courthouse, we avoided the elevators as they are Covid-19 breeding and transmission havens. But as we walked up and down the stairs, everywhere we went, were door handles which are just as effective as transmitting the CV19 virus as a bondsman with a runny nose eager to shake hands. 

"It's a death trap, a suicide rap, we gotta get out while we're young, cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run..."the Boss sings in the greatest rock and roll song of all time. 

The same could be said for our courthouse, although it's too late for some of us to get out while we're young. Prediction: within two weeks there will be an outbreak traced to the REGJB and then it's good night nurse for Criminal Justice in Miami for a while.

Stats: Door handles touched:16; people who tried to shake hands: 11. Potential infection sources, including escalator handrails, stairwell handrails, podiums, and general riff-raff: too numerous to mention. 

Speaking of Courthouse news, David Ovalle @Davidovalle305 reported on the quick Guilty Verdict Wednesday in state v. Eugenio Farinas, the 76 year old gentlemen who was accused of killing City of Miami Accountant Gladys Jorge 17 years ago. Charlie Johnson presiding. Our sources tell us that the verdict was surprisingly quick despite a paucity of evidence. ASAs Kim Rivera and Marbely Hernandez did a good job bringing the verdict home for the State in nearly record time for a first degree murder case. 

FIVE OPEN SEATS ON THE CIRCUIT/COUNTY COURT BENCH .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:


MORATORIUM ON HAND-SHAKING AT ALL MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURTHOUSES .....

Our longtime faithful readers will recall this headline from August 31, 2009. At the time, our country was in the midst of another pandemic, the "swine flu (H1N1)" and we wrote this post encouraging fist pumps and elbow pumps in all Miami-Dade courthouses.  Kudos to Rumpole for his early preparation checklist posted yesterday as we all prepare for COVID-19. 

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A CIRCUIT/COUNTY COURT JUDGE .......

The 11^th Circuit JNC met and interviewed 25 attorneys to replace three County Court Judges who were recently elevated to the Circuit Court bench: Judges Christina DiRaimondo, Robert Watson and Ramiro Areces.

The JNC nominated a total of 18 attorneys for Governor DeSantis’ consideration. He will have 60 days to choose three new County Court Judges. The nominees include:

Karl Brown
Cristina Rivera Correa
Renier Diaz de la Portilla
Carlos H. Gamez
Rita Gonzalez Cuervo
Christopher Green
Marcia Hansen
Peter Heller
Kevin Hellman
Chiaka Ihekwaba
Scott M. Janowitz
Jeffrey Kolokoff
Gale Lewis
Steven Lieberman
Griska Mena
Christopher Pracitto
Patricia Salman
Craig Weissberg

Two Circuit Court Judges have announced that they are retiring from the bench. Judges Jacqueline Hogan Scola and John Schlesinger (his last day is April 3rd), notified Governor DeSantis of their intention to retire. The JNC is now accepting applications for those two open seats on the Circuit Court. You have until 5 p.m. on Monday, Mar. 16, to submit your application to:

Walter J. Harvey
School Board Attorney
The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida
1450 N.E 2nd Avenue, Suite 430
Miami, Florida 33132

SO, YOU WANT TO RUN FOR JUDGE .......

Qualifying to run for Judge takes place the week of April 20-24, 2020. With seven weeks left before the end of qualifying, so far there are a total of five contested elections - two in Circuit Court and three in County Court. Of note, in County Court, Incumbent Judges Joe Mansfield, Lody Jean, and Gordon Murray, Jr. have all drawn opposition. In Circuit Court, the only incumbent to draw opposition so far is Judge Mavel Ruiz.

GRISKA MENA - ONE WAY OR ANOTHER ........

Former ASA Griska Mena (2006-2019), currently Staff Counsel for the South Florida PBA, is determined to become a judge, one way or another. For the past few years she has repeatedly applied to the JNC for open seats on the County and Circuit Court bench. She has repeatedly been granted an interview by the JNC. She has on a few occasions been nominated by the JNC to the Governor’s office - most recently in April of 2019 when there were two open seats; November of 2019 when there were four open seats; and again in February of 2020 when there were three open seats. He name is currently before Governor DeSantis (see above).

At the same time, in June of 2019, Mena filed in Group 64 of the Circuit Court to run for judge. Clearly she was anticipating that Judge Jacqueline Hogan Scola was going to retire at the end of her current term. Unfortunately for Mena, Hogan Scola chose to retire early and informed Governor DeSantis that her last day on the bench would be March 6, 2020. Not coincidentally, as Judge Hogan Scola told me this past weekend, she always intended to end her career on that date as March 7^th is her birthday and that was a birthday gift to herself.

Of course this now means that Governor DeSantis and not the voters will chose the next judge to fill Group 64. This also means that Mena must file in a different Group if she still wants to run for judge and if she is not chosen by Governor DeSantis for an open seat herself.

By the way, Ms. Mena, you need to check your mail. According to the Division of Elections, your campaign Treasurer has failed to file the required reporting documents on several occasions. Letters were sent to you and your treasurer on November 5, January 13, and again on January 31 informing you of that. To date, Mena has raised $19,235 from 48 separate contributors.

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