BLOOM CLOTURE VOTE TONIGHT-CONFIRMATION VOTE TOMORROW

BREAKING: Sometime around 6:30 PM EDST, the senate invoked cloture on the nomination of Judge Bloom. Watching the vote on C-Span (Motto: "The natural sleep remedy") it appeared that the "Yea" vote from Senator Levin put Judge Bloom over the top (51). We erroneously reported (see below) that 60 votes were needed to invoke cloture. While that is true in general for cloture, we forgot that the Senate Democrats (Motto: "Holding on to a majority by a bare thread") previously invoked the "nuclear option" for the President's nominees and reduced the number of votes to invoke cloture from the historic sixty to fifty-one. The nuclear option does not apply to Supreme Court nominees. 
The Senate should vote on the nomination, now that cloture was invoked and there can be no filibuster, sometime tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday at the latest. 

Meanwhile, DOM's blog has the "after" picture with new Federal Judge Gayles and Judge Moreno after the CJ swore him in. 

XMLU.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress - 2nd Session as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate Vote Summary Question: On the Nomination (Confirmation Darrin P. Gayles, of Florida, to be U.S. District Judge ) Vote Number: 197 Vote Date: June 17, 2014, 11:54 AM Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Nomination Confirmed Nomination Number: PN1400 Nomination Description: Darrin P. Gayles, of Florida, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida Vote Counts: YEAs 98 NAYs 0 Not Voting 2

At 5:30 P.M., tonight, the U.S. Senate will vote for cloture.  It takes a three-fifths vote (60 votes) to invoke cloture, which places a time limit on the discussion of the vote. By invoking cloture, there can be no filibuster (literally "talk till you drop"). 

Senator Reid has set the conformation vote for several judicial nominations, including Judge Bloom's, for 11:00 AM Tuesday, meaning that by the end of tomorrow Judge Bloom will have a job for life and there will be another opening on the circuit bench in Miami. 

Good luck Judge Bloom. 

LEFT OR RIGHT?
Here's something that's been on our mind for sometime: 

When you leave the back of the REGJB to perambulate to the PD's office, which way do you go? Left, or right? 

We think that your choice says a lot about who you are. 
For us, it's always been "when in doubt, go left." 
But for others, "right is right." 

Take our poll. 

CORRIGENDUM:* 
We erroneously commented that after the conviction of disgraced former officer German Bosque that Judge De La O did not take him into custody. We were incorrect. After the verdict, Judge De La O set a $50,000.00 bond and house arrest. 
@Davidovalle305 later tweeted that Bosque was taken into custody when a bondsman refused to remain on the bond. 
A check of the Dade Corrections Website over the weekend did not turn up a German Bosque as being in custody, so some bondsman posted the bond (as surprising as that may seem). 

See You In Court. 



* We again save our robed readers the tedium of a google search. A corrigendum is a correction of a previously published article. 

ADVICE AND CONSENT AND RUMPOLE REVEALED!

UPDATE: We promised you a picture:

The Senate Judiciary Committee (motto: "Dispensing advice and consent since 1776") meets today at 10:00 AM on the nominations of Dade Judges Beth Bloom and Darrin Gayles. If they seem a little taller it's because they're standing on the shoulders of Judge Wil Thomas who paved their way. 

If the committee approves Judges Gayles and Bloom then their nomination gets sent to the whole senate for a vote sometime before 2030. 

The committee is meeting on four florida judicial nominations, two for the southern district and two for the middle district. 

Your Florida Marlins won big on opening night in Miami. 

In case you're wondering, we've never filled out a bracket for the NCAA men's basketball tournament and we never will. 

Espionage:
The NY Times reported that the Obama administration is considering releasing Jonathan Pollard who is serving a life sentence since his arrest in 1985 for spying for Israel. Should a prisoner convicted of espionage get a sentence reduction because he was spying for an ally? 


Today at noon, on 4/1/14, if you care, we will release our identity. It's about damn time we got the recognition we deserve for this blog. So tune in and be surprised. 

It's a beautiful spring week. 

See you in court. 

NO MORE DELAYS

"There's no good reason good can't triumph over evil, if only angels will get organized along the lines of the Mafia." 
Kurt Vonnegut. 

Ok. Now the Herald is getting serious. 

In light of Senator Rubio's (R. Alternate reality) refusal to allow the nomination of Judge Will Thomas  proceed to the  senate judiciary committee (Motto: "We'll get right on it") the Miami Herald Editorial Board now has it's dander up. It's feathers are ruffled over this kerfuffle,  and they've had enough dammit! 

The Herald is calling for (steady yourself) an end (gasp!) to the delays in approving judicial nominations. Through some careful reporting and sophisticated analysis, the Herald is now prepared to say that politics are behind the delays in confirming judges. And they don't like it one bit:

These delays of nomination votes have unfortunately become routine in gridlocked Washington. President Obama is hardly the first Oval Office occupant to see his federal judicial nominations languish in the Senate. But really, senators, almost two years to confirm a single judicial appointment?

The delays are driven, almost entirely, by crass partisanship. The result is U.S. District Court vacancies that go unfilled, literally, for years. That’s justice delayed, justice denied. And it’s entirely the fault of the U.S. Senate.

The full editorial is here. 

Rumpole says:  Judges Beth Bloom and Darrin Gayles benefit from Senator Rubio's intransigence on Judge Thomas. 

Rubio got his pound of flesh and won't stand in the way of Bloom and Gayles' nomination. 

Life is all about the timing. 

Enjoy your weekend. 

See you in court. 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/06/3917656/no-more-delays.html#storylink=cpy

POST BOND? DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH

The problems with the Dade County Jail and Corrections continue: Like the Roach Motel, you can check in but you cannot check out:

Dear Colleagues,

Please see the below information regarding acute delays in the releasing of defendants from MDCR custody.  It appears that Miami Dade is experiencing a lack of connectivity with the national AFIS system which is used to confirm the identities of detainees.

I have been in touch with MDCR's legal advisor and she is unsure as to whether this a nationwide or local problem, but has been told by Miami Dade representatives that AFIS should be up and accessible again by 9:00 pm.  Having checked in with Ken Hassett in Broward and based on the lack of complaints there, it appears to be a local problem for us. 

We will continue to monitor the problem and prepare to take all necessary options that are available to us.  If any of you have experienced delays today, please contact me to discuss details.

Best,

Eddie Pereira

President FACDL-Miami

JUDGES BLOOM AND GAYLES NOMINATED:

Dade Circuit Judges Darrin Gayles and Beth Bloom were nominated by the White House today to the  United States District Court for the Southern District Of Florida. As we have seen, a nomination is barely worth the paper it is written on. Does the White House have the clout to move these nominations out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and to a full vote? 

The citizens of South Florida could not be better served than by having these two outstanding judges confirmed. 

See You In Court. 

PS. No truth to the rumor a certain local Miami Beach politician sent out requests to the media to be interviewed on this story. 

READ IT ALL WE SAY

Before we get to the topic of the post, a little house keeping.

BLOOM (nee Ward's old division) SETTLES IN 6-2.

We called Judge Gayles "peripatetic" the other day, and now we hand the same moniker on Circuit Judge Beth Bloom. She has traveled from her comfy confines of DUI court in 6-8 to a small courtroom on the third floor, but now she finds a new home back on six, 6-2 to be exact, the old chambers of Judge Venzer. So if you have followed us this far, then be advised if you had a case in Judge Ward's division, you should now report to Judge Bloom in 6-2. Got it?

READ THE ENTIRE TEXT!

Congress decided to read the entire constitution today (yes, your congressman or woman can read) and we say they should have been required to read the entire text. What with original intent and strict constructionism, why not read this from Article I, Section II, para 3?

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

That's what the framers clearly intended, and original intent an strict construction maintain the beauty of the document, right? So while they're at it, remove all the female members of congress, since they didn't have the vote at the time the constitution was written.

DOM has a crush on someone other that Paris here, and SOFLA covers the re-nomination of Fed PD Kathy Williams here.

That guy twisting in the wind up in Davie? That's Dolphins coach Tony Sporano. Someone have a heart and cut him down, will ya?

JUDGE BETH BLOOM TO CIRCUIT

UPDATE: The Heat squeaked out a win last night, and clawed their way back to a respectable 500 winning percentage. How long they can remain in this position of mediocrity is unknown. And we are not optimistic.

So Fla -the civil blog- has the update on the forthcoming Hank Adorno proceedings with the Florida Supreme Court. The Herald reports today that the Supreme Court rejected the Bar's recommendation of a six month vacation for Hank, and has ordered Hank to begin closing up shop and to report to court to show cause why he should not be disbarred.

Query: What do you think the proper punishment is for a lawyer who, to paraphrase the Third DCA, engaged in a scheme to defraud his clients?

Everyone's favourite federal blogger has the update on Apen's attack on Public Defenders. "All they do is represent criminals" is the quote.

Query: is that true?

The Governor promoted county court judge Beth Bloom to circuit court today, and you have more than likely already heard the news as it spread throughout the building with the speed of a judge running for a free buffet dinner.

Bloom joins her recent colleagues on the county bench, Judges Arzola and Fernandez as the latest judge to be promoted. Judge Bloom had the reputation in county court as running a no-nonsense tight courtroom. Bloom is considered to be hard working and knowledgable on the law, and while we supported Judge White-Labora, we have hopes that Judge Bloom will be a fine addition to the circuit bench.

The next semi-official rumor is that Judge Bloom will take over Judge Ward's division as Ward moves to one of those acronym laden divisions where they specialize in robbery cases committed on Wednesdays by defendants born in June. Or something like that.

See you in court. And welcome to the party Judge Bloom.