Shark Divers Pardoned

 By John R. Byrne

Happy Friday. A few months back, the blog covered the case about two shark divers who were prosecuted and convicted because they tried to save sharks from what they believed was an illegal poaching operation. The Eleventh Circuit reluctantly affirmed the convictions, with Judge Lagoa writing a powerful opinion lambasting the government for prosecuting the men in the first place. 

This past Wednesday, President Trump pardoned the men. Congrats to Marc Seitles, Ashley Litwin, and Andy Adler who led the pardon charge. Article here. 

Unrelated, details below on the Celebration of Life for Paul Donnelly. 

Monday, June 2, 2025 @ 10:00 am. The service is at Dignity Memorial's Forest Lawn Funeral Home 2401 Davie Road, Davie,  FL 33317

Celebration of Life by John Byrne on Scribd

Breaking--Judge Ed Artau nominated for open SDFLA district court seat (UPDATED)

By John R. Byrne

Hot off the presses. President Trump has nominated Judge Ed Artau, who sits on Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal, for Judge Scola's open district court seat. Here's the Truth Social Post announcing the nomination. 

UPDATE (by DOM) -- Hi everyone.  Quick update -- In addition to Artau for Scola's seat, Trump has nominated 4 others for Florida seats -- Jordan E. Pratt, John Guard, Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe, and Kyle Dudek.

In addition, interim U.S. Attorney Hayden O'Byrne's time was up, but our court appointed him as U.S. attorney until Jason Redding Quinones takes over.

And finally, the legal community is abuzz over the nomination of Emil Bove to the Third Circuit. 

Editorial by Judge Luck and Judge Altman

By John R. Byrne

Many of you have likely heard about the shocking and tragic murder of a young Israeli couple outside the Capital Jewish Museum after they had attended a gathering of the American Jewish Committee. This should hit close to home, as the AJC just recently hosted several of our judges at an AJC event on Watson Island. The Dispatch has published an editorial written by four federal judges, including Judge Luck and Judge Altman, addressing the incident. Worth a read. Linking to it here. 

FBA event coming up

 

RIP Paul Donnelly

What an absolute tragedy.  Paul Donnelly, a really good guy and great lawyer, died this morning.  He was in federal court waiting to be called for a sentencing hearing before Judge Becerra.  The marshals and co-counsel did all they could until rescue arrived.  He died pursuing justice.  

Really awful.

Sitting it Out

By John R. Byrne

Want to make sure the Supreme Court never hears one of your legal disputes? Sign them all to book deals. At least, that might be a way to avoid the justices from considering your case. 

This past Monday, six justices--Alito, Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Barrett and Jackson--recused themselves from considering the cert petition in a case called Baker v. Coates. The plaintiff (Baker) was an author who sued another author (Coates), claiming that Coates's book, The Water Dancer, plagiarized his book. The trial court dismissed the complaint and the Second Circuit affirmed. And that's where the lawsuit will end. Because of the recusals, the Supreme Court lacked the requisite quorum (the magic number is 6) to consider Baker's cert petition.

Though the justices didn't say why they recused (they aren't required to), the speculation is that it's because a party in the case owns Penguin Random House, which has published (or plans to publish) books by Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson. So, by federal statute--28 U.S.C. § 2109--the Second Circuit becomes the final arbiter of the dispute. Newsweek covers it here. 

Unrelated, the Miami New Times just ran this list featuring "22 Old School Miami Restaurants." Some classics on this list. Still haven't tried a hot dog from Arbetter's.

Eleventh Circuit Strikes Down Protection of Children Act

By John R. Byrne

You may remember a few years back there was some press coverage about kids allegedly attending drag shows in Florida. That led to the Florida legislature passing the Protection of Children Act, which made it a misdemeanor to admit a child into an “adult live performance.” The statute actually defined that term to track the Supreme Court’s three-pronged “Miller Test” (the test uses language that probably sounds vaguely familiar to you—phrases like “appeals to the prurient interest” and “lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value,” etc.). Still, the court—in a majority opinion by Judge Rosenbaum joined by Judge Abudu—held the statute was unconstitutionally vague, focusing on the statute’s reference to “lewd conduct,” which the court said was an ambiguous phrase that would necessarily sweep in some protected speech.

This might be headed for an en banc hearing.  Judge Tjoflat wrote a lengthy dissent and at least one other court, the Sixth Circuit, ruled differently when examining a similar statute. See Friends of George's, Inc. v. Mulroy, 108 F.4th 431, 439 (6th Cir. 2024). 

Opinion by John Byrne on Scribd

Lawyers Hit with Sanctions when AI Breaks Bad

By John R. Byrne

Magistrate Judge Matthewman just issued a stern warning to lawyers practicing in our district: don't throw your brief drafting car keys to artificial intelligence. A lawyer used AI to do some research and dropped one of the AI-generated citations into his response brief. The problem? The case was fictional. When opposing counsel and the court figured it out, it became a question of sanctions. Because the lawyer came clean relatively quickly, the court didn't go with the nuclear option (no striking of pleadings or the like). Still, the sanctions were meaningful and even extended to the attorney who is serving as local counsel for the out-of-town lawyer who drafted the brief. Opinion is below. 

Another wild "AI-gone-wrong" story involves a "Summer reading list for 2025" article that was published this past Sunday in several prominent newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. The article recommended several novels, including "The Last Algorithm," by Andy Weir, the author who wrote "The Martian." But Weir didn't write The Last Algorithm. Nor did anyone else, for that matter, because the novel doesn't exist. The author of the article used AI to come up with a list of books and didn't bother checking that list before the article went to print. “I just straight up missed it,” the author told the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday. “I can’t blame anybody else.”

Be careful out there, whether you're reading or writing!

Versant Funding Llc a Delaware Limited Liability Company Plaintiff v Teras Breakbulk Ocean Navigatio by John Byrne on Scribd