THIS is American Idol!

Or, rather, Inmate Idol...

On a faded green basketball court surrounded by a tall fence topped with barbed wire, a small platform stood elevated just inches from the ground.
Frederick Davis walked to it, took the mike and grabbed at his orange baggy pants. ``Before what you see on my pants -- INMATE DCJ -- I'm a man,'' he said.
Davis, 21, then launched into a rap in front of the 14 other inmates sitting in rows of plastic chairs. He was taking part in the second annual Corrections Idol contest -- a singing, rapping and poetry competition meant to showcase Miami-Dade Corrections inmates' talents while building their self-image.
``When they come here, they feel like they belong,'' said Chief of Operations Manny Fernandez. ``They're part of the solution, not the problem.''
Sunday's competition at the Metro West Detention Center west of Doral is an annual event planned by the Inmate Special Events Committee. Created three years ago by Fernandez, the committee includes recreation officers from all of the Miami-Dade County Corrections facilities, who also organize basketball, volleyball and Ping-Pong tournaments.

Other quick hits this morning:

1. South Florida Lawyers is hosting the Blawg Review this week.

2. John Pacenti covers the FCPA. Paul Calli is fired up:

But it was the Las Vegas roundup that received all the attention. Some defense attorneys for those arrested are accusing the government of entrapment. They point to an informant as the real culprit. Richard T. Bistrong is a former vice president for military equipment manufacturer Armor Holdings in Jacksonville. He has been charged in Washington with FCPA violations for trying to bribe officials in Nigeria and the Netherlands. He also introduced the indicted executives to the undercover FBI agents. “Mr. Bistrong’s venality, greed and deception, I think, will be an important part of this trial,” said Paul Calli, an attorney for Stephen Giordanella, the only defendant captured in the sting who wasn’t at the Las Vegas trade show.

The DBR is still trying its hand at video. Enjoy.

Seminars, conferences, and lunches: oh my

Well, Miami is the hot spot this week for the criminal practitioner:

1. The ABA's White Collar Crime Conference has been going on all week at the Eden Roc. About 1000 defense lawyers and prosecutors show up and try not to look to out of place on South Beach. I'm not sure the Eden Roc knows what to do with such a high nerd factor. The keynote speaker was
Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General, who had this to say (via Miami Herald):

"In tackling financial fraud, we are not on a witch hunt,'' Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer told hundreds of lawyers attending his keynote luncheon address at the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel in Miami Beach.
"We are . . . seeking fairly but firmly to go after criminal conduct where it exists. We also are striving to innovate in how we do business,'' Breuer said. "That could mean utilizing data and intelligence more strategically, or it could mean -- as we've seen in a couple of prominent cases recently -- going undercover.
"However we do it, we will be more targeted, more creative, and more strategic in where and how we look for criminal conduct.''

2. The Federal Defenders and the CJA reps are also having their annual conference here this week. Of course, their digs are a bit more economical: they are staying at the Hyatt downtown.

3. And the Federal Bar Association's South Florida Chapter is hosting two upcoming events in March.

On March 10, 2010, the Federal Bar's monthly luncheon series continues at The Bankers Club in Miami. Honorable Marcia G. Cooke and Kendall Coffey of Coffey Burlington will lead a discussion on: "Trying High Profile Cases - The Realities, Strategies, and Ethical Considerations." The lunch begins at 11:45AM.

On March 16, 2010, the South Florida Chapter is hosting a reception from 5:30PM to 7:30PM at the Wilkie Ferguson Courthouse honoring retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

To join, visit www.fedbar.org and click on the South Florida Chapter. If anyone has questions about the events, contact Chapter President Bill Roppolo at William.Roppolo@Bakermckenzie.com

CONGRATS TO WILLY FERRER

Jay Weaver is reporting that the White House has officially nominated Wilfredo Ferrer to be U.S. Attorney of the District:

His résumé was an easy sell: He is a one-time federal prosecutor in Miami and is currently chief of Miami-Dade County's federal litigation section. He's also the former deputy chief of staff to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.
The son of Cuban immigrants also was valedictorian at Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High, first in his class at the University of Miami, and president of his class at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
"First of all, he understood better than anybody I've worked with how the federal government works with local and state governments, " Reno said in an earlier interview. "If I wanted to write the book about how to be the U.S. attorney, Willy would be one of my models."
If confirmed by the Senate, Ferrer would replace U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman. Ferrer, 43, married with two sons, would be the fourth lawyer of Cuban descent to fill the prominent job -- but the first appointed by a Democratic president.

Congrats to Willy! Hopefully Kathy Williams' nomination will come soon!

"On October 4, 2010, Elena Kagan Will Ask Her First Question As A Supreme Court Justice"

That's Tom Goldstein over at ScotusBlog, predicting that Justice Stevens will retire and that SG Kagan will take his place. The whole thing is worth a read, but here's the conclusion:

So, here is how I expect the next few months to play out. In the spring, Justice Stevens will announce his retirement. In May or June, the President will nominate Elena Kagan. Explaining that her paper record is a thimble-full of Sonia Sotomayor’s, Senator Leahy will schedule hearings and Senator Reid will schedule a floor vote before the summer recess. The only theme that will give opponents any success is that she fails to express her views on anything. She will then be confirmed by a vote of 61 to 39. Ok, that last prediction about the exact vote could be off by a bit, but I feel pretty confident about everything else.

Lew Freeman who?

Lew Freeman finally surrendered today on an information, charging one 20 year count. The best thing that ever happened to Freeman is Scott Rothstein. No one seems to care about this case anymore even though Freeman was as well known as Rothstein. But the losses in this case are only 2.6 million instead of a billion...

Sidney Aronovitz Courthouse

The naming ceremony for the federal courthouse in Key West is this morning. It will now be called the Sidney Aronovitz courthouse. Here's the Wiki entry for Judge Aronovitz, who was born in Key West.

Update: Here's two photos from the event from a tipster:

"The great Sony PlayStation caper"

That's the quotable Mike Tein on the new indictment accusing his client and others of exporting video games and other electronic products to a shopping mall in Paraguay that allegedly served as a front to finance the terrorist group Hezbollah. Here's the Herald article and more Mike Tein quotes:

"Believe it or not, this indictment actually charges these gentleman with supporting Hezbollah by shipping them Sony PlayStations,'' Tein said. "I guess that's a new type of weapon of mass destruction.''

Friday news and notes

Well, not much happening here in the District, other than the badly-kept secret that former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will be sitting on the Eleventh Circuit as a visiting judge in March. That should be fun...

In out-of-district news:

1. Jeffrey Rosen thinks President Obama should be Justice Obama.

2. You gotta read this dissent by Judge Kozinski. Here's a snippet: "It is also the only case I know of, in any jurisdiction covered by the Fourth Amendment, where invasion of the home has been approved based on no showing whatsoever. Nada. Gar nichts. Rien du tout. Bupkes.
Whatever may have been left of the Fourth Amendment after Black is now gone. The visceration of this crucial constitutional protector of the sanctity and privacy of what Americans consider their castles is pretty much complete. Welcome to the fish bowl."

3. And this dissent by 10th Circuit Judge Carlos Lucero: "Were this case simply about an innocent game of canasta, I would readily join the opinion of my majority colleagues outright. However, the abrupt departure of the trial judge from the bench while defense counsel was discussing the testimony of defendant's star witness, when coupled with the court's earlier admonitions to the jury that the same witness's testimony was 'absolutely untrue' and a 'falsity,' can only be interpreted as a clear message to the jury that the witness was not credible or worthy of the court and jury's unbiased consideration." (Apparently, the trial judge left the bench during the defense's closing because it was "his secretary's afternoon to play canasta and he had to get a couple of letters out.") (HT: How Appealing)