Bad cheese!

Yikes, this dude was selling cheese that had lysteria.  Judge Scola gave him 15 months:

Officials in Virginia took a sample of Oasis’ “Lacteos Santa Martha Quesito Casero Fresh Curd” in 2014 and found that it was contaminated with listeria.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducted an inspection of Oasis’ Miami facility and reported finding more products contaminated with listeria and numerous unsanitary conditions, court documents said.
Inspectors reported finding black mold on the ceiling and a door frame and condensation dripping onto raw cheese-making materials, cheese in production and the finished product.
Rivas agreed to recall the cheese and stop production until the sanitary issues were fixed, court documents said.
He also told FDA inspectors that Oasis would not ship out any finished product that it had in its inventory, officials said.
During a follow-up inspection six weeks later, FDA officials found that Rivas had shipped 133 cases of contaminated cheese which they believe sickened several people, investigators said.
Rivas pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the case.

 

RIP Minnette Massey

She was the fierce civil procedure professor who taught scores of Florida lawyers to "READ THE RULE!"  In many ways though, she was a rule-breaker, shattering old restrictions for women lawyers. She passed away at the age of 89 (via UM Law):

M. Minnette Massey, an original glass ceiling shatterer and leading advocate for diversity, decades before the word entered the popular vernacular, died Sunday at the age of 89. 

M. Minnette Massey

The fair-haired, green-eyed spitfire was one of the “First Wave,” of fourteen woman pioneers who elbowed their way into the male-dominated world of American law school professors. (Miami Law supplied two others – Soia Mentschikoff and Jeanette Ozanne Smith.) Massey began teaching legal research as an assistant law librarian but rapidly asserted her dominance in the machinations of Florida civil procedure.
Massey would catch the attention of U.S. Supreme Court Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas, who admired her dazzling intellect and skills as a raconteur. Think Shirley MacLaine, only loads smarter. She ascended to assistant dean, then first woman dean, all the while imprinting armies of young lawyers as masters of the intricacies of litigation and the rightful leaders of their profession. She was a force to behold and used her powers to lead the law school into the integration of both the faculty and student body.
"The University of Miami Law School has lost perhaps its greatest champion," said Charlton Copeland, holder of the first M. Minnette Massey Chair in Law. "She believed in the excellence of this law school. She believed in the excellence of her students. She believed that together they might build a more excellent future.
"But she was not taken with nostalgia or bygone days. Her commitment was a commitment to a more inclusive, more relevant excellence. If that is not the mark of a great institutional and, and civic, champion, I don't know what is. I mourn Minnette's passing, but I also mourn something of the passing of Minnette's vision for Miami Law, for our law students, and for our collective civic lives," Copeland said

How much time is appropriate for a lawyer who laundered money for criminals?

 Judge Dimitrouleas sentenced Alan Koslow to a year and a day in federal prison, taking into account his cooperation and other good works.  Seems like the appropriate result.  Hopefully other judges will see that lengthy sentences for first-time non-violent offenders isn't the solution.  From Paula McMahon:

Koslow admitted in August that he accepted $8,500 from undercover agents as payment for laundering cash, which he thought was linked to drug dealing and illegal gambling, through his friend Susan Mohr's bank account in 2012 and 2013.

Mohr, 57, of Delray Beach, pleaded guilty to a related charge and is scheduled for sentencing next month.

Prosecutor Neil Karadbil told the judge that Koslow had two personas — one was the high-powered successful attorney who raised money for charities and advised clients on legal matters.

"But the other Alan Koslow is the one who got him here," Karadbil said. "The other Alan Koslow is the one who likes to take short-cuts, likes to party, is kind of hedonistic."

Karadbil said Koslow discussed laundering $50,000 per month for two years in exchange for a 5 percent commission. Koslow said the money "was peanuts" but he wanted extra spending money to party with his friends, agents said.

Agents said he told them: "I do favors for clients" and he "liked to be cool."

Breathe.

So, how about some happiness for your blog pleasure this week...

Judge Scola is celebrating five years on the federal district court bench. To honor the occasion, the Judge and his wife, Judge Jacki Hogan Scola, gathered with over a dozen of his former and current law clerks and staff during the weekend of October 29-30. That Saturday evening, his law clerks held a dinner in his honor at a former clerk's home in Coconut Grove, and on Sunday the Judge hosted a lunch for everyone in Coral Gables.

In 2011, President Obama nominated Judge Scola to fill the seat on the Southern District of Florida made available when Judge Paul C. Huck took senior status.  Judge Scola had previously served for over a decade on the state court bench.  He was confirmed as a federal district judge on October 19, 2011 and received his commission the following day.

Happy fifth anniversary, Judge Scola! Let's hope President Trump gives us more like him!

Here are some pictures from the event.  Check out this cake!

How will a Trump presidency affect the SDFLA and the Supreme Court

• Trump will select between 2-4 Justices.  William Pryor stands a good chance of being Justice Pryor. Federico Moreno also made Trump's short list.
• Who will be Attorney General?  Rudy Guliani? (I think it's less likely it will be Christie after the Bridgegate convictions, but who knows).
• If HRC had won, there was talk that U.S. Attorney Ferrer would stay on (or that Joan Silverstein would become U.S. Attorney), but that won't happen now. Any thoughts on who Trump names?  Jon Sale? (he would be great).
• There are going to be a bunch of open district court seats in the District.  Who gets those slots?