JNC SENDS NAMES TO GOV. DESANTIS FOR SEVEN CIRCUIT & COUNTY OPENINGS

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A JUDGE .....

The JNC for the 11^th Judicial Circuit has been very busy. There are currently three open seats on the Circuit Court due to the resignation of Judges John Thornton and Diane Ward, and the appointment of Judge Renatha Francis to the 15^th Circuit Court (Palm Beach County).

There are currently four open seats on the County Court due to the elevation to the Circuit Court bench of Judges Altfield, Beovides, and Shearson Cruz, and the resignation of Judge Slom.

The JNC interviewed a total of 38 candidates for the openings. They considered 12 candidates for both Circuit and County; 8 candidates for Circuit Court only; and 18 candidates for County Court only.

Today, the JNC has nominated 15 names for the three open Circuit Court seats and they nominated 23 names for the four opening Son the County Court. Eight of those named were nominated for both Circuit and County.

The list below shows the time of the interview, followed by the name, followed by what the JNC was interviewing the candidate for (in small letters), followed by what, if anything, the candidate was nominated for (in caps).

8:30 a.m. Ramiro Christen Areces, circuit CIRCUIT

8:35 a.m. Jason Bloch, circuit CIRCUIT

8:40 a.m. Karl Brown, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

8:45 a.m. Rachel Canfield, county

8:55 a.m. Raul Antonio Cuervo, circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

9 a.m. Jeffrey Cynamon, county

9:10 a.m. Madelin D’Arce, county/circuit COUNTY

9:20 a.m. Miesha S Darrough, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

9:25 a.m. Renier Diaz de la Portilla, county

9:35 a.m. Christina DiRaimondo, circuit CIRCUIT

9:40 a.m. Elisabeth Espinosa, county COUNTY

9:50 a.m. Elsa Fernandez, county

10 a.m. Michael H. Galex, county/circuit COUNTY

10:10 a.m. Carlos H. Gamez, county COUNTY

10:20 a.m. Rita Gonzalez Cuervo, county

10:25 a.m. Christopher Green, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:05 a.m. Blanca Greenwood, county COUNTY

11:10 a.m. Marcia Hansen, county COUNTY

11:20 a.m. Ayana Harris, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:25 a.m. Julie Harris Nelson, county/circuit COUNTY

11:30 a.m. Peter Heller, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:35 a.m. Kevin Hellman, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:45 a.m. Zachary N. James, circuit CIRCUIT

11:50 a.m. Scott M. Janowitz, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:55 a.m. Amy Josefsberg Ederi, county

1:05 p.m. Jeffrey Kolokoff, county COUNTY

1:15 p.m. Gale Lewis, county/circuit COUNTY

1:20 p.m. Steven Lieberman, county COUNTY

1:25 p.m. Joseph J. Mansfield, circuit CIRCUIT

1:30 p.m. Griska Mena, county COUNTY

1:35 p.m. Hilton Napoleon II, county/circuit COUNTY

1:45 p.m. Steven Paulson, county

1:55 p.m. Luis Perez-Medina, circuit CIRCUIT

2 p.m. Christopher Pracitto, county COUNTY

2:05 p.m. Cristina Rivera Correa, county COUNTY

2:15 p.m. Patricia Salman, county

2:25 p.m. Robert T Watson, circuit CIRCUIT

2:30 p.m. Craig Weissberg, county COUNTY　


The Governor has 60 days to make his selections.


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

SIX OPEN SEATS; TWO CIRCUIT AND FOUR COUNTY .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A JUDGE .....
          THEN FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL .....

CIRCUIT COURT

Judge John Thornton has resigned. This has resulted in an open seat on the Circuit Court.

Judge Renatha Francis has resigned, sort of. The Honorable Judge Francis was first appointed by Governor Scott to the County Court in August of 2017. Scott elevated Francis to the Circuit Court in June of 2018. On Tuesday, Governor DeSantis appointed Francis to an open seat on the Circuit Court bench in the 15^th Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County) to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge Meenu Sasser.  Open seat Circuit Court.


COUNTY COURT

Judge Sam Slom has resigned. Open County Court seat.

Judge William Altfield has been elevated to the Circuit Court. Open County Court seat.

Judge Gina Beovides has been elevated to the Circuit Court. Open County Court seat.

Judge Laura Shearson Cruz has been elevated to the Circuit Court. Open County Court seat.


The Eleventh Judicial Circuit JNC is going to be berry berry busy these next few months.  If you ever wanted to sit on the bench, now would be a very good time to get your Application submitted.  Just remember that the first two lines of your resume better read: current (or former) ASA/AUSA/AAG; Member, The Federalist Society.


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


 

YOUR NEW COUNTY COURT JUDGE

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

YOUR NEW COUNTY COURT JUDGE IS .....

GINA BEOVIDES

Congratulations to Ms. Beovides; she is 34 years old and has been a member of The Florida Bar for ten years.  She began her career working for the law office of Leon Brunet.  After one year, she joined Miami Dade Legal Aid and she has been an attorney working for them for the past nine years.  Ms. Beovides has been a Civil Traffic Infraction Hearing Officer since 2011.  She is also a member of the Voluntary Bar Liaison Committee and also the Vice-Chair of the Family Law Domestic Violence Committee of The Florida Bar.  You can read Ms. Beovides' bio from the Dade Legal Aid web page by going here.

She received both her bachelor's and law degree from UM.  She fills the vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Charlie Johnson to the Circuit Court.

The other five names that went up to the Governor included:  Ramiro Areces, Alexander Spicola Bokor, Karl S.H. Brown, Joe Mansfield, and Julie Nelson.

NORTH OF THE BORDER .......

No changes in the line-up of candidates that have filed to run for Circuit and County Court Judge in Miami-Dade County, but there was a big change in Broweird.

Popular sitting Judge Matthew Destry drew an opponent this week when attorney Brian Greenwald filed to run against him.  Greenwald served in the Broward County PD's office for eight years.  He has been in private practice as a criminal defense attorney for the past three years. Destry is the third sitting Circuit Judge in Broward to draw opposition; (also drawing opponents - Judge Stacy Ross and Judge Barbara McCarthy).

Also in Broward, they have two new Circuit Court Judges.  This week, Governor Scott announced that Ernest Kollra, age 62, and Alberto Rivas, age 48, have earned appointments to the Circuit Court.

Kollra replaces Judge Lynn Rosenthal, who resigned, (in lieu of pending action by The Florida Supreme Court).  He is in private practice in the areas of mobile home law, landlord/tenant, criminal defense, and business law.

Rivas replaces Judge Laura Watson, who was removed from the bench by The Florida Supreme Court.  Rivas has been a member of The Florida Bar for 20 years and has been an ASA in Broward for the past nine years.

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