Gov. DeSantis Announces First of Three Supreme Court Justices .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS .......

Governor Ron DeSantis today appointed BARBARA LAGOA to the Florida Supreme Court.  It is his first of three appointments to the open seats on the Court as the result of the retirement of Justices Pariente, Lewis, and Quince.

The announcement was made at the historic Freedom Tower in downtown Miami this morning.  Newly elected Attorney General Ashley Moody opened the event, followed by Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez, who introduced the Governor.

Judge Logoa, 51, has been on the 3rd DCA for the past 12 years, authoring 470 opinions. She was appointed to the 3rd DCA by Governor Jeb Bush in 2006 becoming the first Cuban American woman  appointed to that Court. She was the Chief Judge of the 3rd DCA, having assumed that role just nine days ago.  She was born in Miami and grew up in Hialeah, graduated from  FIU (BA, 1989) and then Columbia Law School (JD, 1992).  Her husband, is attorney Paul Huck, Jr, and her father-in-law, Judge Paul Huck, is a Senior Judge on the Southern District of Florida. In 2003 she joined the United States Attorney's Office as an AUSA where she tried numerous criminal jury trials, including drug conspiracies and Hobbs Act violations. She also handled a significant number of appeals.  She spent three years three before becoming an appellant court judge.  Prior to her work as an AUSA she worked at Greenberg Traurig and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, among other firms.

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

CITY ON A HILL

You know him, you love him, you can't live without his Constitutional Calendars. Much like your morning coffee and afternoon colada, Judge Hirsch's Constitutional Calendar had become 2019's must read. Without further ado....

The notion of America as “a city on a hill,” or “a shining city upon a hill” traces its origins to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.  See Mathew 5:14.  The phrase was famously used in 1630 by John Winthrop, a clergyman aboard the vessel Arabella, exhorting future Massachusetts Bay Colonists to the task that lay before them.

            On January 9, 1961, President-Elect Kennedy, appearing before the legislature in his home state of Massachusetts, remarked:

I have been guided by the standard John Winthrop set before his shipmates on the flagship Arbella three hundred and thirty-one years ago, as they, too, faced the task of building a new government on a perilous frontier. "We must always consider", he said, "that we shall be as a city upon a hill—the eyes of all people are upon us". Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us—and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill—constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities. For we are setting out upon a voyage in 1961 no less hazardous than that undertaken by the Arbella in 1630. We are committing ourselves to tasks of statecraft no less awesome than that of governing the Massachusetts Bay Colony, beset as it was then by terror without and disorder within. History will not judge our endeavors—and a government cannot be selected—merely on the basis of color or creed or even party affiliation. Neither will competence and loyalty and stature, while essential to the utmost, suffice in times such as these. For of those to whom much is given, much is required.

            President Ronald Reagan referred to the same event and image on the eve of his election in 1980:

I have quoted John Winthrop's words more than once on the campaign trail this year—for I believe that Americans in 1980 are every bit as committed to that vision of a shining "city on a hill," as were those long ago settlers. ...

These visitors to that city on the Potomac do not come as white or black, red or yellow; they are not Jews or Christians; conservatives or liberals; or Democrats or Republicans. They are Americans awed by what has gone before, proud of what for them is still… a shining city on a hill.

GOVERNOR SCOTT APPOINTS TWO NEW COUNTY COURT JUDGES .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING: GOVERNOR DESANTIS WILL NAME THE NEXT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ON WEDNESDAY at 10 AM with an announcement at the Freedom Tower in Miami.  Expect DeSantis to name a justice to fill the open seat for a justice that must reside in the 3rd Appellate District. The three finalists include: Judges Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck and attorney John Daniel Couriel.

Also, as I touched on below, Gov. Scott appointed a total of 76 people to various posts around the state last Friday.  DeSantis has indicated that he will be rescinding many of those appointments.  It is clear that DeSantis was not happy with Scott's actions in pulling off these last minute appointments.


YOUR TWO NEWEST COUNTY COURT JUDGES ARE ...

NATALIE MOORE.  Ms. Moore has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2006. She is currently an Assistant State Attorney and also a Training Director at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.  She previously served in the Hate Crimes Unit.  She fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Carlos Guzman.

ROBERT WATSON. Mr. Watson has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2003. A Stanford law grad (Georgetown undergrad), he is currently a principal with the law firm of Kobre & Kim. Prior to joining Kobre & Kim, Mr. Watson served as a prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Before that he practiced at Holland & Knight, where he focused on money laundering cases, commercial disputes and international arbitration. He currently represents corporations and individuals in white-collar criminal defense matters, regulatory enforcement actions and internal investigations. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese and focuses on representing clients in connection with matters related to Latin America.   He fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Alexander Bokor.

In case you were wondering, this is Governor Scott’s last day in office and therefore his last appointments to the bench.  Scott has been very busy over the holidays naming dozens of appointments to Boards, Committees, Commissions, and the bench.  While for the past eight years, he has almost always taken the full 60 days to review the JNC names sent to him before he selects a new judge, for these two appointments, Scott needed only 18 days to choose Ms. Moore and Mr. Watson as their names were included in a JNC correspondence sent to Scott on December 20, 2018.

Those that were not chosen from the JNC final list included:

Karl S.H. Brown, Peter S. Heller, Zachary James, Scott M. Janowitz, Jeffrey M. Kolokoff, Jonathan Meltz, Julie Harris Nelson, Christopher Pracitto, Manolo Reboso, and Stephanie Silver.

So now we will wait to see what kind of judges our new Governor will choose.  Governor-Elect Ron DeSantis, our 46th Governor of the Great State of Florida, will be sworn in on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 9 AM.

As one of his first acts that will have a lasting effect on our judicial system, expect Governor DeSantis to quickly name three replacements to the Florida Supreme Court.  That's because as of 5 PM tomorrow, Justices Pariente, Lewis, and Quince, will all be retiring.

Also on the Agenda, two open seats on the Miami-Dade Circuit Court. With the elevation of Judges Bronwyn Miller and Eric Hendon to the 3rd DCA, Desantis will get to name their two replacements.  The JNC is accepting applications until January 18, 2019, so don't expect to see their replacements named until early April.

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

CONSTITUTIONAL CALENDAR 19.1

We debut a new feature for 2019. Judge Milton Hirsch, jurist, polymath, constitutional raconteur, has an email he sends out on an irregular basis that he calls his Constitutional Calendar. After being bombarded with his emails forwarded to us last year by his fans, we secured the rights to re-post his missives, which we do without editing.  

At 7:00 in the evening of January 4, 1939, Prof. Felix Frankfurter was annoyed to have to take a phone call.  Frankfurter was in his underwear, trying to dress hurriedly to receive dinner guests who had already arrived and whom he was keeping waiting.

But the caller was President Roosevelt.  And to make matters worse, Roosevelt’s message seemed as unwelcome as his timing: Roosevelt went on at some length explaining why he didn’t think he could nominate Frankfurter to the open seat on the United States Supreme Court.  Frankfurter did his best to express his understanding and acceptance of Roosevelt’s position, and to terminate the call – his wife Marian kept shouting up the staircase, “Hurry up!  You are always late!”

Just as it seemed that the president was willing to hang up, however, he stated, “But wherever I turn, wherever I turn and to whomever I talk, I am made to realize that you are the only person fit to succeed Holmes and Cardozo.  Unless you give me an insurmountable objection I’m going to send your name in for the Court tomorrow at twelve o’clock.”

Stunned, Frankfurter whispered in a voice so low that Roosevelt wasn’t sure he was intended to hear it, “I wish only that my mother were still alive.”

THE PERSON IN THE ARENA

Welcome to 2019. The year brings more challenges to the Republic at any time since the spring of 1861 as Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated and the country split into two. 
Since that time we have faced serious challenges, but always from enemies foreign. When attacked and when  defending its allies, the best of America emerged. Young men taking up arms and traveling to foreign lands to fight tyranny. Once victorious, our citizen-soldiers returned, no conquest of people sought- in the words inscribed at the U.S. cemetery in Normandy, France, "All that we asked for in return was enough soil to bury our gallant dead."

But today there is an enemy within. A chief executive who tries to use the Justice Department as his own cudgel, seeking prosecution of his political enemies and criticizing the men and women of the judiciary, the department of justice and the FBI who hold line of the Constitution firm. Not fleeing or flinching in the face of tyranny and ridicule and ruin- even when threatened by their putative commander in chief. 
 This is not an enemy who will yield to force, as in the words of General Omar Bradley  when talking about the D-Day troops he commanded:  "The Battle belonged that day to that thin wet line of khaki that dragged itself ashore on the Channel Coast of France."  There is no land to heroically invade. We must examine our conscience. 

This enemy is more insidious. It is the worst of our character, not, in the words of Abraham Lincoln "our better angels of our nature". It is a cancer that is eating the soul of our country. There is nothing to shoot at. This enemy is conquered only by self-reflection. Meditation on who we are as a people and what we do when confronted with our dark side. 

Where  do we stand on our  bridge of freedom? With the ignorant racists and their water-cannons and bully clubs and attack dogs turned loose? Or with the men and women of all color and races, armed linked, facing mortal danger with nothing more than purity of a soul committed to the proposition that "this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom- and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from this earth." 

Each of us must make our own decision on where and with whom we stand: with the ignorant mob, fearful of anyone who does not look and act and think like them? Or alone, but in defense of that which is the noblest endeavor in the history of civilization: a nation dedicated to the proposition that all people  are created equal? 

We write today in praise of our small section of Americans who defend our freedoms. The Assistant United States Attorneys of the Southern District of Florida who go to court every day and seek justice despite what their nominal leader exhorts them to do. They stand before our Federal Judges, independent by law, who do their duty as the good lord gave them the wisdom to see fit to do. The assistant State attorneys who do the same before our State Judges in our aptly named Justice Building.  Our State Court Judges are not protected with life tenure. Yet we ask them on a daily basis  to make unpopular decisions upholding the rights of the minority that could jeopardize their jobs when facing an angry electorate-mob. 
And yet their decisions remain untainted by worry of losing an election. For they know that, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, that if they fail, then they  "fail while daring greatly, so that [their] place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."  

And finally our thanks to those underpaid and rarely appreciated members of the Federal and State Public Defenders offices whose lawyers march into court every day defending those who no one else will defend, with nothing more than their skill and knowledge and courage and copy of the constitution standing between their client and ruin. 

2019 is the time to make a stand. We have examples of courage, listed above, simple men and women who do their job every day unfazed by threats of the ignorant bully who is, to our shame, our president for now. 
Many of us, in the luxury of our safe homes have loosely spoken of the bravery we would have surely shown in Nazi Germany to protect a Jewish neighbor, or in the deep south. Surely we would have walked in solidarity with a black child on the way to school while being cursed at or spit on. 

Now is the time. It is our generation's challenge. Our call to arms. Our test. Where do you stand? You are not being asked to wade ashore under fire. Your challenge is moral. It is your conscience and soul that is at stake, so when your grandchildren ask where you stood during these dark days, you will be able to smile wistfully and say proudly "with those who fought for the soul of our nation." 

Are you the person in the arena? 

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. 
Teddy Roosevelt, Excerpt From The Man In The Arena Speech.  

THERE IS NO JOY IN MUDVILLE (OR CHAMBERS)

The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the De La O eleven on Sunday:
The score stood 135 to 124, with but one day more to play,
And then when Gordon ran for 9, and Gronkowski did worse with 4,
A pall-like silence fell upon the Judge whose eyes were cast upon on the floor

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to the hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, “If only De La O could but get a whack at that—
We’d put up even money now, with De La Oat the bat.”

And Winston threw for 38, and Evans caught 28 more,
But those totals were answered by Pat Mahomes throwing for 33 and his wide receiver Hill getting 34;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of De La O getting to the bat.

But his Seattle D scored 13, and the Judge's kicker 8 more; And Hamilton caught five, and posted 9 upon the board; And Conner ran and got him 12, and Gordon rumbled for 9 more;
And when the dust had lifted
De La O had scored 245, but Rumpole 32 more.

Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It pounded on the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
De La O wasn't done and was advancing to the bat. For T Hilton his wide receiver had not yet played a down And with Andrew Luck throwing perhaps Rumpole would finally frown
There was ease in De La O's manner as he managed his team all year;
There was pride in the Judge's bearing and a smile lit upon his face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt ‘twas De La O at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he chose his players well;
Five thousand mouse's clicked to wish him very well;
Then the final game began - a season on the line.
From the stands full with people, there went up a muffled
  roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore;
They needed Luck to throw the ball to Ty Hilton ever more;
Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children
     shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville—or in Judges' chambers throughout Hilton did not catch the ball; The Mighty De La O has struck out! Rumpole- 299; De La O: 253 For those of you who want to read the original poem Casey At The Bat by Earnest Thayer, 1888, click here. Consolation (set of steak knives) bracket: Johnny S- 295 - Mia Courthouse Rules- 127 (for the record, in the championship series, Rumpole outscored everyone). Rumpole is the Champion of the 2018 Justice Building Fantasy Football League.

IF

It's Championship Sunday for the REGJB Fantasy Football league. After part one last week, Rumpole (Boo! Hiss) magnificently managed his injured underdogs to squeak out a 135-124 lead. But that lead didn't materialize until the final quarter of the Sunday night game, and for most of the day the teams battled to an even draw.  
So don't count Judge De La O out yet. He's even headed when all those around him are losing theirs. He needs a big game from his up again/down again TE Gronkowski, while Rumpole needs his RBs who let him down last week to return to their former greatness. It will all be over by the end of Sunday's night game. 
Will the Judge strike a blow for all robed readers who have silently suffered the slings and arrows of Rumpolian abuse, mock, and scorn all these years? 
Or will Rumpole prove what he has always said? The judiciary cannot hold a candle to a good lawyer who is well prepared and motivated to prevail? 


IF You can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters the same....

Our Millennials, our robed readers, and even worse- our robed readers who are Millennials- probably have not perused poetry and Rudyard Kipling's poem IF. So to assuage their short-comings and communicate with them in their preferred medium (You-Tube Videos) and in keeping with Championship Sunday, we present the following by John Facenda who was...never mind, it takes too long to tell. Just enjoy.  And although it is quite out of character for us to say it, we wish our worthy opponent the best of luck on the field of battle today. 







(He's going to need it. You didn't really  think we could end this without a cheap shot, did you?) 

DOG BITES MAN

The old newspaper adage (for those millennials who read this award winning blog, a newspaper was something that printed on real paper news stories and was physically  distributed initially twice a day at newsstands or delivered to your home or office once a day. Yes, we realize you millennials are shocked at the waste of paper and fossil fuels in printing and delivering such an item, but you will never know the pleasure of a hot cup of coffee, a thick Sunday London Times, a flaky-buttery French croissant and an outdoor café with nothing but time on your hands and no cell phone to text or read emails on. It's your loss.  ) is that there is no story when a dog bites a man but it is headline news when a man bites a dog.

With that out of the way, we publish a "dog bites man" story that will not raise eyebrows. 
Headline: WEIRDNESS IN BROWARD COURT SYSTEM

Broward Clerk of Court Brenda Foreman has filed multiple complaints against our brother-blogger in Broward because he has tried to...steady yourself....take her picture in public! (Gasp!!). 
No this is not a paparazzi harassment thing. 

From the Sun Sentinel (see above re: Newspapers) article:

The dispute began in October, when Gelin referred to the clerk as “Brenda” during a conversation about one of his clients. Forman insisted on being addressed as “Ms. Forman” or “Clerk Forman,” according to the Bar complaint.

Gelin bristled at the insistence on formality and decided to write about Forman’s reaction. Things escalated when he tried to take her picture with his cellphone on several occasions to accompany his article.

Rumpole says (sadly shaking head): Broward, Broward, Broward. What are we going to do with you people? Can't we all just get along? And don't you have a nice library there? All problems can be solved by refuge in the Bard. 

Romeo and Juliet: 

Juliet, having just read a text from her BFF that the guy she's crushing on belongs to a family that's been dissin her family since like forever, is upset that R's last name will prevent her from dating him. She then expounds on the meaning of a name, words that have passed from generation to generation, centuries old, but contain a lesson for our Broward brethren in 2018.

Tis but thy name that is my enemy;

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee Take all myself.

So Brenda, Forman, BF, whatever. That which we call a clerk would file (and misplace the file) by any other name. As the saying went where we grew up, call us what you want, just don't call us late for the canapes and cocktail hour. 

The Sun Sentinel dives a bit deeper into Ms. Forman's rise to Clerk, noting that she came to the courthouse where misery thrives with no legal or clerking experience and credited her victory with her marriage to her husband who appears to be many years her elder. We report, you decide: 

 Forman has recently lost an attempt to be declared her hubby's guardian, A Broward judge ruling that her petition was filed "in bad faith". 

Miami Component: 

Forman has filed for a DV restraining order against the intrepid Broward Blogger Bill Gelin who is snapping her photo and blogging about her. She has asked Broward Sheriff Deputies to stop Gelin  from taking her picture in public, citing the oft used Broward County exception to the Bill of Rights ("No stinkin law or constitution or judge shall stop a Broward Officer from doing whatever they damn well please."  Motto of Mike Satz,Broward State Attorney).  It's all gotten too messy for a Broward Judge to handle (which is saying a lot) so the matter was referred to our own Judge Bill Altfield who will handle the contretemps with his well known fairness, legal wisdom, and equanimity. 

So once again, Broward turns it's eyes towards DC and says "Mess? Madness? Turmoil and plot twists in our courts? We've been doing this long before Trump had a tower in NYC." 

ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU...

After those who wear robes, we tend to mock FACDL, but we do it with a smile and now it's time to acknowledge all FACDL does for us as criminal defense attorneys. First and foremost it is like a big brother/sister having your back. When a lawyer has a real problem and rings the bell, the FACDL and especially the Miami Chapter answers the call. We have also been blessed with great leaders, many of whom went on to the judiciary (but they are still invited to the awards dinner, because being  criminal defense attorneys is all about embracing forgiveness.). 

The current president Carmen Vizcaino follows in the tradition of great presidents like Rutherford B. Hayes and Millard Fillmore. She is working hard to get those all important courthouse passes in our hands (a truly thankless task that makes all of our lives so much better)  and is entitled to some recognition: Well done Ms. Vizcaino. Well done indeed! 

This is Ms. Vizcaino's recent email urging members to re-up:

What has FACDL-Miami done for you?

We have mad problem solving skills: 

The 9th floor clerks window had lines out the door and an average wait time of 1 hour to get to the window. Now we have both windows open in the morning to help alleviate the delay.  - FACDL MIAMI DID THAT. 

Eservice for depositions - we are discussing a solution to having the private bar be allowed to esubpoena officers instead of having to walk over paper subpoenas. 

We have had numerous meetings both the with clerks office and other partners in an effort to move forward the herculean task of having our pleadings and A-forms online. 

We are meeting with corrections to discuss solutions to having to resend letters of authorization for your investigator or expert everytime you client is moved, and to attempt to streamline the process for getting a laptop into the jail to review discovery. 

We have met and resolved issues with the clerk's window refusing to accept Motions to Seal or Expunge filings. 

We triage issues when they arise - many of our members will have an issue at a facility and will contact us.  We can make a call or send an email as FACDL in an attempt to solve the problem in a timely fashion. 

Your COURT ID - we handle all logistics and liaison with AOC in order to provide the private bar with Court ID to bypass the security lines. 

You have a client with a PVH but has an addiction and is ineligible for drug court?  Now you have Drug Court Probation (Post Adjudicatory Drug Court)  that can keep your client out of prison and get them help. FACDL MIAMI DID THAT. 

These are only a few of issues that FACDL has dealt with this year. 

See attached Renewal form below. Join and support this organization  which gives us collective power to resolve the issues that face us as criminal defense lawyers. 

And lest we forget, FACDL is also responsible for....

The I-Phone;  roasted brussels sprouts;  IPA Lager; 
The lyrics to Ariana Grande's "Thank-u, Next"; selfie-sticks; valet parking at the Justice Building; vegan hot-dogs in the hot-dog carts outside the courthouse; the espresso machine in the lobby of the main jail (try the bond-out latte); Mike Pence; and the smiley face emoji.  All for the low-low price of a couple of C-Notes a year, tax included. 

Merry Christmas. 

MY SONIC SUMMATION 

As many of you know,  I am a huge music buff and a connoisseur of live music. Anything that is slightly interesting, I'm out the door and in line. I create no boundaries so I see a variety of bands in all different genres.  I want to see real art ( no money grabbin' greatest hits show by a bunch of geriatrics). Crazy concert prices for people in their 70's singing rock is not my thang man. 

Since I see so many shows, many have asked what were my most memorable performances for 2018? Here is my list of the top 5 shows (and why they were so memorable).

 
1) Lucy Roche and Suzzy Roche at the Krest Theater in Delray Beach - 

Lucy was opening for her father, famed folkie Loudon Wainwright III. She was okay (she had no stage presence). However, when her mother Suzzy (of one of my favorite bands, The Roches) unexpectedly stepped up on stage and they covered the Beatles' beautiful "For No One", it was pure magic. Can you imagine that, one song makes the whole performance? 

2) Portugal The Man- One Big Holiday, Punta Gorda, Dominican Republic

Despite having a number one song on the charts ("Feel it Still") they are hardly just a pop band. They took the stage doing Metallica and Queen covers and finished their set with a killer edition of Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger". PTM rocks like it' s nobody's business.

3) Father John Misty at the Fillmore Miami Beach

With the looks and debonair of a model and charisma of Freddy Mercury, this guy has STAR written all over him. I was previously familiar with some of his songs but his on-stage energy and charisma totally put me in awe. He's a diamond in the rough. 

4) My Morning Jacket, Night one at "One Big Holiday" in Punta Gorda, Dominican Republic. 

With the band going on an extended hiatus for a couple of years, for this five day music festival, they simply played their whole catalog in chronological order. They finished their first set with a 20 minute "Phone Went West" which started out as a breezy reggae song but then burst into a psychedelic guitar freak out. This demonstrates why they are the premier modern rock and roll band 

 
5) David Byrne "American Utopia" tour at the Fillmore South (Miami Beach). 

This was, not even close, the very best show I've seen in the last 5 years. The Talking Heads founder re-imagined and reinvented the whole concert going experience by making his show a combination Broadway show/marching band. Every song was a different, choreographed dance where the instruments were attached to the bodies and not a stick of equipment on stage.  

Of course my opinion is hardly the end all;  I just like to write.  What was your favorite show of 2018?  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all  (except for those lawyers quoting ridiculously low fees, prosecutors that don't return phone calls and judges that don't bother to read pleadings) .

IT'S ON!

It's the matchup everyone expected and everyone wanted. Today, the championship round of the REGJB Justice League Fantasy Football concludes with the Honorable Judge De La O and his De La Fins taking on yours truly and his rag-tag band of players on the MAGA-MAGA team.
It's been a year of streaks for Rumpole, winning the first two games, then losing the next three, before superior managing skills righted the ship and his team tore off nine straight wins, for a 11-3 record. 
So who will win today? The respected and bespectacled jurist, with a  quiet and steady hand and who is known for the monk-like intensity  he brings to any problem- legal or fantasy-football related? Or the brash, outspoken, robe-dissin blogger who came from no-where to shock the league and  whom legions of judges are rooting against? 

This is season is a story of Qbs and RBs. De La Fins made a solid pick in Saints QB Brees, and then a late round stunner of Steeler RB James Conner who emerged as a true superstar when Pittsburgh let their superstar RB Bell walk. But in a late season set-back, Conner went down and De La O quickly nabbed off the free agent list his rookie replacement who merely tore up the Patriots for 144 yards  last week. Does De la O and his RB have one more breakout performance in him which could push the Judge over the top and allow him bragging rights for the year? 
Or will Rumpole's dynamic combo of breakouts- QB Patrick Mahomes and  rookie RB Barkley- come through once again and give Rumpole the 70-80 points this dynamic duo have provided in his remarkable run to the top of the Justice League?
The Steeler- Saints matchup is the 4:15 game, while the Chief play the late Sunday night game at 8, so this matchup will go into the wee hours of the weekend. And all eyes are on Rumpole as his ponders what to do with the injury to one of his top WRs - Steeler JuJu Schuster-Smith who has a nagging groin injury but who bravely tweeted yesterday to all of his FF owners that he was a go today and he would not let them down in the championship week?

Meanwhile back at the courthouse...
courtesy of FACDL prez Carmen Vizcaino who never rests, is this lineup of judges and coverage for the end of the year:

XMAS WEEK

1. Judge Simon will cover Zilber (5) then Del Pino (16) then her own (1) on 12/24.  She will cover Johnson (9) then Del Pino (16) then her own (1) on 12/26-12/28.

2. Judge Fine will cover Wolfson (21) then Venzer (11) then his own (2) all week.

3. Judge Zilber will cover Diaz (21) then his own (5) on 12/26-12/28.

4. Judge Multack will cover Hersch (13) then Diaz (20) then his own (6) on 12/24. Judge Multack will cover Hersch (13) then his own (6) on 12/26-12/28.

5.Judge Glick will cover Milian (18) then her own (12) all week.

6.  Judge M. Hirsch will cover Schlesinger (19) then his own (14) on 12/24.  Judge M. Hirsch will cover Schlesinger (19) then Miranda (7) then his own (14) on 12/26-12/28.

7.Judge Walsh will cover Hendon (4) then her own (15) on 12/26-12/28.

8. Judge Tinkler Mendez will cover Blumstein (17) then Rodriguez-Fonts (10) then Ward (3).

 (On Xmas eve only, Judge Rudolph will be available for backup in case one of the other judges cannot make it because of foggy conditions. Ho. Ho. Ho.)

WEEK OF 12/31 AND 2019

1. Judge Fine will cover Zilber (5) then Del Pino (16)  then his own (2) on 12/31.  Judge Fine will cover Del Pino (16)  then his own (2) on 1/2-1/4.

2. Judge Ward will cover Hersch (13) then Diaz (20) then her own (3) on 12/31. Judge Ward will cover Hersch (13) then her own (3) on 1/2.

3.Judge Zilber will cover Diaz (21) then his own (5) on 1/2-1/4.

4. Judge Multack will cover Wolfson (21) then Venzer (11) then his own (6) all week.

5. Judge M. Hirsch will cover Simon (1) then Miranda (7) then his own (14) all week.

6. Judge Milian will cover Walsh (15) then Rodriguez-Fonts (10) then his own (18) all week.

7.Judge Tinkler Mendez will cover Blumstein (17) then Johnson (9) on 12/31 only. 

CAN'T TELL THE PLAYERS WITHOUT A SCORE CARD

Here's your 2019 REGJB County Court lineup.  There are a lot of rookies taking the playing field. 

What's with everyone fleeing to civil? We will try not to take offense. 

Judge Betty Capote-Erben goes to back-up. Judge Kriry Nunez (4-9) replaces her in the line-up. Maybe someone should tell Judge BCE about Wally Pip and Lou Gehrig. 

Judge Andy Hague retires. Judge Betsy Alvarez-Zane (BAZ) takes the field in 4-10.  

Judge Wendell Graham hangs up the cleats after close to thirty-years on the bench (maybe it is 30 or more. Who's counting?). Judge Michael Barket will be holding court in 5-2.

Judge Gordon Murray was traded to the Caleb Center which is having a grand reopening in 2019.  Judge Lizette Martinez moves into courtroom 5-7 and the chambers once occupied by the Great Louise Krieger-Martin. Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you. 

Judge Michelle Alvarez-Barakat is movin-on-up to the east side to a deluxe apartment and chambers in civil. Judge Elaine Sosa-Bruzon (ESB)  will be open for business in 5-1. 

Judge Mary Jo Francis heads off into the sunset and her eclectic calendars of jail arraignments and criminal traffic will be handled by Judge Jackie Woodward who doesn't merit a hyphen in her last name. 

Lest all these shakeups and changes have you a bit rattled, fear not. Judge Fred Serpahin will remain a steadying presence in county court, but he's taking chambers on 6 and will be in courtroom 6-8 and Judge Ed Newman is steady as a rock holding the line in his same old spot in 6-6. 

Query: Which of our new county court judges do you think is circuit bound first?

DARRELL SHIFTY POWERS

On December 19, 1944, the 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, along with most of the 101st Airborne Division entered the line near a  previously unknown small town in Belgium  called Bastogne which was nestled in the vast green emptiness of the Ardennes Forrest. 
The Germans had attacked with surprising force- new Panzer divisions that the Allied command did not think existed. The Allied troops on the front lines were a mixture of new-green troops, and wizened veterans mostly in the armored divisions under General Patton's command of the Third Army. 
As Allied forces fell back on all fronts, there was the real possibility that Germany would recapture the port at Antwerp, cutting off a vital supply line and allowing the Germans to sue for peace so they could turn their attention to Stalin's massive red army plowing through eastern Europe on its way to Berlin. 
Into this gap-called a "Bulge" General Eisenhower threw his most experienced troops who were able to mobilize quickly and engage the enemy- the Airborne. 
As members of the 101st walked into Bastogne- (they called it a truck jump because they were trunked into battle and "jumped" from the back of trucks driven mostly by African-American transport drivers in the segregated Army)- they encountered panicked soldiers running for their lives dropping their weapons and ammo along the way. The Paratroopers- wearing only their summer battle fatigues and boots without warm socks and without sufficient ammo- stopped to pick up the discarded rifles and ammo as they walked into battle in what was going to be the coldest European winter in 100 years. Among these troops was Easy Company of the 506th PIR. Author Stephen Ambrose in his book "Band of Brothers" that chronicled their exploits wrote of Easy Company of the 506th: "At the peak of its effectiveness in Holland in October 1944 and in the Ardennes  in January 1945, it was as good a rifle company as there was in the world."

Easy and the rest of the 506th and the 101st moved into the gap, formed a semi-circle of defense and the Germans swarmed around them, causing a paratrooper to remark "They have us surrounded, the poor bastards."    On the 19th and 20th of December, 1944, the Germans attacked at Noville, northeast of Foy with their 2nd Panzer division. Paratroopers who had dug into frozen ground defended the attack, with the 1st Battalion of the 506th losing 212 of 600 men, while inflicting upwards of 1000 casualties and along with some US armor destroying over thirty Panzers and holding the line. 
On December 21, the temperature dropped to zero and it began to snow and did not stop. Easy Company had no wool socks, no long underwear. Cooks sent up used burlap sacks that the men made into clothing. 
The Germans continued their relentless attack at all hours of the days and bone chilling nights. And the paratroopers using rifles, mortars and grenades repulsed the armored attacks again and again, refusing to give ground. Three times the men of the 101st met in combat the best the German Army had- On D-Day in Normandy, in Holland during operation Market Garden, and in the Ardennes Forrest in the winter of 1944-45. And three times the men of the 101st prevailed. They were, are, and always will be America's Finest. 
Among those men was private Darrell "Shifty" Powers, a simple young man raised with his rifle shooting in the woods of Virginia. Shifty was blessed with almost super-human eyesight. He was the most accurate rifleman in Easy Company. As recounted by Ambrose in his book, on the morning of December 29, Shifty awoke in his foxhole and saw without binoculars- about two kilometers away no less- that "there was a tree up there toward Norville that wasn't there yesterday." He reported his findings to his sergeant who using binoculars couldn't see anything unusual among a large grouping of trees. How could Shifty know one of the dozen of trees was out of place?  After several minutes of observation the sergeant finally saw the barrel of an anticraft gun, and then another, and then  another. The Germans has moved an artillery battalion over the night and placed a tree to camouflage their guns, but Shifty had recognized something amiss. An artillery strike was called in and the area erupted as the German guns and shells went up in flames. 
On January 13, 1945, when Easy was attacking Foy, the company was pinned down by a sniper. No one could see him in the thick woods surrounding the town. Eventually Shifty fired his rifle and the shooting stopped. Later the company located the sniper with a bullet hole between his eyes, causing one of his friends to later remark "It just doesn't pay to be shootin at Shifty when he has a rifle in his hands."
Darrell Shifty Powers. March 3, 1923- June 17, 2009. A child of the depression. A young man at war. Married for 60 years after the war, he raised a family as a machinist before retiring. A citizen-solider. A true American Hero.