State shenanigans

Rumpole and Ovalle cover Jackie Schwartz's bar issues.  Here's Ovalle:

“You are a f---ing idiot, you don’t know who I am,” County Judge Jacqueline Schwartz yelled at a waiter at a Miami Greek restaurant after she was refused more alcohol, according to a state investigative report released on Monday. It also quotes the judge calling police officers “pigs” when they were were summoned to the restaurant on March 18.
 The investigation for the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission on Monday recommended that Schwartz be suspended. Ultimately, the Florida Supreme Court will decide what, if any, punishment she deserves.
 Her lawyer, Jeffrey Feiler, told the commission this month that she was not drunk but under the influence of a new prescription medication.
Schwartz has been on “paid medical leave” since she was sent home from the bench on March 28.

It’s the second time that a state judicial oversight board has questioned Schwartz’s behavior and salty language.
In December, the Florida Supreme Court scolded Schwartz after she told a store owner to “go f--- yourself” during a heated re-election campaign in June 2014. She was angry over an oversized campaign sign posted at the story for her opponent. She was suspended for 30 days and had to pay a $10,000 fine.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article72521987.html#storylink=cpy

Sad story.  Here are the formal charges.

Meantime, I miss John Pacenti on our beat.  He's now with the PBP and does a great job covering the awful zoo story:

The timeline of when and how the tiger encountered Konwiser remained hazy on Monday as a spokeswoman for the zoo did not return a phone call to answer questions after chastising the media on Sunday for speculation that the tiger in question would be euthanized. It remains at the zoo and has not been identified other than its sex.
What is known is Konwiser was mauled while performing routine tasks in the “night house,” which is not viewed by the public but is adjacent to the new tiger exhibit.
The area was monitored by video cameras and the zoo has not said how Konwiser died, whether she was in the enclosure with the big cat or if a latch malfunctioned on the door.
The energetic lead keeper was minutes away from giving a “tiger talk” to the patrons in what would have been one of her last official acts for the zoo. A spokesperson for the U.S. Food & Drug Administration told the Palm Beach Post’s news partner, WPTV News Channel 5, that she was to begin as consumer safety officer with the FDA in Maitland on May 1.

SCOTUS happenings (UPDATED)

Everyone is wondering why SCOTUS decided to announce an opinion this morning when it wasn't previously scheduled.  Whisper is that it might be Welch, the retroactivity case on the ACCA.  Check in with SCOTUSblog for more.

Update 10:14am -- Yup, it was Welch.  7-1 decision per Kennedy saying Johnson is retroactive, reversing the 11th Circuit (which had denied the certificate of appealability).

Clarence Thomas is coming to HBO.  Apparently it isn't going to be flattering.

Former Broward Teacher's Union president Pat Santeramo was sentenced Friday to five years by former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Levenson. From the Sun-Sentinel:

Santeramo, who had asked Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey R. Levenson for leniency, faced a maximum penalty of 55 years after he was convicted in January of money laundering, organized scheme to defraud and violating campaign contribution laws.

"I ask you when making your final decision to consider the good that I have done throughout my life and not just this snapshot in time," Santeramo said.
But prosecutor David Schulson said while Santeramo doesn't deserve the maximum sentence, his actions weren't a momentary lapse of reason.
"Santeramo made the choice to steal from BTU funds," Schulson said, citing trial evidence that the union head received 30 payments from 2006 until 2011 from general contractor David Esposito, who testified against Santeramo in exchange for immunity. "It is crystal clear based on the evidence that not a single dollar of BTU funds would have been stolen without the knowledge and participation of Pat Santeramo."
Santeramo was a music teacher from 1978 until 1995, when he began working for the union full time. He became president of the union in 2001 after the previous president, Tony Gentile, was arrested on child pornography charges. Santeramo served as president for 11 years.

Jurors took eight hours over two days to find Santeramo guilty of all charges against him except for one – an allegation that he misused his union-issued gasoline card for personal business.

"It confounds the court and I must ask why," Levenson said. "Why over these years did you abuse the trust of the union that you were so devoted to and that you so loved?"
Former Broward Teachers Union president Pat Santeramo found guilty of corruption
Former Broward Teachers Union president Pat Santeramo found guilty of corruption

Schulson asked Levenson to sentence Santeramo to a 10-year term; Levenson decided on half that. "Hopefully this will be a note for those who are in those positions of trust to take those positions of trust seriously" Levenson said.

Another pitch for cameras

David Ovalle has taken up using Periscope in state court, posting short video clips of court proceedings on Twitter. It's actually a great service to court watchers and it's very interesting. Of course the feds are way too crusty to allow anything like that, which is a shame. Just to get into the federal courthouse has become a burden, with people being turned away for random reasons. Instead of a courthouse, it's beginning to feel like a fortress.

Some news from the 6th, 7th & 8th Circuits:

Add the 6th Circuit to the list of courts getting the cell-site data case wrong.

The 7th Circuit addresses strip club ordinances: "This case requires us to visit the world of strip clubs—establishments that no one seems to want, officially, but that are somehow quite lucrative."

And the 8th Circuit discusses Halliburton and securities laws.  It's a pretty interesting read.  Here's the Reuters analysis:

After several years of litigation, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank of St. Paul, Minnesota, certified a class of Best Buy shareholders. Investors could not bring fraud claims based on the Sept. 14 press release, the judge said, because it was a forward-looking statement covered by the safe-harbor provision in securities laws. But he ruled statements during the analyst call about the company’s present performance were not protected by the safe-harbor provision. Judge Donovan found that lead counsel from Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd had established the price impact of the alleged misrepresentations by showing the sharp drop in Best Buy’s stock price when the supposed fraud was revealed in December.
On Tuesday, a divided three-judge panel at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that class certification decision. The court’s opinion is the first federal circuit court analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling in Halliburton v. Erica P. John Fund – and it’s quite a boon for defendants in securities class actions. Best Buy’s lead counsel, Joseph McLaughlin ofSimpson Thacher & Bartlett, called the decision “a blueprint” for securities defendants hoping to capitalize on the Supreme Court’s decision.

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"I barely have clout in my own court as a senior judge, much less clout in somebody else's court."

That was Judge Huck commenting on whether he would get any special breaks in small claims court.  The DBR has more:

Small claims court might not be the place you'd expect to see a host of heavy hitters in the Miami legal community.
But a Miami-Dade County Court tussle over a $75 fee at the exclusive Riviera Country Club has a "who's who" list of plaintiffs, including a federal judge, a state appellate judge and high-profile attorneys.
U.S. Senior District Judge Paul Huck and Third District Court of Appeal Judge Frank Shepherd are the first two named plaintiffs on the lawsuit against the Coral Gables club.
The judges and the four other plaintiffs, all self-represented, are suing the club to resolve a dispute about senior membership, which is available to club members over 70 who have been members for at least 25 years. The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment and seeks no damages.
...The other plaintiffs, who are or expect to be senior members, include attorneys Raul Valdes-Fauli of Fox Rothschild in Miami, Abigail Watts-Fitzgerald of Devine Goodman Rasco Watts-Fitzgerald in Coral Gables and solo practitioner Philip Brawner of Coral Gables.
Senior members of the club are not allowed to vote on club matters, but the club agreed to freeze their dues and never charge them future assessments, according to the Feb. 1 complaint.
The club is calling the $75 monthly charge a capital fee, but the plaintiffs contend it's an assessment and they shouldn't have to pay it.