John Pacenti knocks it out of the park

He's got two interesting stories in the DBR this morning:

1) Lew Freeman's emails from prison and 2) the age of our district's judges.

Here's a part of the Freeman article:

Other reports from Freeman dispel any notion of a "Club Fed" where white collar criminals enjoy the comforts of home.

He spins a story of when 11 "new spa members" showed up late one night and there was a shortage of mattresses. Inmates learned there were 300 new mattresses at the prison storage but couldn't be touched because they were to be used in case of a hurricane.

The temperature in the prison also fluctuates wildly, he relates. A cold snap in the fall was made even more brutal for inmates by an air conditioner still blowing. Freeman said he bought a wool cap for five tunas and another inmate loaned him a long-sleeved shirt.

"I was petrified of waking up one morning and urinating ice cubes from the freezing," he said.

Then when temperatures returned to normal, the air conditioning unit broke, and Freeman said he stripped down to a T-shirt and shorts at night to stay cool.

He also relates a time when three urinals broke and the hot water was turned off forcing inmates to take cold showers.

"If you wanted a warm shower it was up to you to supply it. No I didn't pee in (the) shower," he wrote.

Freeman spins a lot of bathroom humor. Not a big change from his days on the outside. He revels in the fact that there are private shower stalls, but adds he doesn't think he's in too much danger if he drops the soap: "I am too old and undesirable to this population."

And the age issue article has some interesting comments from our judges. Here's Judge King:

King didn't shy away from the issue. In a 45-minute interview, he talked about telling fellow judges and established attorneys in the community — the old lions of the bar, as he calls them — to alert him or Moreno if he starts to slip. King was articulate and entertaining. He said he takes no medication and seemed chagrined that he had to run to the eye doctor to update his eyeglass prescription.

King, who has been on the bench 40 years, still routinely travels to Key West for trials in the southernmost point of the district and is overseeing multidistrict litigation involving debit card fees. He still does some things old school. He will not sign an order electronically and keeps a paper printout docket of all the cases before him on the corner of his desk.

The judge said he also watches how his rulings hold up on appeal. He said if he is only reversed a couple of times a year among the numerous decisions he makes, he believes he still has what it takes to keep on the bench.

King said another reason judges don't readily retire is because they see the position as a calling.

"The philosophy is that this is sort of like becoming a priest or a rabbi or a minister," he said. "It is a life commitment."

Judge Moreno has a good quote: "Getting older, as in many things, is a good thing. Judges are like good wine, the older they get, the better they get."

Jimmy Johnson in Court...

...for jury selection.

Judge King cut him loose -- after figuring out who he was:

A third fellow stepped forward and said his name was James Johnson. He knew the importance of jury duty, he said, but he had a special houseguest and, please, if he wasn't really needed, could he be excused?

Besides, he said, he'd been a defendant in a few minor civil suits, so maybe the lawyers wouldn't want him anyway.

'I said, `What's your business?' '' King recalls. Fox Sports analyst, he said.
King looked at him funny. ''Did you coach?'' ``Yes.''
''Where?'' King asked. Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys, University of Miami, Oklahoma State. He rattled off others -- Iowa State, Wichita State.

''That's enough,'' said King as folks in the courtroom laughed. By then, the judge realized it was Jimmy Johnson.

King, 79, joked about his lousy hearing and wisecracked: ``Now I've proven that I can't see very well, either. I should have recognized you.''

Johnson, 63, an Islamorada resident, told King his houseguest was Bill Parcells, who recently retired as Dallas head coach. He planned to take the Big Tuna fishing.

King excused Johnson, but not before asking him to predict the Gators' record for next season.
Johnson recalls that exchange. 'I said, `I have no idea. I'm the worst in the world at picking games.' ''

King may not have recognized him, but others did. As Johnson sat on the courthouse steps at 7:30 a.m., waiting for the building to open, he got waves from passersby and requests for autographs.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Daniel, assistant federal public defender Hector Flores and Key West attorney Charles Milligan say Johnson appeared smaller than on TV. Daniel: ''A very humble guy.'' Flores: ''Very charming.'' Milligan: ''Didn't have his hair as bouffant-ed up.'' Defense lawyer Albert Levin got an autograph.

Coincidentally, Johnson received a summons for state jury duty in Marathon that same day. He was excused from that, too -- after the feds called on his behalf to say he had already reported in Key West.

King says he had no problem putting Johnson on waivers. ``We accommodate people.''