According to the JAABlog, a Broward judge said: "If the jury comes back not guilty, I'm going to slit my throat" in a DUI case: "Luckily for the Judge's throat, they did come back guilty, after which the defense attorney successfully disqualified Ireland from further proceedings. Now it's up to another judge to read the trial, and sort out a bunch of messy issues. Not to be outdone, another county judge was recently overheard commenting how people of Mexican descent 'love beer.' Only in Broward, baby!" This can't be true, can it?
Tons of great coverage of the Supreme Court while we wait for Obama to pick Stevens' successor.
On why Stevens wears a bow-tie: "The truth is that I can't tie a four-in-hand." The rest of the Washington Post article is great.
SG Kagan had to deal with a dicey political question while at Harvard. Here's Professor Mnookin on how she decided not to fight the feds even though she believed the government was wrong: "Elena is very good at reading the lay of the land, at having a sense of who is where on what issue and what the art of the possible might be, who can be influenced, who cannot. In that sense of being political, she is extremely gifted. She’s very purposeful."
Kagan is also watching the honest services cases very closely. For the criminal practitioners out there, let's make no mistake -- if Kagan is selected, she will not be even close to as liberal as Justice Stevens on criminal justice issues.
Speaking of honest services cases, NACDL and the Heritage Foundation just issued a report explaining how Congress is continuing to criminalize too many acts and is doing so without including a mens rea element. The entire report "How Congress is Eroding the Criminal Intent Requirement in Federal Law" can be read here.
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
Great. They are going to put a coward on the Court. I want a person that is prepared to stand up for what they believe and fight for it even if they are going to lose.
ReplyDeleteToo many cowards and meeley mouthed people getting involved in government - often times leading to the whole "don't rock the boat" mantra that allows the average to excel to positions of control only to f-up when they have to make a tough decision.
What the heck is going on in Broward?! David, if you know, can you tell us how many of the Broward judges that have made the press recently were elected vs. appointed? I suspect that most were elected, which tends to show that electing judges doesn't provide nearly enough screening than the appointment process (which BTW, isn't perfect either). Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't everyone, regardless of origin, race, creed, nationality- love beer?
ReplyDeleteMens Rea? The drunk financier defense! Has no one read the papers???? The greatest Ponzi scheme in history was just pulled off, courtesy of our legal system. All they have to do is say I was too stupid to know the trillions in derivatives had to fail???
ReplyDeleteIt is not true; it happens in lots of counties other than "only in Broward."
ReplyDeleteYou don't try a lot of cases in Broward state court do you? I mean outside of that picture of you doing the Macarena when getting a NG in Broward, you don't spend a lot of time there do you? For instance do you know that it used to be the practice of most Broward Judges to take your client into custody AFTER not guilty verdict, ostensibly to check for priors. When the Appellate courts put the kibosh on that, they stated taking clients into custody once the trial started. Then once they were acquitted, they weren't released in court due to "DIOC rules" and the Judges got to send them back to jail for usually the weekend.
ReplyDeleteSo am I surprised a Judge threatened suicide if a jury acquitted a defendant? Not up there I'm not.