Ruling in the Scripps case

The Sun-Sentinel reports here that Judge Donald Middlebrooks dealt a setback Friday to the Scripps Research Institute, ruling that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not do a sufficient environmental analysis prior to approving the Palm Beach County biotechnology project.The 62-page decision does not automatically halt the project, but attorneys for two environmental groups who brought the lawsuit said they will now ask him to stop construction and order the project moved to a less environmentally sensitive location.

Comments!

You should check out the comment sections to the last couple of posts -- There are some really interesting remarks, all made by Anonymous. Who are you?

Breaking news

It's not everyday that we get to break news here on the Southern District of Florida blog, so here goes: Pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act, Judge Moreno has appointed Hugo Rodriguez (at a rate of $90/hour) to represent Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela, who is accused of once being the largest cocaine distrubutor in the world.

UPDATE: When it rains, it pours. Here is more breaking news -- the government has decided to ask for rehearing on the Cuban Spy decision. Here is the press release they sent out today: "Today, United States Attorney R. Alexander Acosta and the members of the trial team in United States v. Camp, submitted to the EleventhCircuit Court of Appeals a Petition requesting that all twelve activejudges of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals rehear that case. The Petition respecfully expresses a belief, based on a reasoned and studied professional judgment, that the panel decision in this case is contrary tothe decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and of the EleventhCircuit, and that consideration by the full Court is necessary to secureand maintain uniformity of decisions in the Eleventh Circuit." The press release was emailed to every news outlet in Miami, even though the brief has not even been filed yet in the 11th Circuit.

Answer to trivia

Anonymous (who are you?!) posted the answer late last night -- The youngest federal judge was Thomas Jefferson Boynton, who was 25 when Abraham Lincoln issued him a recess appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on October 19, 1863.

Slow blogging & Trivia

Sorry about the slow blogging recently, but I'm in trial. The jury went out about 2:30 today and still has not reached a verdict... Waiting is the hardest part. In any event, there have been a bunch of interesting pieces in the DBR (about the porn wars making this District the brunt of jokes) and the Herald (about the AG's visit) the last couple of days. I just haven't had time to write about them... Sorry.

In the meantime, Richard B. Rosenthal has emailed me this trivia question, which I reproduce here. Answer to follow in the next couple of days, but use the comment section if you wanna take a guess: Who is the youngest person ever appointed to the federal judiciary, what President appointed him or her, and on what court did he or she serve?

New District Probation Officer

I'm in trial and haven't been able to post much lately, but wanted to let you know that I received the following email today from Jack Bauer (who I always thought was the lead character on 24...) explaining that Reginald D. Michael was the District's next Chief Probation Officer. Congrats to Mr. Michael and good luck to Frank Schwartz:

From: Jack Bauer
To: domarkus@hotmail.com
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 8:14 PM
Subject: New CUSPO
I write on behalf of Chief Judge Zloch to announce that the Court’s Judges selected Reginald D. Michael to be the District’s next Chief Probation Officer. Mr. Michael will succeed incumbent Chief Frank Schwartz when he retires later this year, and his official starting date has not yet been established. Mr. Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from Northeast Louisiana University and his experience in the federal probation and pretrial services system has spanned over 18 years. Mr. Michael comes to us from the U.S. Probation Office in the District of Nevada where he currently serves as the Deputy Chief U. S. Probation Officer. He formerly served as a U.S. Probation Officer and Supervising Officer in the Southern District of New York, as a Probation and Pretrial Services Administrator with the Administrative Office, and as Chief of Program Review for Probation and Pretrial Services at the Administrative Office. Mr. Michael possesses a solid background in probation and pretrial services and strong management, leadership and interpersonal skills. The District’s Judges believe Mr. Michael will make an excellent addition to the Probation Unit and that he will prove to be an effective leader within the District and within the federal probation community.

News and notes

1. More Jack Abramoff news at the Herald. Jay Weaver reports here on Ohio Rep. Bob Ney's connection to the case: "Federal authorities want to know whether an obscure Ohio congressman improperly influenced negotiations in the $147 million SunCruz Casinos deal five years ago as a favor to a politically connected lobbyist and his business partner, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Rep. Bob Ney, a Republican better known for touting coal shippers in his district, thrust himself into the sensitive sale in March 2000 when he publicly trashed Fort Lauderdale-based SunCruz owner Gus Boulis in Congress. Sources say investigators want to know whether Ney deliberately sought to handicap Boulis by highlighting his troubles with Florida authorities at a time when the magnate -- pressured by federal prosecutors -- was desperately trying to sell his gambling ships to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and New York businessman Adam Kidan."

2. WHOOPS! In the well-publicized drug prosecution of Evintz Brillant, the government's star witness picked out Justice Department attorney Thomas Pinder when asked to identify the defendant. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Weinstein quickly recovered and asked the witness to stand up and look around the courtroom for Brillant. ''I made a mistake,'' he said. "He's sitting right there, wearing a blue shirt.''

Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela to get free lawyer

So reports Jay Weaver. This seems wrong to me. Appointed lawyers are meant for indigent defendants. The man has money. Lots of it. He could spend it at Publix or for a doctor or for clothes. Why not a lawyer?