NO SHUT DOWN OR FURLOUGHS

The following is an actual re-creation of the scene in Tallahassee on Wednesday.

(Justice Canady is pictured holding the bowl.)

The Governor and his henchman- Florida House Squeaker Dean Cannon- having successfully reduced the judiciary and Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles Canady to a Dickensonian English waif begging for some more, have agreed to "loan" the judiciary some money to keep the courthouses open and the JAs and Bailiffs fully employed through the end of the fiscal year, which in Florida happens to be June in years in which the sum total of the digits are divisible by an even number. In all other years, the fiscal year begins between October and July, depending upon leap year, El Nino, and whether Speaker Boehner cries when Phil the Groundhog sees his shadow. See how easy that is? Finance is fun! The Sun Sentinel has the story here.

(FYI- "fiscal year" is technically defined as "an arbitrary time period invented by an accountant in the 1950's named Norman, designed to confuse anyone who is not an accountant.")

The loan will be made by "an outfit out of Chicago" and will be delivered by two guys named Vito and Sal and interest(technically called "juice" in these transactions) has been negotiated to "three points a week."

In plain English- we keep working and trying cases, and your favourite JAs and bailiffs aren't forced to take furloughs they can ill afford. To quote a great governor: Now lets get to work! (10:00 am to 2:00 pm for those of you in county court. ).

Has there ever been a better time for the old Neil Rogers drop of Larry King: "Loan me fifty dollars." ?

JUDGE VICTORIA BRENNAN

Your new Circuit Court judge is (former) County Court Judge Victoria Brennan.

Congratulations to Judge Brennan. Now get to work. (unless you're furloughed. See below.)

Governor Scott (who, if you have been following us on Twitter, has recently been getting booed at his appearances around the State) has one more Circuit Court appointment to make.

COURTHOUSES TO BE SHUTTERED?

From the JAA Blog- a note on the impending shut down of courthouses and furloughs:

Today's judicial pow wow was in response to the brewing constitutional crisis currently playing out in Tallahassee. The legislature has denied a request to extend an emergency loan to the judicial branch, which means the judiciary, already in the red, may be facing furloughs. No one is sure whether or not constitutional officers can be furloughed, but court interpreters, judicial assistants, court reporters and other state employees who make the wheels of justice turn certainly can. The good news is we're hearing there's a general consensus amongst judges statewide to sit it out with their lesser paid colleagues if furloughs do happen, in a showing of solidarity. By one estimate there will only be four furlough days next month if the judges join them, or eleven days per employee if the judges turn their backs and report to work in non-functioning courthouses. The shutdown is anticipated as early as next week if the funds aren't released, and the number of expected furlough days is likely to skyrocket the longer funds are withheld (possibly impacting eligibility for health benefits).

Stay tuned ...

Rumpole explains: It's very simple to figure out whether or not a furlough will affect you.

Situation one: You have been denied your motion for a last continuance. The trial is set for Monday. You forgot to depose one witness and need to file two motions to suppress. You are praying the furlough strikes the courthouse and you get a reprieve. Outcome: The Legislature will figure this out and the courts will remain open.

Situation two: You have an absolute winner of a case and are holding, pursuant to a retainer agreement, $15,000.00 in your trust account which you can release to yourself for fees the day a jury is impaneled. Outcome: The crisis will not be solved, courts will be closed, your case will be administratively continued until the end of September, 2011.

See how that works?

See You In Court, unless we're furloughed.

YOUR PAPERS PLEASE

This is what parking in Lot 26 has come to: Police Officers bullying patrons:

Anonymous said...

So I was lucky to find a parking spot in Lot 26 @ 9:30 in the morning (I was stuck in a line of cop cars when the guy right in front of me backed out of his space to which I quickly pulled in) only to be confronted by one of the county's finest in a marked patrol car blocking my car and asking if I was an 'offica'. I indicated that I was a paying customer and went on my way but it was quite clear she wanted me to move my car and let her park there.

The invasion continues...

Monday, April 04, 2011 3:27:00 PM

Hi-Tech Lynching and Blogging:

Roy Black continues to entertain us with his blog. His current post, entitled "The High Tech Lynching Of Barry Bonds" careens from Bonds to Nixon to Clarence Thomas, but ends with a thoughtful discussion on the method of cross examination. Black finds fault with the female defense attorney who crossed examined Bond's former paramour. The lawyer apparently shouted and sneered and tossed papers and eyeglasses in disgust until the Judge told her to tone it down.

We agree that such remonstrations should rarely be used in court, and even more rarely used against civilian witnesses. However what caught our eye was the makeup of the jury: 8 females.

We wonder what do our expert attorneys think about having 8 females on a jury where one of the main witnesses is a kept woman? Good idea or bad?

Leonard Weinglass passed away last month. We initially missed the NY Times Obit, but here it is.

You kids who studied for the bar in your local Starbucks, go take at look at what it meant to be a lawyer when being a lawyer meant something.

The Pentagon Papers; The Chicago 8; Abbe Hoffman and Daniel Ellsberg; The Weather Underground. Pick a big case with criminal law overtones and social unrest underpinnings during the 1970's, and Leonard Weinglass was there in the middle of it.

Talk about knowing how to cross examine a witness without losing your cool. Weinglass was a master. So put down your Cafe Latte and click away on your Ipad or Iphone and read about a real lawyer.

See You In Court.

PS- to the idiot yesterday, who in the comments section wondered what Dr. Martin Luther King did for a living. He was the Pastor of The Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, carrying on a tradition started by his grandfather. He was also the Pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He was on the executive council of the NAACP and he was president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. At age 35 he became the youngest man to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He donated the prize money. He left a widow and four young children who lived in a modest home. His wife was suddenly left as a single parent for four young children without any support. You insinuated he was some kind of slacker or thief. I would wager he worked harder and spent more time traveling and working to better the lives of others in one year than you have worked in your whole, sad, miserable, petty excuse for a life.

THE PROMISED LAND

On the evening of April 3, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King stood in the Mason Temple Church in Memphis, Tennessee. It was raining terribly hard that evening and King had not felt like attending the meeting. He almost sent Jesse Jackson to speak on his behalf.

He had less than 24 hours to live.

King was in Memphis that rainy evening because he had been there previously a week or so before and met with black sanitation workers who, while on strike against the City for better working conditions and wages, had carried a placard with a simple message: "I AM A MAN."

King was drawn to the sanitation workers plight and their struggle. In the back of his mind he had been planning the next stage of the civil rights movement- the struggle for economic rights for all Americans. To that end King was planning another march on Washington, DC. This march would highlight the insidious effects of generational poverty. From the white coal workers in Appalachia to the black sanitation workers in Memphis, King wanted to do to poverty what his movement of non-violence was doing for civil rights.

In anticipation of a court battle over an injunction the City had obtained against the march, King spoke of many things on his last full night on earth in that Memphis church. He spoke of marching in Alabama and Mississippi against the dogs and water cannons and billy clubs of his opponents. He spoke of racial injustice, and the economic power of American Black people- which he said, when combined and marshaled together was more than most nations on earth. He spoke of- if being given a choice of anytime in history to live- that he would choose that time and that moment. He spoke of why he was in Memphis and he spoke, tellingly, and in hindsight chillingly, of his possible death.

We aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying -- We are saying that we are God's children. And that we are God's children, we don't have to live like we are forced to live.....

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.

And I don't mind.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

And so I'm happy, tonight.

I'm not worried about anything.

I'm not fearing any man!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!

On the evening of the next day, 43, years ago today, April 4, 1968, as his lawyers fought with the City over injunctions against the march, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had steadfastly refused to allow bodyguards of any sort to protect him, was shot dead as he stood enjoying the evening air on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee.

If we take him at his word, Martin King died a happy man, fearing none, not worrying about anything, and having seen the glory of the coming of the lord.

See You In Court.

NO FOOLIN

Yes, the email on the blog yesterday was an April Fools prank.

No, we will not be paying tolls to enter the REGJB anytime in the near future.

How long did it take before you realized you were being pranked? Be honest.

Congratulations to your new County Court Judge: ASA Legal Eagle Fluer Lobree was appointed to the county court by Governor Rick Scott, who immediately told her to get to work. A news article on Ms. Lobree is here. Note the Rudy Sorondo connection.

If you follow us on Twitter you already know this, but the SAO and PD are up in arms over proposed budget cuts. The Herald has the story here.

Enjoy your weekend.

COURTHOUSE USER FEES!!!

The following is an email forwarded to us. The implications are ominous.

FROM: The Chief Judge, 11th Judicial Circuit

TO: All Judges, AOC

RE: Proposed Court House User Fees:

Date: April 1, 2011.

By now all of you are aware of the inclusion in the current budget of so called "courthouse user fees" to supplement the current judicial and court administrative budgets, which due to the slowing of foreclosure filings, have a collective shortfall of over 800 million dollars.

The Legislature will be mandating the implementation of these fees and any circuit that fails to do so "shall lose all funding for discretionary budget items."

I have met with several chief judges across the state and we will probably be implementing a toll fee, similar to those in use on highways across the state and country.

Simply put, every person who enters a state courthouse in Florida will be required to deposit a fee in coins that will constitute the user fee. Courthouse employees who enter a separate entrance will of course be exempt from the fee.

As the Legislature has left it to the discretion to the individual circuits to implement a user fee sufficient to cover that circuit's shortfall, I have determined that the initial user fee will be $1.50. (One dollar and fifty cents.)

Change receivers will be installed at all security screening entrances to all courthouses to receive the user fee.

The Florid Department of Transportation will work to assist all circuits in installing a "fast pass" similar to the electronic passes used on Florida's toll roads.

Attorneys - who can be expected to complain long and loud, will be offered the opportunity to purchase monthly passes for a fee of probably $25.00. This will allow them to enter any courthouse as many times as they wish for the payment of a monthly flat fee.

In the coming months we will work to establish protocols for the implementation of this fee- for instance what will be done with vendors, homeless individuals, children, witnesses, and other individuals who refuse or otherwise cannot pay? Your help in advocating the advantages of this fee- namely the restoration of important local projects that would otherwise be cut under the current budget- will be greatly appreciated.

The Legislature will probably require each circuit to have a collection process in place by July 1, 2011. Therefore, you can expect work to begin immediately on implementing the collection of user fees.

As the Governor and his staff have repeatedly said, why should courthouses be different from parking lots, movie theaters, amusement parks, or sporting events? While there may be philosophical arguments on both sides, I remain personally excited by the ability to collect revenue that will be used for the direct benefit of our courthouses and personnel.

Rumpole says: Lets the arguments begin- just try and refrain from cursing.

OPENING DAY- re-run from last year

There's nothing like it in all the world.

Fresh cut grass. Oiled gloves. The smack of a ball on a wooden bat. The sound of cleats padding over a base.

Opening Day for Baseball. Every team is in it. The sights. The sounds. The smells. It's a uniquely American experience.

Baseball is the only major team sport not played with a time clock. It has a rhythm all its own. It moves to its own time. 9 innings.

There's a line in the John Fogerty song Centerfield:

"Just to hit the ball, and touch em all,

a moment in the sun,

its gone and you can tell that one goodbye."

It sums up a lifetime of hope and desire- just to hit the ball and touch em all- a home run. Little boys dream of it- and old men remember warm summer days when they moved with a grace long since gone.

And then finally- the one movie that always makes u cry: A Field Of Dreams. We'll leave it to others to discern just what in that movie touches us so much, but this speech- by James Earl Jones as Terrance Mann to Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella- sums up what Baseball is, and always will be to millions of fans:

Mann: The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Ohhhhhhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.

THE FIGHT IS ON

DOM has all the juicy nasty details about the fight between Roy Black and former US Attorney Alex Acosta over the prosecution and defense of Jeffrey Epstein.

Recipe: Take one hedge fund billionaire with an appetite for underage girls; add one US Attorney who is not going to be pushed around; mix with a talented criminal defense attorney who attracts clients with almost as much money (and less debt) than the USA and mix.

As David points out, the Daily Beast broke the story here.

The Florida Bar's in trouble. Read the Broward JAA blog and "guess who" as a guest columnist.

SELL SELL SELL.

We think Japan is falling behind managing the nuclear crisis. The worst news is yet to come. As such we sent out a Twitter message the other day to our investors who follow our advice to start moving to cash and begin investing in vehicles that will profit from a sharp market downturn. Buying Puts is a wise move (and if you have to ask about what that is, take your money and put it back in the passbook savings account grandma left you.).

We're a bit busy, so that is all for now. We will address the 3rd DCA smack down issued to an REGJB judge the other day when we get a minute to read the opinion.

NEVER MIND

Roy Black blogs about Lozano, below.....

The rains that we warned about yesterday came....at about 9:00 PM Monday night. So if you listened to us and brought your Mac to work, never mind. And sorry. Those weather vixens are good for many things, but meteorology is not apparently one of them.

A Cobra escaped from the Bronx Zoo over the weekend.

And now that sneaky, slippery snake has been twittering about his (?) adventures on the loose in the big apple. The very funny tweets of @BronxZoosCobra are here. #snakeonthetown.

BronxZoosCobra Bronx Zoo's Cobra

Holding very still in the snake exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. This is gonna be hilarious!

BronxZoosCobra Bronx Zoo's Cobra

If you want to find me, I right in front of the original Ray's Pizza.

BronxZoosCobra Bronx Zoo's Cobra

Dear NYC, Apples and snakes have gone together since the beginning.

8 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

WORST?

DOM blogs that a gaggle of Fed inspectors say the Ft. Lauderdale Federal Courthouse is the worst.

Query: Have they seen the courthouse in West Palm?

"Perjury. Steroids. Mistresses. Cap sizes (expanding). Testicle size (shrinking) "

OK- now you try and Twitter the Barry Bonds Federal trial.

Remember- 140 character limit.

And finally-

Roy Black Blogs about the Lozano case. He claims it almost killed him. We believe him.

If you don't know about the case, read his blog. If you were here for the mayhem, read his blog. It's a great entry.

See You In Court.

Bonus question- quick- who was the trial judge in the Miami Lozano case?

TAKE YOUR MAC TODAY

MONDAY MORNING WEATHER UPDATE: There's a consensus among the scantily clad local weather vixens who grace our morning televisions: massive thunderstorms will be heading down from Tampa to South Florida. Broweird gets it first and then Dade County by mid-afternoon. So bring your Mac to work today- and no we are not talking about the computer.

Your local weather brought to you by your favourite local, legal blog. All part of the service we provide.

Good Monday morning. It was a wonderful spring weekend in South Florida.

We have our final four teams for NCAA College Basketball. Sorry you Gator Fans, but what in the world was that 3 point bomb at the end of regulation? They could have won it if they had the right play called. #badcoaching.

We have now been officially signed up for email alerts about the welfare of Ostriches. Pretty funny who ever did that. #Struthious.

Pretty good victory for Mike Catalano and his client Judge Dale Cohen. The JQC recommendations are here, courtesy of the JAA Broward Blog. #goodlawyering.

Here's the big question for the week: What's the proper way to spell the name of the current leader of Libya?

Speaking of revolutions, who is next? Syria or the DUI attorneys who can't get called out of turn in Judge Hague's courtroom? Both of those situations are reaching the boiling point and unfortunately the good offices of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton can only handle one of these flash points.

Can't you just envision NATO intervening on the 6th floor?

Gee, we're old enough to remember walking to court under the watchful eyes of the National Guard when Miami was burning. But that was BS so who cares? (Before Starbucks).

OK readers: what dear Robed reader will do something stupid and make our week?

Place your bets now.

See You In Court.

VERY GOOD SHOWING

UPDATE: TRAWICK SACKS ROBBINS FOR FIVE YEAR LOSS

The long, sad saga of former Oakland Raider center Barrett Robbins has come to a conclusion with a five year prison sentence of the former NFL star for violating his probation for testing positive for cocaine. The Herald has the story here.

We're not criticizing Judge Trawick here, but we are disturbed by the sentence. ASA David Gilbert (another fair and well respected player in this saga) asked for a prison sentence.

It is well known that Robbins is bi-polar. People with mental diseases self medicate with drugs. It just strikes us as wrong that we send mentally ill people to prison. We don't send overweight diabetics who self medicate by eating Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream to prison. But we send mentally ill people to prison all the time. And the quote attributed to Mr. Gilbert that Mr. Robbins deserves prison time because "he is big and quick" and thus presents more of a danger than, lets say a 5 foot 100 pound Miami Dolphin Cheerleader, also strikes us as wrong.

We recognize that Mr. Robbins was given chance after chance and at some point there are no chances left. And that's probably what happened here. It's just sad that we all know Mr. Robbins is mentally ill and prison is the best we can do.

FRIDAY'S SYMPOSIUM: THUS SPOKETH RUMPOLE.

The Symposium organized by Robert Kuntz went very well Friday . It was tough to get a word in edgewise with Brian Tannebaum and DOM hogging the microphone, but kudos to Mr. Kuntz for doing a great job moderating an ill-moderate bunch of egos. It was a very enjoyable experience.

And BTW, this shows that our judiciary needs qualified individuals with the varied life experience Mr. Kuntz, a former journalist, has. We hope he runs/applies again.

Also, follow Robert Kuntz on Twitter @RobertKuntz.

"SOME OF MY BEST IDEAS COME FROM MY CLIENTS."

This is the heading of a new post on Roy Black's new blog. (Roy spoke at the symposium Friday).

It's a good post with a simple but often overlooked practice tip- speak to (not at) your client, and listen (and don't interrupt) when they respond. It's amazing what you will learn.

Have a great weekend. For those of you not writing op-ed pieces on the late Justice Rhenquist, it is a beautiful day (so we hear) in South Florida (as we fly back from LA). Get out and enjoy Florida and we will see you in court Monday.

RUMPOLE TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC!!!

UPDATE: The conference has begun. We will begin our address around 11:15 am. DOM needs a shave and a shoe shine.

FRIDAY IN COURTROOM 4-2 OF THE MIAMI DADE COURTHOUSE, RUMPOLE WILL SPEAK AT THE FOLLOWING SYMPOSIUM.

YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!

The Eleventh Judicial Circuit Centennial Committee, Joseph H. Serota, Chair, is pleased to present "Ripped from the Headlines: The Vital, Tempestuous and Changing Relationship between the Court and Media."

Symposium Chairs Robert Kuntz and Timothy M. Ravich will present a 3-part, half-day symposium showcasing important trials throughout the history of the Miami-Dade County judiciary and focusing on what the future holds as court cases are actively covered by new and emerging media sources.

• Part I – A multi-media historical presentation by the 11th Judicial Circuit’s Court Historian Judge Scott J. Silverman. This presentation will focus on the Court’s early relationship with the press, with an emphasis on Giuseppe Zangara’s attempted assassination of President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt at Miami’s Bayfront Park in February 1930.

• Part II - A panel discussion of the William Lozano shooting of Clement Lloyd, Lozano’s trial and re-trial, and the evolving relationship between the media and the Court.

• Part III – A panel discussion of the role that “new media” plays in the courtroom. The discussion will include blogging, Twitter, email, cameras in the courtroom, and feeding the 24-hour news cycle.

Featured speakers include John Hogan, Mark Seiden, Roy Black, Joseph H. Serota, Bob Levenson, Kendall Coffey, David Markus, Brian Tannenbaum -- and special "appearances" by the writers of the legal “blawgs” The Justice Building Blog and South Florida Lawyer.

We have been assured we will have immunity. We cannot be served at this hearing for any lawsuit or bar complaint. Furthermore, we have been assured of a significant police presence that will protect us from those who wear robes and bear grudges. There will also be a selection of top shelf liquor- gratis for speakers and participants.

Having thus had our concerns sufficiently addressed, we agreed to speak at this soiree.

Our words will simultaneously be Twittered to a rapturous world wide audience.

DOM better bring his A-Game. We're not some star struck AUSA just happy to be gracing the same courtroom with the "King of Cross".

See You In Courtroom 4-2 tomorrow.