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
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Gupta gets 24 month sentence
I had set the line at 36 months. Professor Berman nailed it though predicting 24 months.
Judge Rakoff is a model judge, giving an example of how there should not be a trial tax and explaining that the loss guidelines made no sense. From law.com:
Rakoff rejected a guidelines range of 78 to 97 months as an irrational result because it was driven by the amount of money involved in Rajaratnam's trades and it was Rajaratnam, not Gupta, who made money on both bad and good news coming from within the secret confines of Goldman Sachs' boardroom. The judge said two years was enough to send a message of deterrence to would-be insider traders.
Rakoff ordered the sentence, set to begin on Jan. 8, after taking into account Gupta's charitable giving through organizations such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Rakoff said Gupta had extended a "big heart and a helping hand" to millions.
Judge Rakoff is a model judge, giving an example of how there should not be a trial tax and explaining that the loss guidelines made no sense. From law.com:
Rakoff rejected a guidelines range of 78 to 97 months as an irrational result because it was driven by the amount of money involved in Rajaratnam's trades and it was Rajaratnam, not Gupta, who made money on both bad and good news coming from within the secret confines of Goldman Sachs' boardroom. The judge said two years was enough to send a message of deterrence to would-be insider traders.
Rakoff ordered the sentence, set to begin on Jan. 8, after taking into account Gupta's charitable giving through organizations such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Rakoff said Gupta had extended a "big heart and a helping hand" to millions.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
John Errol Ferguson's execution stayed
He was set to be executed last night at 6pm, but the 11th Circuit stayed the execution at 8pm (?!!?) and the Supreme Court upheld the stay. It's been a roller coaster though for the last few days. From the AP:
Following a slew of conflicting court rulings, a federal appeals court has blocked the scheduled execution of a mass killer convicted of eight killings that jolted South Florida in the 1970s. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the stay.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision Tuesday came during a flurry of legal decisions over claims that 64-year-old John Errol Ferguson suffers from mental illness so severe he cannot be executed. Ferguson, a paranoid schizophrenic with delusions he's the "prince of God," had faced a planned lethal injection at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Florida's death chamber.
The Supreme Court rejected an earlier Ferguson emergency appeal Tuesday – as did the 11th Circuit – but the high court would not agree to the state of Florida's request to overturn the later ruling. The appeals court set a schedule for motions that will likely delay the execution at least until the first week of November, if not longer.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's office argued in court papers that the late ruling "makes a mockery of the state's compelling interest in finality" in Ferguson's case. He has been on death row for 34 years.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Judge Carnes, Florida's death penalty, and Shakespeare
Remember that case in which Judge Martinez found Florida's death penalty unconstitutional under Ring?
The 11th Circuit, per Judge Carnes and joined by Judges Marcus and Pryor, decided today that the death penalty was fine and dandy even though it's pretty clear that Judge Martinez is right and that the Florida death penalty can't survive Ring.
But, the 11th says that we have to wait for the Supreme Court to explicitly say so. Judge Carnes starts off this way:
Confident that he knew what the future would bring, one of Shakespeare’s
characters boasted that “[t]here are many events in the womb of time which will be
delivered.” William Shakespeare, Othello, Act I, Scene 3, lines 412–13. On the
subject of lower courts predicting that the Supreme Court is going to overrule one
of its own decisions, however, Judge Hand cautioned against “embrac[ing] the
exhilarating opportunity of anticipating a doctrine which may be in the womb of
time, but whose birth is distant.” Spector Motor Serv. v. Walsh, 139 F.2d 809,
823 (2d Cir. 1943) (Hand, J., dissenting). The Supreme Court has made Hand’s
warning a clear command by repeatedly instructing lower courts that when one of
its earlier decisions with direct application to a case appears to rest on reasons
rejected in a more recent line of decisions, we must follow the directly applicable
decision and leave to the high Court the prerogative of overruling its own
decisions. As will become apparent, those instructions are dispositive of the
State’s appeal from the grant of habeas corpus relief in this case.
Well, this case is off to the Supreme Court and my money is on Judge Martinez getting vindicated.
The 11th Circuit, per Judge Carnes and joined by Judges Marcus and Pryor, decided today that the death penalty was fine and dandy even though it's pretty clear that Judge Martinez is right and that the Florida death penalty can't survive Ring.
But, the 11th says that we have to wait for the Supreme Court to explicitly say so. Judge Carnes starts off this way:
Confident that he knew what the future would bring, one of Shakespeare’s
characters boasted that “[t]here are many events in the womb of time which will be
delivered.” William Shakespeare, Othello, Act I, Scene 3, lines 412–13. On the
subject of lower courts predicting that the Supreme Court is going to overrule one
of its own decisions, however, Judge Hand cautioned against “embrac[ing] the
exhilarating opportunity of anticipating a doctrine which may be in the womb of
time, but whose birth is distant.” Spector Motor Serv. v. Walsh, 139 F.2d 809,
823 (2d Cir. 1943) (Hand, J., dissenting). The Supreme Court has made Hand’s
warning a clear command by repeatedly instructing lower courts that when one of
its earlier decisions with direct application to a case appears to rest on reasons
rejected in a more recent line of decisions, we must follow the directly applicable
decision and leave to the high Court the prerogative of overruling its own
decisions. As will become apparent, those instructions are dispositive of the
State’s appeal from the grant of habeas corpus relief in this case.
Well, this case is off to the Supreme Court and my money is on Judge Martinez getting vindicated.
Judge Bandstra to JAMS
The DBR covers Judge Bandstra's departure to JAMS. Good luck to him! There are some good stories about him in the article:
Bandstra’s legal experience includes three years with Katten Muchin in Chicago followed by three more as an assistant U.S. attorney trying 30 cases under Stanley Marcus. He also spent three years at Fowler White Burnett handling medical malpractice for firm shareholder and co-founder Henry Burnett.
“Henry’s my mentor and the person I respect most,” Bandstra said.
He said his experience as a magistrate can help sparring sides see their legal situation more realistically.
“One of the things I’ve enjoyed most as a judge is the settlement of cases where I’ve had some input,” Bandstra said.
After South Florida’s district judges chose Bandstra as a magistrate in 1989, U.S. District Judge Eugene Spellman telephoned to welcome him with two interesting details.
“First of all, you weren’t my first choice,” Bandstra recalled him saying. “That took me back a little bit.
“The other thing was, ‘You should know you got the judges’ vote on the first ballot, which has never happened.’ ”
The debate last night was a good way to show how important facial expressions are during trial. In the first debate, Obama lost not so much for what he said, but mostly because he kept looking down, writing, and shaking his head.
Last night, Romney got trounced in part because he had this weird grin on his face all night which didn't seem appropriate.
Plus, there was this:
Bandstra’s legal experience includes three years with Katten Muchin in Chicago followed by three more as an assistant U.S. attorney trying 30 cases under Stanley Marcus. He also spent three years at Fowler White Burnett handling medical malpractice for firm shareholder and co-founder Henry Burnett.
“Henry’s my mentor and the person I respect most,” Bandstra said.
He said his experience as a magistrate can help sparring sides see their legal situation more realistically.
“One of the things I’ve enjoyed most as a judge is the settlement of cases where I’ve had some input,” Bandstra said.
After South Florida’s district judges chose Bandstra as a magistrate in 1989, U.S. District Judge Eugene Spellman telephoned to welcome him with two interesting details.
“First of all, you weren’t my first choice,” Bandstra recalled him saying. “That took me back a little bit.
“The other thing was, ‘You should know you got the judges’ vote on the first ballot, which has never happened.’ ”
The debate last night was a good way to show how important facial expressions are during trial. In the first debate, Obama lost not so much for what he said, but mostly because he kept looking down, writing, and shaking his head.
Last night, Romney got trounced in part because he had this weird grin on his face all night which didn't seem appropriate.
Plus, there was this:
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