Key West courthouse named after Sidney Aronovitz

Here's the Wiki entry for Judge Aronovitz, who was born in Key West. And here is the DBR article about the naming of the Key West courthouse:

President Obama signed a bill this week naming the federal courthouse in Key West for the late U.S. District Judge Sidney M. Aronovitz on recommendations from the Dade County and Key West Bar associations. Aronovitz, who died in 1997, was nominated by President Ford and served as a federal judge for more than 20 years. His career included rulings on abortion, and the cancellation of $4.6 million in fines against Key West boat owners during the Mariel boatlift. Before he became a federal judge, he served on the Miami City Commission from 1962 to 1966, becoming vice mayor in 1965. Aronovitz also was active in community organizations. He was founding chairman of the Dade County Little HUD Housing Authority and Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. His honors included a Gold Medallion award from the National Council of Christians and Jews. Aronovitz was a Key West native whose pioneering grandfather helped found the oldest Conservative Judaism synagogue in Florida in the 1880s. The courthouse that will take his name is at 301 Simonton St.

News & Notes

Stories around town today:

1. Kenneth Welt, the receiver appointed to oversee Lewis Freeman's business, was sued by his brother who asked that Welt's business be put in receivership. (via DBR).

2. Don Diego pleads to 45 years (via Miami Herald). (I thought the Colombian extradition treaty limited potential penalties to 30 years...)

3. The Broward corruption probe is expanding quickly (via Sun-Sentinel).

4. And details are emerging on the undercover agent who worked on the case (via Miami Herald).

What is taking so long?

Well, we still don't have any word on our next judge or U.S. Attorney. What could be taking so long? Here's an interesting article from the Washington Post, "Obama Criticized as Too Cautious, Slow on Judicial Posts." Some excerpts:

President Obama has not made significant progress in his plan to infuse federal courts with a new cadre of judges, and liberal activists are beginning to blame his administration for moving too tentatively on what they consider a key priority.
During his first nine months in office, Obama has won confirmation in the Democratic-controlled Senate for just three of his 23 nominations for federal judgeships, largely because Republicans have used anonymous holds and filibuster threats to slow the proceedings to a crawl.
But some Democrats attribute that GOP success partly to the administration's reluctance to fight, arguing that Obama's emphasis on easing partisan rancor over judgeships has backfired and only emboldened Senate Republicans. Some Republicans contend that the White House has hurt itself by its slow pace in sending over nominations for Senate consideration. President George W. Bush sent 95 names to the Senate in the same period that Obama has forwarded 23....
The delays are having a ripple effect in federal courts, where caseloads continue to back up, said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.). Currently, about 90 judicial seats -- about 10 percent of the total -- remain vacant in appeals and district courts.
The White House predicts that nominations and confirmations will pick up soon. "The administration has been working closely with members of Congress to identify a set of uniquely qualified judicial nominees with diverse professional experiences," said Ben LaBolt, an Obama spokesman. "This process has been bipartisan and we have made every effort to make confirmation wars a thing of the past."
But liberal activists argue that Obama needs to quicken the pace, partly for political reasons. "It is incumbent on the Democrats and the White House to push as hard as they can to confirm judicial nominees, given that next year Republicans will make an all-out effort to block candidates as a means to gin up their base before the election," said Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, an advocacy organization.
Analysts say that unlike Bush, who saw judicial appointments as a way to advance a strict view of the Constitution, Obama has not sharply defined his judicial philosophy. Eric Posner, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, said that Republicans consider the federal courts crucial to furthering their policy aims by overturning current law, but that Obama is among Democrats who view court appointments mainly as a means of defending the legal status quo.

The State system on the other hand is chugging along. John Kastrenakes was sworn in last Friday by Judge Moreno. Grey Tesh has all the details here, including speeches by Ryon McCabe, Judge O'Sullivan, Andrew Lourie and Michael Cornely.

Snitching ain't easy

Lots of interesting reading on this beautiful Sunday. The Sun-Sentinel has a couple of interesting stories on snitching:

1. The first is about a state prosecutor, Sheila Alu, turned FBI informant in the Broward public corruption case:

"Sheila is for Sheila is for Sheila," said Bill Colon, who served two terms as a Sunrise commissioner in the 1980s. "A lot of people will believe that she betrayed their trust."Marvin Langendorf, a Sunrise resident and City Hall gadfly, applauded her courage."There's too much graft going on and no one ever does anything about it," Langendorf said. "People say they can't trust her. But if you don't do anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about."Those who are not involved in politics likely admire Alu for having the courage to take on an undercover role without training, said Lance deHaven-Smith, a political science professor at Florida State University."If you told your average citizen, 'Other politicians don't trust her,' that would be an endorsement," he said.Call her a snitch or a rat, and Alu has this retort: "I wear that badge with honor."

2. The second is about Operation Deep Six, a state gang case:

"Unlike any gangs I've seen before, they stick together," said the gang detective.On June 26, 2008, detectives in "Operation Deep Six" moved in to take down Top 6. Backed by a grand jury indictment that alleged 91 crimes, SWAT teams from three police agencies raided six homes simultaneously.Detectives tracked down the Top 6 leaders, arresting all 12 within a few weeks.Faced with racketeering charges that could put them in prison for up to 30 years, Top 6's leaders cracked.Jessee Thomas and Ernst Exavier were convicted but got reduced sentences for agreeing to testify against their cohorts. Top 6's leader, Futo Charles, also has agreed to cooperate."I know for me to work it down, I have to be 100% truthful about your questions and about my answers or the deal is off," Charles wrote to prosecutors. "I'm willing to do just that."After at least 20 murders, hundreds of shootings and scores of robberies, burglaries and attacks, Top 6 effectively has been silenced. Palm Beach County is safer today because of it, said police officials and prosecutors."We have seen a real drop in crime," said William Shepherd, Florida's statewide prosecutor. "Which is lives. It's not just numbers on the page."

FBA dinner tonight at the Biltmore

See you all there.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE -- Breaking: Lewis Freeman's practice placed into receivership. Receiver -- Ken Welt.

Robe-itis?

There's been a bunch of funny exchanges this week in the Supreme Court. One tipster sent this one from the attorney's fees case:

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Maybe we have a different perspective. You think the lawyers are responsible for a good result and I think the judges are.
(Laughter.)
MR. CLEMENT: And maybe your perspective's changed, Your Honor.
(Laughter.)

I think most lawyers think that the best judges are the ones that remember what it was like to practice....

While we're off topic, let's take a look at Rick Bascuas' entertaining blog, where he claims that Obi Wan was the hero of Star Wars. Rick, what about Han Solo? R2-D2? Come on...



And as we stray even more off-topic: any Gleeks out there?

Glee - Don't Stop Believe

Judge Seitz case goes to Supreme Court

Yesterday the Supreme Court granted cert in Holland v. Florida, which presents the following question:

Whether the Eleventh Circuit erred in denying equitable tolling to the defendant to excuse his late filing of his habeas petition, based on the conclusion that the late filing was due to “gross negligence” of counsel, while factors beyond “gross negligence” are required for equitable tolling; whether equitable tolling is available to toll the statute of limitation under the AEDPA.

Here's the 11th Circuit opinion. And here's Todd Scher's cert petition. Congrats to Scher for this amazing opportunity. He was appointed CJA and continued to fight for his client, filing a cert petition after the losing before Judge Seitz and the 11th. Getting cert on a habeas case from the indigent docket is almost impossible, so well done!

Cuban spy resentenced

Antonio Guerrero, who was originally sentenced to life, was just resentenced to almost 22 years in prison by Judge Lenard after the case was remanded by the 11th Circuit. The parties had agreed to 20 years in prison, but Judge Lenard found that the case warranted a higher sentence.

Here's the Herald coverage and the AP.

Guerrero has about 11 more years to go, but that's a whole lot better than life. Two other spies will have their resentencings soon.

Prior blog coverage here.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court granted cert in Jeff Skilling's case today, which raises a similar issue to that of the Cuban 5 -- can "searing media attacks" taint a criminal trial. The case also raises questions about the honest services statute, which the New York Times highlighted today in the Conrad Black case.

I like this parenthetical in the article:

(The appeals court decision affirming Mr. Black’s conviction, by Judge Richard A. Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago, contained perhaps the best judicial digression of 2008. Discussing a so-called ostrich jury instruction, Judge Posner paused to say that ostriches do not in fact bury their heads in the sand. “It is pure legend and a canard on a very distinguished bird,” he wrote.)

Alrighty then.