Cross examination isn't easy

 Michael Avenatti is learning the hard way from his trial last week where he is representing himself and trying to cross his former client, Stormy Daniels.  One exchange:

Avenatti: Wasn't it true I was typically nice and respectful to you? Stormy Daniels: No. You lied to me. Avenatti: Didn't you tell the government I was nice and respectful? Stormy Daniels: I was wrong. Avenatti: Move to strike.

 Ouch.  

Another exchange:

Avenatti: Didn't you tell the New York Times that watching me work was like watching the Sistine Chapel painted? Stormy Daniels: That's that you told me to say.

More from InnerCityPress here.

Never Forget

By Michael Caruso:

Yesterday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. At a time when antisemitism and extremism are both on the rise, remembering the atrocities of the Holocaust is essential. NPR, in this story, has collected the stories of Holocaust survivors themselves. But, as the UN Secretary-General said this week, "As fewer and fewer can bear direct witness, let us together pledge to always remember and make sure others never forget." 

 

Huge retirement news!

 You might think I'm talking about Justice Breyer.

You'd be wrong!

I'm talking about the announcement that two magistrate judges will be retiring: Magistrate Judge McAliley on January 20, 2023 and Magistrate Judge Lurana Snow on May 31, 2022.  

Chief Judge Altonaga already has formed a Magistrate Judge Selection Panel to make recommendations to fill the slots, which will be chaired by Irene Oria, Esq.

As far as Breyer goes, the smart money is that Ketanji Brown Jackson will be nominated.  That would be extremely cool because she grew up in Miami and went to Palmetto High School.  She would be the first Floridian on the Supreme Court.

Here's a Herald article about her, with a quote from yours truly.  It also has a quote from her high school prom date, former U.S. Attorney Ben Greenberg:

Ben Greenberg, a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida who was on the debate team with Jackson at Palmetto High and graduated one year after her, said he and Jackson went to prom together as dates when he was a junior and she was a senior. “On the one hand, it’s incredibly exciting, and on the other hand it’s not at all surprising,” Greenberg, now a partner at Greenberg Traurig law firm in Miami, said of Jackson as a potential Supreme Court nominee. “She was incredibly smart, hard-working, super honest, and one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet.”

CA11 nominee Nancy Abudu

 The Vetting Room has an interesting post about her here.  The conclusion:

Throughout her career, Abudu has not hesitated in taking strong positions on the law, even where a court has ultimately disagreed. While her advocacy is likely appreciated by her clients, it is also likely to draw strong opposition from those who oppose the positions she has taken. Republicans may particularly highlight Abudu’s presentation of Florida’s felon disenfranchisement policies to the UN Commission on Human Rights, arguing that the move approves international oversight over American policies. Ultimately, while Abudu is unlikely to get much bipartisan support, she also remains a favorite for confirmation.

"We all feel we were abducted by luxurious pirates!"

 By John R. Byrne

That was cruise ship passenger Steven Heard Fales referring to the crew of the Crystal Symphony. The cruise ship avoided docking in Miami--its end destination--because of an arrest warrant issued by Judge Gayles. The ship diverted to the Bahamas and passengers boarded another ship that took them to Port Everglades. Apparently, the U.S. Marshals were ready to board the ship and take it into custody. The New York Post covers it here.  The federal lawsuit that led to the arrest warrant--brought by Peninsula Petroleum Far East Ptd. Ltd.--alleges that Crystal Cruises' parent company failed to pay $1.2 million in fuel bills. Case Number is 1:22-cv-20230-DPG.

Scandal at SCOTUS

 Last week I put up a story by Nina Totenberg about Chief Justice Roberts "asking" the other Justices to wear masks because of Justice Sotomayor's health.  Gorsuch supposedly refused and Sotomayor didn't take the bench.  That led to Gorsuch and Sotomayor issuing a joint statement saying it wasn't true, followed by a statement by the Chief saying it wasn't true.  Woah.  But Nina Totenberg is sticking by her reporting, even if NPR has backed off a little bit.  From the Washington Post:

Totenberg and NPR offered a rejoinder on Wednesday. “NPR stands by its reporting,” Totenberg wrote in a news story reporting on the reaction to her original news story.

And there it stood — until NPR’s public editor, Kelly McBride, weighed in with an assessment late Thursday. McBride, who functions as NPR’s ombudsman and has no authority over its newsroom, recommended that the organization issue a “clarification” to Totenberg’s story — not quite as serious as a correction but still nothing any reporter wants under her byline.

McBride suggested that despite the definitive language in her article, Totenberg wasn’t sure how Roberts conveyed his concerns to his fellow justices — whether he “asked” them to wear masks or made his thoughts known in a subtler way. She quoted Totenberg as saying, “If I knew exactly how he communicated this I would say it. Instead I said ‘in some form.’ ”

McBride concluded that using the word “asked” was “inaccurate” and “misleading,” and wrote that NPR should clarify the article accordingly.

Totenberg seemed to reject the advice, telling the Daily Beast on Thursday night that McBride “can write any goddamn thing she wants, whether or not I think it’s true. She’s not clarifying anything!”

And indeed, as of Friday afternoon, there is still no clarification or correction on Totenberg’s original article. But both NPR and Totenberg have seemed tacitly to acknowledge the problem elsewhere. In a follow-up report Tuesday afternoon on “All Things Considered,” Totenberg avoided the word “asked” and said Roberts had merely “suggested” masks be worn in the courtroom. Neither she nor NPR indicated that her characterization had changed from her report that morning.

Meet the Magistrate Judges

 By John R. Byrne

Nice FBA luncheon yesterday at the Marriott Marquis hotel--"Meet the Magistrate Judges."  Newly retired Judge O'Sullivan moderated a panel with Judges Reinhart, Reid, Becerra, Strauss, and Damian.   Takeaways--(1) the Magistrate Judges are very busy (several fire hose analogies); (2) raise frivolous discovery issues at your peril; and (3) read the judges' discovery procedures on the Court website (they vary from judge to judge). Judge Reinhart also wrote this article on Best Practices for Discovery in Federal Court. Worth a read. The pointers were mixed with some fun banter between the panel and District Judges Bloom and Huck, who attended as well. 

"Purposeful Stupidity"

BY MICHAEL CARUSO

For those of us who've been perplexed by workplace behavior—management and employee—in either the government or corporate world, I recently found a manual that demonstrates how timeless these often ridiculous organizational inner workings are. About 80 years ago, this manual set forth the following observed behaviors:

Organizations and Conferences

-Insist on doing everything through “channels.” Never permit shortcuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.

-Make “speeches.” Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your “points” by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences.

-When possible, refer all matters to committees, for “further study and consideration.” Attempt to make the committee as large as possible — never less than five.

-Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.

-Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.

-Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.

Managers

-In making work assignments, always sign out the unimportant jobs first. See that important jobs are assigned to inefficient workers.

-Insist on perfect work in relatively unimportant products; send back for refinishing those which have the least flaw.

-To lower morale and with it, production, be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions.

-Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.

-Multiply the procedures and clearances involved in issuing instructions. See that three people have to approve everything where one would do.

Employees

-Work slowly

-Contrive as many interruptions to your work as you can.

-Do your work poorly and blame it on bad tools, machinery, or equipment. Complain that these things are preventing you from doing your job right.

-Never pass on your skill and experience to a new or less skillful worker.

Here's a link to the manual. Well worth a read.