LAW DAY AND MORE

Monday May 1, was Law Day.  Judge Hirsch celebrated by a short constitutonal calendar which follows: 

The great ideals of liberty and equality are preserved against the assaults of opportunism, the expediency of the passing hour, the erosion of small encroachments, the scorn and derision of those who have no patience with general principles, by enshrining them in constitutions, and consecrating to the task of their protection a body of defenders.

   – Benjamin Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process

The following is cause for concern. 
The federal "justice" system has become a maw. A gulag swallowing defendants and digesting them through the bureau of prisons. Prosecutors grease the wheels, and  nameless, faceless gray bureaucrats skulk the hallways,  processing the defendants as grist for the mill. 
What we all have suspected, we now have evidence is true- the feds only give lip service to the constitution's guarantee that every defendant is presumed innocent.  And thus, one day recently as we passed by the office of federal probation and supervised release, we saw this message on a videoscreen:

We stopped in our tracks, and happened upon one of those aforementioned hapless bureaucrats:
Rumpole: "What are the rules for travel for pre-trial convictions?"
HB:  "Huh? (We point to the slide). Oh, defendants must receive permission from the court before traveling outside of the district."
Rumpole: "And this applies to people convicted pre-trial?"
HB: "Sure does"
Rumpole: "And what about defendants not convicted pre-trial?"
HB: "Huh? Hmmmm....never thought...huh...I dunno...wait! I can ask my supervisor..."
Rumpole: "Never mind. Thank you."

FACDL BANQUET THIS SATURDAY NIGHT 
It's that time of year when dues paying members of the FACDL get together and share mead and meat with members of the judiciary and everyone tells everyone what an important part of the justice process they are. 
And awards are bestowed. Here are this years winners:

The Honorable Gerald Kogan Judicial Distinction Award:

     Hon. Judge Nushin Sayfie 

The Daniel S. Pearson – Harry W. Prebish Founders Award:

               Gene Zenobi

The Rodney Thaxton “Against All Odds” Award:

      Team of   U.S. v. Estaban Santiago Ruiz case: Hector Dopico, Eric Cohen, Sowmya Bharathi, and Ayana Harris                                           
The Gregg Wenzel Young Lawyer’s Award:

            Kristen Kawass

We know the first two honorees and the awards are well deserved. Judge Sayfie has served with distinction in the criminal division, and Gene Zenobi, after a long and successful career as a criminal defense attorney took over the reins of a dispirited Regional Counsel Office and by all accounts turned it into a first class office providing indigent defendants with topflight legal talent. 

We don't know about the Santiago-Ruiz case or Ms. Kawass, but we congratulate them on receiving distinguished awards. Is there any better award for a criminal defense attorney than one named "Against All Odds"? Esepcially an award given in the name of the great Rodney Thaxton. And we hope there is a decent explanation for the hero that Greg Wenzel is to our country, and why it is an honor for any lawyer to receive an award in his hallowed name. 

Rumpole will continue a Cal Ripken-like streak and not attend the festivities, in lieu of which we will be attending Gotterdammerung at the Met saturday night in NYC, followed perhaps by a night-cap at Bemelman's bar. Tommy Rowles (RIP) who made the best Old Fashioned is no longer serving regulars, but it's still one of our favourite haunts in Gotham.