Federal Judges are people too

I love this story in So. Florida Magazine featuring our very own Judge Ursula Ungaro, who golfs in her spare time. How cool. Judge Ungaro, known as one of the smartest and sharpest judges in the district, can also hit the ball pretty well. Although she normally plays at the Biltmore or Granada, she has played as far away as George, South Africa where she "had to fend off the monkeys, who were trying to steal the balls out of [their] bags."

"Miami black market aquarium supplier gets jail term"

From the Miami Herald:

A Miami man will forfeit his boat and spend 10 months in jail for illegally harvesting brilliantly colorful corallimorphs, prized for saltwater aquariums, from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Alexandre Alvarenga, 40, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan, who accepted his guilty plea for illegally taking 900 living specimens of Ricordea florida so that he could sell them.

For more on corallimorphs, read here.

Governor Crist appoints John Thornton

John Thornton was appointed to the state circuit bench today. Congrats to John -- a wonderful appointment from our Governor.

Motions for JOA denied

I'm on the road today, but a reliable source emails me that the motions for judgment of acquittal as to all defendants in the Padilla case were denied.

Defense case to begin Thursday.

For an interesting discussion comparing the government action in Padilla to KPMG, check out www.discourse.net, Professor Froomkin's blog. I will post the exact link when I get back to town.

UPDATE -- here's the link to the interesting post.

Julie Kay interviews Chief Judge Moreno

Here.

Lots of good stuff in the article that will make lawyers and non-lawyers happy, like being more permissive with cell phones and laptops. The Chief also plans on making sure that secret dockets are a thing of the past and that all documents are made available to the public:

“I’m a very open person,” Moreno said. “My personal feeling is that if something is said in open court, it should be an open record.”

As for plea deals: "Moreno said the court will continue to study another issue that recently has generated controversy — whether plea agreements should be posted online."

Interesting article and worth a read.