I am one with the Force. The Force is one with me.

Very very sad.

She "drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra."

Looking forward to 2017.

It's a quiet week... so unless something earth-shattering happens, we'll see you next year.

Happy Festivus....

...for the rest of us!

Names being floated for U.S. Attorney

According to the Miami Herald, there are 4 potential candidates:

▪[Roy] Altman, a lawyer with Podhurst Orseck, is a former federal prosecutor in Miami who obtained convictions in several major cases, including the trial of an international sex trafficker and the murder trial of a U.S. postal worker. He also served as deputy chief of the office’s special prosecutions section and played a lead role in its violence reduction partnerships in the communities of Overtown, Liberty City and Miami Gardens. A Yale Law School alumnus, Altman graduated from Columbia University and played on its football and baseball teams.
▪[John] Couriel prosecuted economic and major criminal cases at the U.S. attorney’s office before joining the law firm Kobre Kim, specializing in Latin America with a focus on allegations of foreign corruption violations, money laundering and tax evasion. He has also run twice unsuccessfully for the Florida Legislature. A native Spanish speaker, Couriel graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
▪ [Dan] Fridman, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Miami, prosecuted economic, financial and corruption cases before serving as senior counsel to the Deputy Attorney General of the United States and as special counsel for healthcare fraud at the Department of Justice. Now a partner at White & Case, Fridman is a native speaker of Spanish and Portuguese who helps multinational companies operating in the U.S. and Latin America investigate allegations of fraud, kickbacks and bribery of government officials. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Harvard Law School.
▪ [Jon] Sale is co-chair of Broad and Cassel’s white-collar defense and compliance practice, representing corporations and individuals in grand jury investigations and complex criminal cases. He is also a member of the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission that reviews and recommends prospective judges to Florida’s two U.S. senators and the president. Sale previously served as the second-in-command of the U.S. attorney’s office in South Florida, after prosecuting federal cases in New York and Connecticut. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and NYU Law School, Sale was also an assistant special prosecutor for the Justice Department in the Watergate case that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article122285379.html#storylink=cpy

John Schlesinger on Jury Service

State Circuit Judge John Schlesinger (and former AUSA in the SDFLA) wrote an op-ed in the Miami Herald about jury service.  The conclusion:

Jury service means sacrifice. Miami’s civil courthouse, built nearly 100 years ago, is in deplorable condition. Jurors arrive having steeled themselves for a day of waiting patiently in the jury assembly room before enduring the tedious process of questioning at the hands of the judge and lawyers, and then, at last, hearing the facts of a case and rendering a decision. For their trouble they get inadequate seating, inadequate parking, inadequate bathrooms and outdated and undersized courtrooms. Plus, they’ll have to go elsewhere to find a decent cup of coffee.

But the rewards of serving on a jury and ensuring that justice prevails in a courtroom are immeasurable. Jurors represent protection, a bulwark against powerful societal interests and a sometimes rapacious government, none of whom has a monopoly on the truth. And with today’s all-volunteer military, it is the only significant sacrifice, other than taxation, that our country still asks of us as citizens.

The next time that notice comes in the mail, don’t think of it as an imposition. Don’t call or text me to ask how to get out of it. Consider it an opportunity to be soldier in the cause of justice.

And, for God’s sake, bring your own coffee.

Merry Christmas from the White House

President Obama pardoned 78 people yesterday and commuted another 153 sentences (via the AP).  It's the big push before the end of the year.  Good for the President!  It will be interesting to see how the drug laws are enforced under the new administration and whether all of this work will be undone.

Here's the full list of pardons/commutations via the Washington Post.