"A judge who likes every result he reaches is very likely a bad judge."

That was SCOTUS nominee Neil Gorssch during his speech tonight and in a dissent last year, which may give criminal defense lawyers some optimism (he found strip searches unconstitutional):

"Often enough the law can be 'a ass — a idiot,' Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist 520 (Dodd, Mead & Co. 1941) (1838) — and there is little we judges can do about it, for it is (or should be) emphatically our job to apply, not rewrite, the law enacted by the people's representatives. Indeed, a judge who likes every result he reaches is very likely a bad judge, reaching for results he prefers rather than those the law compels. So it is I admire my colleagues today, for no doubt they reach a result they dislike but believe the law demands — and in that I see the best of our profession and much to admire. It's only that, in this particular case, I don't believe the law happens to be quite as much of a ass as they do. I respectfully dissent."

And there's this:

Like Scalia, he has shown a willingness to occasionally side with defendants on criminal law matters. He sided with a Albuquerque middle schooler who was strip-searched by his school, dissenting while his colleagues ruled that the school police officer and other employees are immune from lawsuits. In one 2012 dissent, he argued against applying the federal law banning felons from owning firearms to a defendant who had no idea he was a felon. And he's expressed concern with overcriminalization, saying that states and the federal government have enacted too many statutes forbidding too much activity. But on other matters, he has been, like his would-be predecessor, harsher. He has taken a limited view of a defendant's right to competent representation, and tends not to view death penalty challenges favorably.

I guess we will see soon enough.

Bed Bug Massacre!

Yes, Trump is making news for firing the AG and for his impending SCOTUS pick.  But did you see that he settled the beg-bug lawsuit in Doral:

White smoke over President Donald Trump’s Trump National Doral Miami golf resort! The scandal of the luxury resort’s bed bugs is about to go away.
In a bit of good news for the new president, court records show his attorneys in Miami have reached a tentative settlement with a business traveler who sued the resort after his back, face and arms were devoured by voracious bed bugs at the revamped resort.
In a terse one-page report just slipped into the court file, court-appointed mediator Frank Allocca filed a notice that reads “an agreement was reached.” There were no details on what will likely be a confidential deal.

News and Notes

1.  Trump to pick SCOTUS nominee tomorrow.  The NY Times has this preview on how the nominee could affect upcoming cases. 

2.  The Ft. Lauderdale shooter was arraigned today.  The PD's office assigned veterans Hector Dopico and Eric Cohen to the case.  More from the Sun-Sentinel here.

3.  This dude found some cocaine in the ocean.  Now's he's in trouble:

But it was an object lesson in what not to do. In December, Mark “The Shark” Quartiano, a celebrity Miami fisherman, found a kilogram brick of cocaine. He promptly alerted the authorities.
Breeding did not. He instead handed over the 45-pound haul to four other people, on the condition they would sell the cocaine and pay a cut to Breeding. All five were caught in the summer — Breeding, a felon, had a firearm in his car when he was arrested — and faced conspiracy charges for the distribution of a controlled substance. Breeding pleaded guilty Wednesday, the News Herald reported, as did the other members of the network; they are awaiting a Feb. 16 sentencing. Breeding may be punished with up to life imprisonment and a fine in the millions of dollars.
In his letter, the fisherman asked that those who find the white lobster not follow his path. “I would like to let the public know the dangers and what not to do if this situation comes about,” Breeding wrote. “This changed my life and way of thinking and also made me aware of some of the dangers that can be found off shore in the Gulf.”

Pryor fading... Gorsuch and Hardiman rising.

According to numerous blogs, Judge Pryor isn't at the top of the SCOTUS list for Scalia's seat. I bet Trump wants someone to sail through for this seat and will save the more controversial selection for the following pick. Here's ABC on Gorsuch, who seems to be the leading contender right now (according to Trump, it will be announced a week from today):

One of Donald Trump's Supreme Court advisers said the process of picking a nominee is "very far along" -- and had words of praise for Colorado judge Neil Gorsuch.

"There is a lot of information in the hopper about who these people are and what their records are like and what qualities they have to serve on the Supreme Court," Leonard Leo told ABC's Jonathan Karl and Rick Klein on the "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.

Although Leo cautioned he would "never assume a front-runner," he spoke highly of Gorsuch, who sits on the bench of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

"He has very, very distinguished background," Leo said. "He has probably 200 or so published opinions as an appeals clerk judge. They are extremely eloquently written, they're incisive, understandable, clear, opinionated."

“Your client has never coughed once.”

That was Judge Turnoff getting even the defendant to laugh during his suppression hearing involving cough syrup.  From David Ovalle:

For all his Instagram photos of guns, cash and drugs, the self-proclaimed “CEO of the Purple Drank” insisted he wasn’t actually peddling large bottles of prescription cough syrup to Miami’s hip-hop crowd.

He posted all that stuff to enhance his street cred, self-described rap producer Harrison Garcia told a federal judge Monday. And for the likes on social media.

“I had an image to portray, to boost up my followers,” Garcia said. “I guess it’s just the music industry.”

And so Garcia, the accused mastermind of dozens of pharmacy heists across South Florida, claimed he was not a dealer but just a junkie, addicted to drinking the syrup mixed with soda, a brew known as “lean” or “sizzurp.”