What should we do with the mural in the Dyer Courthouse?

MDC taking over the Dyer Courthouse was received with universal praise (background post).  The one issue that has generated lots of heated debate is the mural in the central courtroom.  There were some comments on the post, but there were lots of emails, calls and discussion about what we should do with the mural (including from federal judges with different viewpoints). 

There seem to be three camps, including in the poll below:

What should be done with the mural?

The mural is racist. It contains demeaning images of minorities and has no place in today's courtrooms. It should be painted over. Imagine if you were a black man being sentenced in that courtroom how you would feel.

The mural is historical. It was made in the 30s and it simply depicts the times. Don't take it down. It is a beautiful mural and makes the central courtroom what it is.

The mural has demeaning images and can be viewed as racist, but it is also historical. It is not an image of racism like the Confederate flag, so it should not be painted over.

Quiz Maker

David W. Dyer building to be used by Miami-Dade College

I love this courthouse and I miss trying cases in it.  But this is good news as it will finally be put to use again.

The Herald covers the deal here:

Miami’s old federal building, a Depression-era Neoclassical masterpiece that’s among the grandest of the city’s historic structures, has been vacant and moldering since 2008, its fate uncertain. But now a rescue is in the offing that will restore it to public use.
After years of negotiation, the federal government has agreed to cede the 1933 landmark to its neighbor, Miami Dade College, for use as an academic and civic building. The college and the government’s property-management arm, the General Services Administration, signed a 115-year, one-dollar-a-year lease agreement Wednesday evening.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article77050342.html#storylink=cpy

The building is really cool:

The federal building, which housed the central Miami post office and all federal agencies but the weather bureau when it opened in 1933, was designed by Coral Gables’ chief architect, Phineas Paist, and Miami architect Harold Steward, with an assist from Marion Manley, the first licensed female architect in Florida and designer of early University of Miami buildings. Paist and Steward also collaborated on the design of Coral Gables City Hall and the buildings at the Liberty Square housing project. (Another Gables connection: that magnificent courtroom mural, Law Guides Florida Progress, is by artist Denman Fink, designer of the Venetian Pool.)
Although it was the height of the Great Depression, the government spared no expense on the building, believed to be the largest structure in South Florida made of Florida limestone. Window surrounds are made of marble, as are the floors and former post-office tabletops still in place in its elongated lobby. Spandrel panels running beneath the second-story windows on the main facade depict scenes from Florida history. That facade is defined by a towering row of Corinthian columns. Inside, original chandeliers and coffered ceilings are still in place, the college said.

***

The central courtroom was also the scene of some historic legal events, including the Congressional Kefauver hearings into organized crime that were televised to the nation in the 1950s and the trial of deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in 1991.
But use of the building gradually declined after the post office moved out in 1976. Most federal judges moved to a modern tower annex which opened in 1983, leaving mostly magistrates in the old courthouse. The last moved out after the newest courthouse opened a block away in 2008. The tower annex remains in use by the courts and is not part of the MDC deal.
The GSA then shuttered the historic building, which had been plagued by mold and complaints from court workers about respiratory ailments that had led to closure of some courtrooms and portions of the structure in 2006. The agency has continued to run the air conditioning to keep humidity and deterioration of the interior under control.
But the GSA came under fire from some Republican members of Congress who, during a 2012 hearing in the Dyer building’s central counrtroom [sic], scolded the agency for wasting taxpayer resources by failing to find a new tenant or sell the courthouse. A member of that delegation, Florida U.S. Rep. John Mica, is a Miami-Dade grad who pushed for the deal to give the college use of the building.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article77050342.html#storylink=cpy

d more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article77050342.html#storylink=cpy

I wonder what the College will do with the controversial mural in the central courtroom:

It's good to be a prosecutor

Or a former prosecutor:

H. James Pickerstein, a former top federal prosecutor in Connecticut and a popular figure among generations of state lawyers, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in prison for stealing more than $600,000 from a former client.
Pickerstein, 69, faced up to 20 years in prison and 33 to 41 months under federal sentencing guidelines after pleading guilty in January to a federal fraud charge. He admitting that he stole $633,410.04 from James Galante, a former Danbury carting company executive. Pickerstein surrendered his law license in December 2014 after his theft came to the attention of his former law firm and federal prosecutors.
Dozens of friends and attorneys were in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport to support Pickerstein, and nearly three dozen people, including former U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons, wrote letters to U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden attesting to Pickerstein's character and generosity to friends and colleagues in need.

***

Court documents show that Galante asked Pickerstein about the missing money and Pickerstein replied that it was for legal fees owed. In August 2014, Galante invited Pickerstein to his office. During the meeting, which Galante secretly recorded, he confronted Pickerstein about the missing money.
"I'm jammed up with my firm," Pickerstein responded, according to the government's sentencing memorandum. "I'm broke, [my son] hasn't worked; my wife's medication is $3,500 a month." He also asked Galante not to turn him in.
Pickerstein's law firm repaid Galante most of the stolen money, and Travelers Insurance repaid the law firm. As part of his sentence, Pickerstein must pay restitution to Travelers and others.
When it came his time to speak, Pickerstein apologized for his crime and to those he has hurt. He also thanked the dozens of people who spoke or wrote letters in support of him.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for something to watch on TV, check out the next episode of American Greed on Thursday May 19 at 10pm.  It's an episode about the South Beach B-girls trial.  From their press release:

The episode will go behind the scenes of the Bar Girls or “B-girls” fraud scheme in
Miami Beach, Florida. South Beach businessmen with ties to the Russian mob trafficked young, attractive women from Latvia and Estonia into the United States illegally on tourist visas. The B-girls’ mission: in teams of two, they hit the town, and lured male tourists into private clubs owned by the Russian mob. The B-girls encouraged their marks to binge drink vodka, and, once the men were sufficiently intoxicated, the B-girls made unauthorized charges – often totaling more than $10,000 in a single night – to the victims’ credit cards.
Records emerging from “Operation Caviar Beach,” the FBI’s undercover investigation of the scheme, show that hundreds of men were victimized and defrauded of more than two million dollars.
John Bolaris, a former meteorologist for Fox affiliate WTXF in Philadelphia, fell victim to the scheme during a trip to Miami Beach in March 2010. Over the course of two days, the B-girls and bar owners fraudulently racked up more than $43,000 in charges on Bolaris’ American Express credit card. Bolaris, who was interviewed for the episode, recalls seeing the time-stamped bar transactions on his Amex bill for the first time: “Every few minutes, $2,000, $3,000, $5,000, $800 tip, $700 tip!” Bolaris believes his signature was forged after he passed out, and that he was drugged when the B-girls gave him a vodka shot: “There’s not too much that goes on after that that I can truly remember.”

No bond for temple bomber

Temple bomber may not be the best way to describe the case... We need a better name for this case like we had for the Liberty City Seven matter.  Any ideas?

In the meantime, Paula McMahon covers the bond hearing:

The Broward man accused of plotting to bomb a Jewish synagogue and school in Aventura will remain jailed until the case against him is decided, a judge ruled Tuesday.
James Medina, 40, of Hollywood, is a flight risk and danger to the community, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea Simonton ordered after a hearing in federal court in Miami.
Medina was unemployed, homeless, squatting in an abandoned building in Hollywood, and has a very long history of mental health problems that led to him being involuntarily committed for psychiatric treatment at least twice, Assistant Federal Public Defender Joaquin Padilla said in court.
Padilla said he was "not minimizing" the alleged criminal violence that FBI agents recorded Medina planning.
But the lawyer said Medina is not a "homegrown terrorist" or a person who became "radicalized" overseas. He said Medina has been out of work and has no health insurance and his unspecified mental health problems date back to childhood and have gone untreated for a long time.
"The agents could have gotten Mr. Medina to do anything," Padilla said, arguing that Medina was susceptible to suggestion because of his psychiatric problems.

In other news, Transition is having its big event this Thursday night in which they are honoring District Judge Kathy Williams, State Judge Milton Hirsch, and Murray Greenberg.

11th Circuit conference ends badly

It was the big 11th Circuit conference in Alabama last week, with all of the judges in the Circuit attending.  And the Circuit Justice -- Justice Clarence Thomas -- was there giving the keynote.  But during his speech, Judge Merryday collapsed and had to be rushed out.  The Daily Report has more:

A medical emergency in the back of the room abruptly ended a question and answer program with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference late Friday.
Thomas was starting to talk about legal opinions on bankruptcy law--saying he worries about challenges facing the judges he had been talking with during the conference --but he never got to finish his sentence. The crowd in the back corner of the ballroom at the Grand Hotel Conference Center began to move and people began saying, "Call 911."
Chief Judge Steven Merryday of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida had collapsed and fallen to the floor. Agents from the U.S. Marshal's office and hotel security staff immediately came to his aid while they waited for an ambulance to arrive. Thomas waited on stage with University of Georgia Law School Dean Peter "Bo" Rutledge, who had been asking the questions of the justice, and Eleventh Circuit Chief Judge Ed Carnes, who had made the introductions.
They were about halfway through their planned one hour and five minute presentation, after which Carnes was scheduled for 15 minutes of closing remarks.
Soon the marshals gave an order to clear the room and keep a clear path to the door. Hotel staff directed the attendees toward a hallway and a sunny, breezy terrace beside Mobile Bay.
An ambulance arrived within minutes. Emergency responders began speaking to the judge, asking him questions and trying to prompt a response. They asked him to smile if he could understand them. Merryday was conscious and stood for a moment with help before being secured onto a stretcher and moved to the waiting ambulance to drive to a hospital in nearby Fairhope.
Judges and lawyers waiting in the hallway expressed their hope and prayers for the judge's recovery. Some said they were initially afraid they were being attacked when they heard the commotion and a call for 911.
Carnes decided not to reconvene the meeting, which was scheduled to end at 5 p.m. and had run like clockwork for two days. The 160 judges and 300 lawyers in attendance slowly began to leave. Shortly after 5 p.m. Carnes received a phone call, after which he announced to the few still gathered in the hallway that Merryday was at the hospital and in stable condition. His wife had been contacted by a friend and neighbor who is married to another judge attending the conference.

UPDATE -- According to online reports, Judge Merryday is okay.

Is Aventura bomber mentally ill?

From Paula McMahon:

The bond hearing for a Hollywood man accused of planning to bomb an Aventura synagogue has been postponed to Tuesday.
James Gonzalo Medina, 40, is accused of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction — a dummy bomb he received from a man who was working under cover with the FBI. If convicted, he could face life in federal prison.
***
Gladys Jaramillo, 38, told the Sun Sentinel in a phone interview that Medina is her cousin and that he has suffered from serious mental health problems since he suffered head injuries and was in a coma following a serious car accident some years ago.
"He used to be a normal person but he had a big accident and we thought he was going to die," said Jaramillo, who said she is a teacher and lives in the Bronx. "He has had mental problems since he got in that accident."

May the 4th be with you! (UPDATED)

Happy Star Wars Day!

Judge Rosenbaum has an interesting opinion about a bad cop here.  From the intro:

Defendant-Appellant Timothy Filbeck was a lieutenant with the Butts County Sheriff’s Office. When his house was foreclosed upon, he, like anyone else who has been through foreclosure, had certain options available to him. But arresting the new owner’s agents, Plaintiffs-Appellees David Carter, Clayton Graham, Jr., and Mitchell Webster (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), who were lawfully performing their jobs, was not one of them. And neither was ordering Plaintiffs handcuffed and thrown in jail overnight. We think that should go without saying. Yet Filbeck did these things, anyway. Now Filbeck tries to convince us that he is immune from suit. We are not persuaded. Being a law-enforcement officer is not a license to break the law. And it is certainly not a shield behind which Filbeck may abuse his power with impunity.

UPDATE --  Judge William Pryor has issued another pro-defendant opinion, this time for a pro-se serial filer:

This appeal presents a question of first impression about the “three strikes”
provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, which ordinarily denies in forma
pauperis status to a prisoner who “on 3 or more prior occasions” brought a federal
action or appeal that “was dismissed on the grounds that it is frivolous, malicious,
or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted,” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
Waseem Daker is a state prisoner and a serial litigator in federal courts. Daker has
submitted over a thousand pro se filings in over a hundred actions and appeals in at
least nine different federal courts. In this lawsuit, the district court denied Daker’s
petition to proceed in forma pauperis because it concluded that he had six strikes
under the Act. Two of Daker’s earlier filings were dismissed for lack of
jurisdiction, and the other four were dismissed for want of prosecution. In three of
the four dismissals for want of prosecution, a judge of this Court determined that
Daker could not proceed in forma pauperis because his filings were frivolous. But
a single circuit judge cannot dismiss an action or appeal, Fed. R. App. P. 27(c);
instead, panels of this Court dismissed Daker’s filings because he failed to pay the
filing fee, 11th Cir. R. 42-1(b). Although Daker is a serial litigant who has clogged
the federal courts with frivolous litigation, we must follow the text of the Act,
which does not classify his six prior dismissals for lack of jurisdiction and want of
prosecution as strikes. We vacate the dismissal of Daker’s complaint and remand
for further proceedings.

FBI stops plot to bomb Aventura temple (update)

Mag court should be interesting today. Judge Turnoff is presiding. The Herald has more here:

A Hollywood man was arrested Friday night by FBI agents while he was attempting to carry out an explosive attack on an Aventura synagogue, according to officials.
Juan Medina is accused of plotting with confidential FBI sources in an attempt to blow up the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, 20400 NE 30th Ave., during services on Friday.
Medina was held in the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami over the weekend and is expected to have his first appearance Monday afternoon in magistrate court.
He is expected to be charged with a weapons of mass destruction offense.
He was portrayed by law enforcement officials as being anti-Semitic, and that might have been be a factor in his motivation to carry out the deadly plot.

UPDATE -- well, the mag appearance was indeed interesting.  From the Sun-Sentinel:

The suspect seemed to want to make a speech in court but was shut down by U.S. Magistrate Judge William Turnoff.
"I've got a few words of my own. ... My name is James Medina, aka James Mohammed," he told the judge.
***
On Monday, the judge ordered Medina will remain locked up at least until a detention hearing Thursday morning where the prosecution and defense can make their arguments.
Medina said in court that he is out of work, divorced and has no significant assets. The judge appointed the Federal Public Defender's Office to represent him. Office policy prohibits assistant federal public defenders from commenting on pending cases.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/aventura/article75089722.html#storylink=cpy