Court order postponing jury trials AND grand juries until January 4

 The order is here.  

My earlier comments on the order are here.  

How will Kamala Harris be on criminal justice issues?

 It’s hard to tell.  She’s faced a ton of criticism when she was the District Attorney in San Francisco and Attorney General of California (who can forget this exchange in the democratic debates).  But she is pitching herself as a “progressive prosecutor” and there are some who have supported this view, including this public defender.  Last September, Harris release her criminal justice plan, which sounds pretty good (summarized from Newsweek)

Among the goals she listed were ending mass incarceration, investing in programs aimed at reducing crime, legalizing marijuana, making changes to the criminal justice system's "sentencing schemes, stopping private prison use and encouraging prisoners' rehabilitation, the last of which was a callback to her earlier "Back on Track" program.

There will be no trials in the SDFLA for the rest of the year

 It’s a pretty striking announcement. (The official order isn’t up yet, but it’s been leaked.) 

And there’s no telling when we will have grand juries back.

Schools are reopening in October, but not the courthouses.  I’m not saying which is right (I have no idea) but lots of criminal defense lawyers in town are frustrated.  

And... if it’s not safe enough to conduct trials, how is it safe — or fair — to keep folks locked up at FDC and FCI (where another person just died).  Both FDC and FCI are complete disasters right now.  Families were protesting outside of FCI this weekend because of the conditions there.

It’s hard to see when the criminal justice system in South Florida will return to normal.  

RIP Ron Lowy

 Just heard this sad news.  Ron was a super nice guy that you always saw around the courthouses and jails.  Here’s a nice article about him when he won an award from the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis Club.  He recently represented Cesar Sayoc, which was a highly publicized case.  Sad.  

Nice job by local FBA chapter

 Check out this awesome program to teach high school students advocacy and other legal and life skills.  Judges Beth Bloom and Robin Rosenberg are helping to run the program, which looks like a lot of fun:

In the flagship program, Civil Discourse and Difficult Decisions, realistic scenarios bring forward issues related to the coronavirus, including social media memes used to start ambiguous rumors, and a car parade of 16-year-olds protesting for the right to vote.

The program, which is facilitated by judges and members of local Federal Bar Association (FBA) chapters, has reached students in federal courtrooms across the country. As it enters its fourth year, the live program with judges and lawyers is available online to high school and college teachers who want to offer it to their students. 

“The need for civil discourse skills doesn’t diminish when day-to-day life is disrupted,” said U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom, of Miami, who launched the fall series with a virtual program from her closed courtroom on July 31. “In fact, now more than ever, students need exposure to the ways that civil discourse is the foundation for effectively resolving disputes in the legal system and in their lives.” Bloom and U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg, of West Palm Beach, with the assistance of FBA chapters in the Southern District of Florida, pioneered the courtroom program in 2017.

For the coming academic year, they have modified it as a 90-minute distance-learning module. South Florida teachers can request a judge and attorney team(link sends e-mail) for a class in the 2020-2021 term. Interested teachers in other parts of the country should make requests at aogrp_outreach@ao.uscourts.gov(link sends e-mail). 

“Over the past three years, working with federal judges on this initiative has been a rewarding experience in our chapter and in our school communities,” said Stephanie Turk, the South Florida Chapter’s civics liaison and an associate at Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson. In the July distance-learning pilot, coordinated by Bloom and South Florida Chapter President Alaina Fotiu-Wojtowicz, a partner at Brodsky Fotiu-Wojtowicz, students learned and practiced several life-impacting skills.