Update on Judge Moreno's Adminstrative Order

I have confirmed that the Order applies to attorneys as well as reporters (background here). No one is permitted to text, email, twitter, post, etc from inside the courtrooms...

What's the big secret?

Here's more on the Mutual Benefits recusal from Vanessa Blum...

Our previous coverage here.

From the Blum article:

Over objections from area newspapers, a federal judge today closed a court hearing on secret filings in a case stemming from one of South Florida's biggest frauds.U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan said he would consider releasing the secret documents and a transcript of the hearing, in whole or in part, after weighing concerns raised by the South Florida Sun Sentinel and the Miami Herald.The newspapers are trying to break through a wall of secrecy surrounding the latest criminal charges related to Mutual Benefits Corp., a now defunct Fort Lauderdale investment firm.
***
Deanna Shullman, an attorney representing the Sun Sentinel, told Jordan that federal law gives members of the public and media representatives the right to view court records, barring extraordinary circumstances.In a motion, Shullman stated that secrecy in such a high-profile case would create rumors and raise questions about the integrity of the justice system."Greater access is the best medicine to restore the public's faith and confidence in these proceedings," Shullman stated.Following arguments from Shullman and Herald attorney Scott Ponce, Jordan closed the hearing to the public. He said he would rule in the coming weeks."There are a lot of difficult and thorny issues here," Jordan said. "I'm doing my best to navigate my way through."Jordan received the case in January after two other federal judges stepped aside, citing undisclosed conflicts of interest. In addition, two officials in the U.S. Attorney's Office have recused themselves from involvement in the prosecution.The Mutual Benefits case has also drawn interest because the company had deep ties to elected officials in Broward County.

Helio Castroneves

I was at the courthouse today and popped into the Castroneves trial. I lasted there about 5 minutes. After the DOJ prosecutor asked the following question, I left: "Now, we've been discussing general ledgers for some time -- please explain to the jury what a general ledger is."

I promise that I am blogging this back at my office and not inside the courtroom.

Here's more on that issue from the Palm Beach Post.

And now I get to post another picture:

Speaking of the Castroneves case, Judge Graham is being honored today at the University of Miami: he's receiving the William M. Hoeveler Award for ethics and leadership in the legal profession.

New administrative order on text messaging, emailing, twittering, typing, and cellular phone use

Judge Moreno issued a new administrative order today allowing reporters to bring their cells into the courthouse, but:

prohibit[ing] text messaging, emailing, twittering, typing, and any cellular phone use from inside courtrooms. These actions by persons inside the courtroom violate the sanctity of the courtroom and disrupt ongoing judicial proceedings.

Judge Moreno went on to explain:

The Court, however, must balance the interests of preserving the conduct of judicial proceedings against the public's right to know what happens inside courtrooms. Accordingly, it is

ADJUDGED that emailing, text messaging, twittering, typing, and using cellular phones
shall continue to be prohibited inside the District's courtrooms. It is also

ADJUDGED that to balance the interest in preserving the sanctity and conduct of judicial
proceedings against the public's right to know what occurs inside the District's courtrooms, this Order amends Administrative Orders 2006- 16 and 2008-07 to allow news reporters to bring cellular phones, Blackberries, iPhones, Palm Pilots, and other similar electronic personal digital assistants (PDAs) into the courthouse consistent with what is permitted of attorneys, as long as the news reporters agree in writing not to email, text message, twitter, type, or use their cellular phones or other electronic device inside the District's courtrooms. A violation of the agreement will result in contempt of court. The Clerk of Court shall keep the list of reporters who have signed such agreement and make that list available to Court security personnel assigned to each courthouse. The Clerk of Court shall also make space available in each courthouse for those listed reporters to use their cellular phones and other electronic devices outside of the courtrooms. Of course, District and Magistrate Judges retain the discretion to maintain order in their courtrooms, which includes the right to lock their courtrooms should the entry and exit of news reporters become disruptive in a particular proceeding.

I applauded Judge Moreno for the last administrative orders on cell phones, allowing jurors to bring in their phones and allowing lawyers to have cells with cameras (as long as they weren't used) and his propensity to have an open courthouse with a free flow of information, but this order doesn't get it all right. True, the part of this order allowing reporters to bring in their cells is right on.

But not allowing anyone -- even lawyers in the gallery -- to email or text doesn't fit with all of Judge Moreno's recent efforts to catch the court up with technological advances. Does it disturb the courtroom more to write a note to an associate to go outside to call the secretary to bring over a certain file into the courtroom during trial or to shoot over a quick email (or text) asking for the file to be sent over electronically? Is it better for a reporter to scratch notes on a legal pad, run outside to make a phone call and then run back in to hear more of the witness or to simply send an email without getting up?

Plus, the administrative order says that the use of blackberries by lawyers shall continue to be prohibited inside the courtroom. In every single courtroom I have been in, there are lawyers emailing -- A LOT. (In fact, I spoke to a lawyer yesterday who had a cortisone shot in her thumb for typing so much.) So this sounds like a new prohibition to me.

And let me ask this -- does the email prohibition inside the courtroom apply to judges and staff as well? Sorry, but there is always an awful lot of typing going on from everywhere inside the courtrooms, not just counsel table.

Well, the Chief has made a lot of advances with cell phone usage, so it's hard to criticize this order too harshly. And I do love that Judge Moreno knows what Twitter is...

UPDATE -- did I jump the gun? An emailer points out that the order prohibiting emailing, texting, etc may only apply to reporters, not to lawyers. Hmmmmm... It seems more broad than that, but I'd like to be wrong. Thoughts?

SECOND UPDATE -- I was right.

Monday morning...

Ahhhh, it's Monday morning. Everyone had their cafecito yet?

I took the weekend off, trying to recover after the long trial I just finished. It's hard to unwind after being revved up for so long. I went to the NCAA games on Friday -- all four of em... There's nothing like March Madness.

I added some new fish to the tank this weekend as well.

Enough about me -- what about you? What's up in the District? I heard that the government will rest in the Helio Castroneves case this week. Will the defense put on a case or will they surprise the courtroom like Mike Pasano did in his trial (aided by Paul Calli & Marissel Descalzo) in Puerto Rico in which he represented Luisa Inclan an aide to the governor, which led to NGs across the board?

Only the Shadow knows...