Electing a public defender?

We haven't discussed the recent announcement by Bennett Brummer that he will be retiring and not seeking re-election next year as Miami's Public Defender. (Rumpole has been posting a bunch about it.)

What I find interesting about the state system is that Florida elects its public defenders. I think it's a bad idea to have elections for public defenders (and for judges).

First, how do people campaign for public defender? "I am a really good criminal defense lawyer and will free more criminal defendants than my opponent." I don't think that's going to be too successful.... They certainly can't run on the tough on crime platform. What if a prosecutor decides to run saying that if elected, he would assign the best defense attorneys to the few innocent clients and the rest will rightfully be convicted? Sounds ridiculous, but you see the point.

The federal system has it right -- the public defender should be appointed, based on merit. See, e.g., Kathy Williams.

Luckily, we have had a great Miami PD for the past 30 years in Brummer. It will be interesting to see how this election plays out.

Wellington businessman Dan Miteff pleads guilty....

...in the middle of trial.

More here from the Sun-Sentinel:

In a stunning turn, Wellington businessman Dan Miteff changed his plea to guilty this morning at the beginning of the third day of this criminal fraud trial.Miteff entered the courtroom at the U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach late looking ashen and distraught. Then, after conferring with his attorney, Chris Grillo, Miteff told Judge Kenneth Ryskamp, "I plead guilty."Miteff, 56, faced 20 counts in connection with a conspiracy with former County Commissioner Tony Masilotti to purchase 49 acres of land from Archdiocese of Palm Beach County in Royal Palm Beach.

Informants in the Liberty City 7 case

Bob Norman of the New Times has this interesting piece about the informants from the Liberty City 7 case. He argues that the jury is not hearing enough of the informants' background. Here's the intro:

One extorted $7,000 from a friend who raped his girlfriend and then, after accepting the money, beat her up and went to jail.
The other failed an FBI polygraph test while working on an undercover investigation, which one former FBI agent says should have disqualified him from ever working for the government again. Oh, and he was also once charged with roughing up a woman.
And these are supposed to be the good guys.


HT: Fake Admiral

Back to work

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend.... Updates on the district:

1. The Liberty City 7 case is slowly coming to a close -- closing arguments should start at the end of this week. Jay Weaver had a story in the Herald this weekend about the case.

2. Chief Judge Federico Moreno will be speaking at the federal bar luncheon on December 12 (CORRECTED) at noon at the Banker's club. Last month's event with Judges Barkett and Marcus sold out and was really fun. If you are interested in attending, RSVP soon.

3. The South Asian Bar Association is hosting a complimentary wine and cheese night on Wednesday, December 5 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with Saira Rao, author of the Chambermaid, the controversial and entertaining debut novel. The event will take place at SolAmbit's new office located at 700 South Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301. For more information on the author and the book, please visit http://srv.markuslaw.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.sairarao.com/.

4. Judge Cooke denied the post-trial motions in the Padilla case, which means the sentencing (and appeal) will proceed. Vanessa Blum has more here.

5. I found this article really interesting about Judge Paul Cassell leaving the district court bench to go back to being a law professor:

Cassell said he found himself questioning some laws at each turn. "I felt like it was proper judicial role to ask questions, even if we weren't necessarily charged with fixing the problem," he said. But he wanted to do more — he wanted to make a change. Being a federal judge, he couldn't do that. "One of the frustrations about being a trial court judge is that you never set broad principles of law; of course, that's reserved for the appellate courts. ... When I was there for 5 1/2 years, I began to think that maybe I would have more effect in moving the law in a way that I think is desirable by doing appellate litigation."

There aren't too many more powerful positions than a federal judge, yet Cassell was "frustrated" he couldn't do more. He has a lot more to say, including his position on draconian federal sentences... It's worth a read.

(HT: Orin Kerr and Doug Berman)

Judge Jordan dismisses Jack Thompson's lawsuit

We covered all the back and forth earlier, so here's the conclusion -- case dismissed in a 24 page order. Of course, GamePolitics has all the details...

And yes, Thompson has already filed an emergency appeal.