The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
Sunday, February 13, 2022
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Great article about Ketanji Brown Jackson in the Miami Herald
Check it out here. There's great stuff about her high school debate career, including this gem of a picture from the yearbook of her and Stephen Rosenthal:
There's also a quote by yours truly about the importance of professional diversity on the Supreme Court:
The 51-year-old appeals court judge spent her formative years in the criminal defense system, notably as an assistant federal public defender in Washington, D.C. She also served as a staff attorney and commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which dramatically overhauled draconian incarcerations for drug offenders. Occupants of the Supreme Court’s nine seats have typically been tapped from federal appeals courts, major law firms or academia with little to no background in criminal defense, the arena of law that disproportionately impacts minorities and the poor. The last Supreme Court justice to have any criminal defense experience was Thurgood Marshall, the first Black man to sit on the high court. Miami criminal defense attorney David O. Markus, a former federal public defender who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1997, a year after Brown Jackson, believes she would bring a fresh perspective that could serve the entire court well.
“It’s not just diversity in the traditional sense that is important; professional diversity is also critical,” Markus said. “Appointing a former defender won’t even the scales, but at least someone who has experienced what it’s like to defend a case against the overwhelming might of the federal government will have a place to be heard.” Her own family history during the 1980s in Miami, a period that exposed her to both sides of the law, also strongly influenced the legal path she pursued as a lawyer and judge, Brown Jackson herself has acknowledged in prior Senate confirmation hearings. She was raised in suburban comfort in the Cutler Bay area by two educators, including a mother who served as a high school principal and a father who taught history and later became the chief lawyer for the Miami-Dade County School Board. She also had two uncles and a brother who became police officers.
Wednesday, February 09, 2022
Nevertheless She Persisted
By Michael Caruso
As public defenders, we usually don't prevail on behalf of our clients. Either because of immovable facts, challenging case law, or self-inflicted wounds, we have an uphill battle. But we persist because of our commitment to our clients and the idea of justice.
While you were sleeping, an Olympic story of persistence played out. At the 2006 Olympics in South Korea, a premature celebration cost Lindsey Jacobellis the gold medal in snowboard cross. She was 20 years old at the time. At the 2010 Games in Vancouver, she swerved off course during the semifinal and missed the final. In Russia, four years later, she was leading in the semifinal, stumbled, and missed the final again. In 2018, she made the final but came in fourth. During this time, Jacobellis became the most dominant athlete in her sport— 30 individual World Cup wins, 10 X Games gold medals, six world championships. But she had never won Olympic gold.
Until yesterday. Now 36, Jacobellis's win made her the oldest snowboarder to medal at the Olympics and the oldest American woman to win gold—in any sport—at the Winter Games.
Jacobellis exemplifies what Maya Angelou said about persistence: "You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can come out of it."
Here's to Jacobellis and all those who persist.
Monday, February 07, 2022
I’m not sure what made me think of this…
...but this picture of Sam Rabin going into Judge Altonaga’s courtroom at the beginning of Covid popped into my head today. How funny. Now, people won’t even wear a mask to a crowded sporting event. Crazy. Here is the original post.
Saturday, February 05, 2022
New federal courthouse in Broward approved
It's desperately needed. It's going to cost $190 million. And this is what it will look like when it's done in 2026:
The Miami Herald has all of the details here:
The project, the most significant federal investment in South Florida civic architecture since the completion of Miami’s newest U.S. courthouse in 2006, is slated to start rising in 2023 on a site on the Tarpon River acquired by the government last year for $13.5 million. The design features a spare, square white tower with fluted panels of glass and metal that recall the classically inspired federal buildings of the 1960s. In a nod to tropical Modernist design, the 10-story tower is fronted by a wavy, sheltering arcade for pedestrians that extends to the ends of the 3.5-acre lot. At the back, on the riverbank, the plan calls for a new park and promenade and preservation of existing mangroves.
Friday, February 04, 2022
Truth is stranger than fiction
I mean, how else do you explain Michael Avenatti and Sarah Palin chatting in the SDNY cafeteria during a break in their trials? From someone who saw it and tweeted about it:
An exchange in the SDNY cafeteria...
Michael Avenatti, as Palin walks by:
"Ms Palin, how are you?" Avenatti told her "good luck" several times.
At end of their encounter, he said good luck again, to which she said
"You too, best of everything."
Meantime, the jury had to be Allen charged today in the Avenatti trial. As you can imagine, I’m strongly against Allen charges. If a jury can’t reach a verdict, that should be it. And the government should only get one shot to convict a defendant. None of this retrial madness.
Avenatti started his closing this way:
"When my father was a teenager, he sold hotdogs at a ballpark." The judge sustained an objection but I’m not sure why.
And he ended this way:
"I will leave you with this: I'm Italian. I like Italian food...The case that the government is attempting to feed you has a giant cockroach in the middle of the plate. Would you eat that dish, or would you send it back? I submit that you would send it back."
Tuesday, February 01, 2022
Dolphins Sued
By John Byrne
Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has sued the Dolphins, Giants, Broncos, NFL, and Jon Doe teams 1-29 in federal court in New York. Read the lawsuit here.
It’s a class action asserting, among other claims, race discrimination under Section 1981. Pretty explosive allegations, including that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered Flores $100,000 for every game lost during Flores’s first year as head coach (with the goal of securing the #1 pick in the draft, which the Bengals ultimately used to select Super Bowl-bound Joe Burrow) and that, after the 2019 season, Ross pressured Flores to “recruit a prominent quarterback in violation of League tampering rules” (appears to be referring to Tom Brady). Lots of fallout to come from this.
New podcast episode: Gerry Goldstein for Richard Dexter (Deep Throat)
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