Michael Caruso stepping up

The blog previously covered how sequestration was forcing the federal defenders to be furloughed every Friday for the rest of the year, resulting in a 20% pay cut.  Really horrible.  The Sun-Sentinel has picked up the story and discusses how the bosses at the FPD's office are really stepping up:

They say good bosses never ask employees to do something they wouldn't do themselves – even in a federal budget crisis.
The sequester has forced the Federal Public Defender's Office to close on Fridays because of employee furloughs.
But low-income people still get arrested, so the top boss in the office – the appointed Federal Public Defender Michael Caruso – has been personally handling Friday magistrate court duty in Miami while supervisors Robert Berube and Peter Birch represent inmates in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Congrats to Chief Judge Moreno

The Notre Dame Law Association has awarded Chief Judge Federico Moreno with its St. Thomas More award:

The Notre Dame Law Association will award the St. Thomas More Award to the Hon. Federico A. Moreno (A.B. ’74) on April 12, 2013.

Judge Moreno was born in 1952 in Venezuela, and received his A.B. from Notre Dame, cum laude, in 1974. After graduation, he worked briefly as a teacher and then attended the University of Miami Law School, from which he received his J.D. in 1978.After law school, Judge Moreno was in private practice, and served indigent clients while employed by the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Miami. In 1986, Judge Moreno was appointed to the Dade County Court bench and then to the Circuit Court a year later. President George H. W. Bush appointed Judge Moreno in 1990 to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He currently serves as Chief Judge for one of the largest federal courts in the country.

Judge Moreno served on the boards of Legal Services of Greater Miami, the Cuban American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Program, and the United Way. He received the Pro Bono Service Award of the Cuban American Bar Association and the United Way’s “People Helping People” Award. His activities also include the membership in the Notre Dame Club of Miami and the University of Miami Law School Alumni, of which he was a Director.

Federico Moreno has been married for 35 years to his wife, Cris. They have three children: Cristi, who graduated from Notre Dame Law School and is currently an Assistant U.S. Attorney; Ricki, who graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in accounting and received his MBA from Wharton; and Victoria, who is in her senior year at Notre Dame.

The St. Thomas More Award honors graduates of the University of Notre Dame “who have distinguished themselves as jurists or public servants, while exhibiting uncompromising integrity and loyalty to conscience.”

Since instituted by the Notre Dame Law Association in 2000, the award has been presented two other times: to Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., in 2004, and to Dean Patricia A. O’Hara in 2009.

  

Congrats!

Thursday news & notes

1.  While one prosecutor is appearing on The Bachelorette, another is writing op-eds for the Wall Street Journal saying that the feds should have the right to search everything, including your computer and phone, are the border.  I'll leave it to you all to decide which is worse. 

2.  Sri to the Supremes? (via the New Yorker)

3. Seems unlikely because Obama is still not doing a good job with his judicial appointments.  How long has Will Thomas been waiting now?  (via NY Times)

Of 856 federal district and circuit court seats, 85 are unfilled — a 10 percent vacancy rate and nearly double the rate at this point in the presidency ofGeorge W. Bush. More than a third of the vacancies have been declared “judicial emergencies” based on court workloads and the length of time the seats have been empty. By far the most important cause of this unfortunate state of affairs is the determination of Senate Republicans, for reasons of politics, ideology and spite, to confirm as few ofPresident Obama’s judicial choices as possible.

Numbers compiled by the Senate Judiciary Committee tell the story. Mr. Obama’s nominees for seats on federal courts of appeal, the system’s top tier below the Supreme Court, have waited an average of 148 days for their confirmation vote following the committee’s approval, more than four times longer than Mr. Bush’s nominees. For Mr. Obama’s nominees to federal district courts, the average wait time has been 102 days, compared with 35 days for Mr. Bush’s district court choices.

4.  Too many lawyers in Miami.  Bennett County, South Dakota, not so much.  (via the NY Times)

5.  The Federal PD in Columbus, Ohio is resigning because of sequestration.  It's getting really bad.  (via NPR)

6.  Meantime, the DOJ is spending like crazy.  (via Politico)

Looking good for Hollywood: Tax dollars are also used at the department to help the entertainment industry. The FBI has its own Investigative Publicity and Public Affairs Unit, which is dedicated to helping Hollywood make movies and TV shows, including “The Kingdom,” “Fast and Furious 4,” “CSI,” “Numb3rs” and “Without a Trace.” This perk for Hollywood comes with an annual price tag of $1.5 million to the American taxpayer.
Meet and greets: In addition, the DOJ staff hosted numerous conferences around the country. In 2010 alone, the department spent nearly $100 million on conferences, which is twice what was spent two years earlier. This includes more than $600,000 in event-planner costs for five conferences, even though the need for this was not shown.

7.  According to this article by ProPublica, no one is policing prosecutorial misconduct, so it appears unlikely that they will care about the above spending.

8.  Finally, Justice Thomas said he didn't know it was news when he spoke at an oral argument recently.  Do you believe him?  (via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Clarence Thomas, the U.S. Supreme Court justice who has become known for his silence from the bench during oral arguments, made national news a few months ago when he spoke, briefly.
So, on Tuesday, when he visited Duquesne University to speak, expansively, a law school student asked the obvious question -- what was Justice Thomas' philosophy about the role of justices in oral arguments?
"Well, first of all, my philosophy about the news is never watching it," Justice Thomas said, to applause and laughter, adding that it was the first he'd heard of the widespread notice given to the moment when, with just a few words, he broke his self-imposed seven-year silence during oral arguments.

Breaking -- Alicia Valle is your new Magistrate

Congrats to all around nice person and long time spokeswoman at the U.S. Attorney's Office Alicia Valle, who will be a great judge. 

I found this bio of her online:

Alicia Olivera Valle has been the Special Counsel to the United States Attorney, Southern District of Florida, since May 2005.  In this capacity, Ms. Valle handles special case-related and other projects and all media for the U.S. Attorney.  Since joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1987, she has successfully prosecuted various high-profile public corruption and white-collar criminal cases in New Jersey and Florida, including cases against the Mayor of Parsippany, the former Manager and Chief of Police for the City of Miami, and the President of the Miami-Dade teacher’s union, all on corruption charges.  During her tenure at the Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Valle has served as Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney, twice Chief of the Economic Crimes Section, and until her promotion to Special Counsel in 2005, as Chief of the Public Corruption Section.  Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Valle clerked for the Honorable Stewart G. Pollock of the Supreme Court of New Jersey.  She was also an associate with the law firm of Clapp & Eisenberg in Newark, New Jersey.  Ms. Valle received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and law degree from Harvard Law School.

Congrats again!

Tuesday news & notes

1.  John Pacenti covers the Kaley case going to the Supreme Court:

On the 50th anniversary of its landmark Gideon ruling giving all criminal defendants access to a lawyer, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted a South Florida case asking whether defendants are entitled to hire the counsel of their choice when federal prosecutors freeze their assets before trial.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the 1963 case of Clarence Gideon, who received a five-year sentence for a pool room theft in Panama City, that state courts are required to provide free representation to indigent defendants under the 14th Amendment. The decision caused the release of 2,000 Florida prisoners.
Fifty years later, the high court agreed to decide whether the federal government can freeze a defendant's assets before trial without an evidentiary hearing.
"Gideon couldn't afford a lawyer, so the government said he had to go to trial without the court appointing one for him," said attorney Howard Srebnick. "Fifty years later, the federal government is now arguing that because court-appointed lawyers are available to indigent defendants, the government can restrain assets needed for counsel of choice without first having to prove to a judge that the government has the evidence and legal authority to justify the restraint."
Srebnick is the partner at Miami criminal defense firm Black, Srebnick, Kornspan & Stumpf. He has teamed up with Miami appellate attorney Richard Strafer in leading the charge for Kerri and Brian Kaley. ( Read Petition for Cert. Read brief.)

2.  Fane Lozman wins again, this time in the 11th Circuit:

 Two months after the U.S. Supreme Court handed Fane Lozman a huge victory in his long-running legal battle with Riviera Beach, another court on Monday paved the way for the fervent activist to seek millions from the city for his troubles.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a 2008 lawsuit Lozman filed against the city, claiming it repeatedly violated his civil rights by hiring a private investigator to trail him, kicking him out of public meetings and, at one point, having him arrested when he refused to leave.
“Today felt just a tad lower than winning at the Supreme Court,” Lozman said shortly after the decision was announced. “The Supreme Court ruling was a 10. Today was a 9½.”
City officials didn’t return emails or phone calls for comment about their latest loss to the former Marine who became a thorn in their sides shortly after docking his unconventional floating home at the city marina in 2006. City hall was closed Monday as part of budget-cutting measures.
But, while the high court’s ruling may have stung more, the 11th Circuit’s could be more costly.
When the nation’s high court in January ruled that the city improperly used ancient maritime law to seize and ultimately destroy Lozman’s 60-foot two-story floating home, the possible damages were somewhat fixed. City officials were faced with the prospect of paying Lozman for the $167,000 he claims it would cost to replace his home, the $300,000 he spent for attorneys and an undetermined amount to reimburse him for the money he shelled out for living expenses after his home was destroyed.
However, he said, if he succeeds in proving that the city violated his constitutional rights, the damages could skyrocket.
“If I was the city, I’d be concerned,” he said. “That’s a seven-figure sum.”