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Federal Judiciary

Southern District of Florida

News and notes on the Southern District of Florida

Post Frequency: 3.1/day

Last Entry: November 03, 2020 at 07:42:00

Friday notes

Posted on March 11, 2011
1. Gotta love 4th Amendment under-garments. Are those body scanners constitutional anyway?2. Speaking of the 4th Amendment, did the police violate Charlie Sheen's 4th Amendment rights? Sheen tweeted that he the police were respectful. Good thing for them because Sheen knows how to sue...

Great Event for the Steven E. Chaykin Fellowship Trust

Posted on March 10, 2011
Steven E. ChaykinIn Memoriam: 1951-2008President UM Citizens Board 2007-2008Member, Florida Bar Board of GovernorsA Reception and Private Concert byDEREK TRUCKS AND SUSAN TEDESCHI BANDWhen: Saturday, April 9, 20116:30 pm -- Cocktail Reception; 8:15 pm -- ConcertWhere: Gusman Hall, University of Miami, Coral Gables CampusAll proceeds benefit the Steven E...

Judge Gold is Zen

Posted on March 09, 2011
Judge Gold gave a nice talk today about civility in court. But it wasn't the same old talk. His theory is that stress is causing the incivility among both lawyers and judges. And he gave practical tips for trying to get rid of stress. In fact, Judge Gold is starting a group of lawyers and judges to deal with these issues...

?My wife tells me what to do.?

Posted on March 09, 2011
That was Matt Gulla, the main snitch against the cops in the mortgage fraud trial, when asked whether another co-defendant told him what to do. "The answer momentarily caught [the defense lawyer] off guard, before he drew a titter throughout the courtroom by retorting that wives are the presumed bosses in the spousal pecking order...

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741 days

Posted on March 07, 2011
That's how long Judge Hurley has been waiting for Kathy Williams to be confirmed and take over his seat. The Sun-Sentinel covers the story:"One of the great concerns for the court as an institution is that over time we'll have other vacancies, and if the vacancies aren't filled in a timely manner," legal logjams eventually will prevent people from getting their day in court, he said...

"This appeal is about usurping the role of the jury in a criminal trial byrelying upon racial stereotypes."

Posted on March 04, 2011
That's how Judge Pryor started the opinion in United States v. Almanzar. Also on the panel was Judge Carnes and our very own Judge Seitz. The rest of the opinion's intro:The key question presented is whether there is sufficient evidence to support a jury verdict that Araceli Almanzar knowingly possessed with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine...

Trustee Marika Tolz charged with $16 million fraud

Posted on March 04, 2011
The South Florida Business Journal has the story about 64-year-old Hollywood bankruptcy trustee Marika Tolz here. She is charged with misappropriating $16 million in court funds and pocketing $2.4 million of it for herself.The case is set for first appearance before Judge Garber today at 1:30...

Cheese Touch!

Posted on March 04, 2011
The United States has charged some people with selling bad cheese.This is all I could think of:

Justice Alito doesn't like the First Amendment

Posted on March 02, 2011
He was the lone dissenter in the crush video case. And now he is the lone dissenter in the funeral protester case:The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount anti-gay protests outside military funerals, despite the pain they cause grieving families...

Cop/Mortgage fraud trial starts

Posted on March 02, 2011
The estimated 5 week trial is in front of Judge Cohn in Ft. Lauderdale. The Herald is covering it here:The fraud trial of six law enforcement officers accused of helping to run a multi-million dollar home loan scam got underway Tuesday with opening statements in U...

Justice Scalia issues strong dissent in favor of criminal defendant

Posted on February 28, 2011
Here is his intro in Michigan v. Bryant:Today?s tale?a story of five officers conducting successive examinations of a dying man with the primary purpose, not of obtaining and preserving his testimony regarding his killer, but of protecting him, them, and others from a murderer somewhere on the loose?is so transparently false that professing to believe it demeans this institution...

Clarence Thomas is pissed

Posted on February 28, 2011
Check him out here, via Politico:From the article:Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas ? his impartiality under attack from liberals because of his attendance at a meeting of conservative donors sponsored by the Koch brothers and his wife?s tea party activism ? struck a defiant tone in a Saturday night speech in Charlottesville, Va...

Housewives and The Boys

Posted on February 26, 2011
Jay Weaver explores the connection between the Miami Housewives and Willy & Sal:Long before they made their debuts in The Real Housewives of Miami this week , they played bit parts in a drama with a lot more reality: the life and times of legendary cocaine cowboys Willy and Sal...

Rogue snitches

Posted on February 24, 2011
It should come as no surprise that snitches sometimes go rogue. And today, John Pacenti has an article saying that Scott Rothstein may have gone on a frolic and detour:Scott Rothstein started out in Plantation as an employment lawyer representing police officers in internal affairs investigations and disputes with the department...

Thursday news and notes

Posted on February 24, 2011
1. DOMA ban now invalid. Via ScotusBlog:With the approval of President Obama, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., notified Congress on Wednesday that the federal government will now argue in court that it is unconstitutional to withhold all federal benefits from same-sex couples who are legally married under their own state?s law...

Bob Scola tapped to fill Judge Huck's seat

Posted on February 22, 2011
Although it's not official yet, a number of reliable tipsters have emailed me that Circuit Judge Robert Scola Jr. is being vetted to fill Judge Huck's seat. Remember that Scola, along with Jerald Bagley and John O'Sullivan made the JNC's cut to three...

Great event this Wednesday

Posted on February 21, 2011

Back to blogging

Posted on February 20, 2011
Thanks Jeff Marcus for a very entertaining week of guest blogging. In taking the bridge back this weekend, I see that the Herald interviewed Lea Black (Roy Black's wife) for her upcoming role in Real Housewives of Miami. She looks great and here's one funny exchange:Are your friends and family ready for the scrutiny?I didn?t tell anybody that I did the show until I finished it, and then I denied it up until Bravo said that they had announced it...

What Do You Wear to a "Charting Party"?

Posted on February 18, 2011
No, I don't have big weekend plans. And it's a slow pre-holiday weekend news day. So, let's talk healthcare and the Medicare "charting party" case unsealed this week in the SDFLA. DOJ's Medicare Strikeforce has indicted 3 doctors and 17 others, in what the government has dubbed the "nation's largest mental health racket," alleging that unneeded group therapy sessions and sleep studies were being routinely provided at several community mental health centers...

SDS, It's Not.

Posted on February 17, 2011
Above the Law has a funny article about our beloved UM School of Law (again). From Cairo to Coral Gables, revolution is in the air. Apparently, there are stirrings (no doubt inspired by Tahir Square) of a student movement to adopt a "Student Bill of Rights...

Barry Bonds On Deck; Clemens, Armstrong to Follow?

Posted on February 16, 2011
New developments in the Barry Bonds case now set for trial next month centering around Bond's childhood friend, trainer, and alleged PED pal Greg Anderson. You may recall that Anderson spent a year in the pokey for refusing to testify against Bonds before the grand jury...

Justice Breyer at the DCBA

Posted on February 15, 2011
Great DCBA Event this afternoon at the Hyatt where Justice Stephen Breyer spoke to a packed audience about his new book, "Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge's View," published last September. In the book, Justice Breyer lays out his theory of "pragmatic" jurisprudence, an intellectual counterweight to Justice Scalia's textualist approach...

Happy V Day!

Posted on February 14, 2011
The (much) less famous Marcus (but more importantly better Beth Am basketball player) in the house covering for the Big D. I haven't won a grammy or anything but I'm feeling pretty good this morning. At the shiny controls of the Blog mothership, my spiritual journey from prosecutor to defense lawyer is now complete...

My Kingdom for a Home

Posted on February 14, 2011
Ok, it's not quite Shakespeare but the SDFLA criminal trial of former Lancer hedge fund impresario, Michael Lauer, is inching closer to DDay and love is most definitely NOT in the air. They're up to docket entry #917, which is worth the read, and Judge Jordan (who seems to get more than his fair share of big paper cases) is umpiring...

Yo Ho Ho

Posted on February 14, 2011
You know you've been a bad boy when your lawyer agrees to a low-end sentence of 27 years. Abduwali Muse, the sole survivor of a four-person Somali pirate gang that hijacked the Maersk Alabama in April 2009, will be sentenced Wed. in the SDNY. Muse and his cronies kidnapped 53 people in a five-week stretch before a daring Navy Seal raid freed the hostages...

Welcome a new guest blogger

Posted on February 12, 2011
Starting Monday, I'm excited to announce that we'll have Jeff Marcus guest blogging for the week.Enjoy!

Friday

Posted on February 11, 2011
Last night was an unbelievable event for the FBA. Congrats to Brett Barfield for the most well-attended event in recent history.The District just updated its website, but now there is a push to have all the district courts conform to a template. Not sure why this is what our government should be spending money on...

Federal Bar Judicial Reception

Posted on February 10, 2011
It's tonight at the Hyatt. 5:30-8:30. Always a great event.

?This was a murder case. His vacation schedule trumped everything. You don?t make decisions based on [when you will be] sipping pi�a coladas.?

Posted on February 10, 2011
That was Alan Dershowitz, criticizing a judge (during an appellate oral argument) for forcing a defense lawyer to give a closing so that the judge could get to his vacation.Dersh did give props to the appellate court: Afterwards, Dershowitz said, "The court was extremely well prepared...

Omar is coming

Posted on February 09, 2011
Does it count as a win in the 11th Circuit if you get a reversal because the district judge didn't staple his findings on the defendant's objections to the PSI?What else is going on?Professor Ogeltree has come up with the coolest law school class ever: ?Race and Justice ? The Wire...

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