New Year, new judges

Happy new year everyone!

Here are some updates on the local judgeships:

1. The Fort Pierce seat is still open. It's been pretty quiet since the last update back in July, where we learned that 3 candidates were being vetted:

Aileen Cannon (AUSA, Fort Pierce)
David Leibowitz (former AUSA, general counsel Braman)
Michael Sherwin (AUSA, Miami)

2. Raag Singhal has been confirmed and is sitting in Ft. Lauderdale. Congrats again to him.

3. President Trump has nominated John Badalamenti to be a district judge in the Middle District of Florida. He is currently a state judge and formerly an assistant federal public defender.

4. The Florida Supreme Court has two open seats. An update on the 32 applicants here (Miami applicants in bold):

Judge Kimberly Bonner of the 12th Judicial Circuit, which is made up of DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties,
Judge Hunter Carroll also of the 12th Judicial Circuit.
Judge Howard Coates Jr. of the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County.
John Couriel, an attorney with the Miami firm Kobre & Kim.
Jack Cox, an attorney with the Hobe Sound firm Jack Schramm Cox, Chartered.
Judge Fabienne Fahnestock of the 17th Judicial Circuit in Broward County.
Manuel Farach, an attorney in the Fort Lauderdale office of the firm McGlinchey Stafford.
Judge Renatha Francis of the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County.
Judge Jonathan Gerber of the 4th District Court of Appeal in Southeast Florida.
Judge Jamie Grosshans of the 5th District Court of Appeal in Central Florida.
Judge Jeff Kuntz of the 4th District Court of Appeal in Southeast Florida.
Judge Bruce Kyle of the 20th Judicial Circuit, which is made up of Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties.
Judge Norma Lindsey of the 3rd District Court of Appeal, which hears cases from Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
Judge Howard McGillin of the 7th Judicial Circuit, which is made up of St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler and Volusia counties.
Judge Bronwyn Miller of the 3rd District Court of Appeal, which hears cases from Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
Judge Anne-Leigh Moe of the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County.
Belinda Noah, a Tampa attorney and CEO of Belinda Noah Productions, Inc.
Judge Virginia Norton of the 4th Judicial Circuit, which hears cases from Duval, Clay and Nassau counties.
Judge Timothy Osterhaus of the 1st District Court of Appeal in North Florida.
Eliot Pedrosa, a Miami attorney and U.S. representative on the Board of Executive Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank.
Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips of the 17th Judicial Circuit in Broward County.
Judge Cymonie Rowe of the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County.
Judge Lori Rowe of the 1st District Court of Appeal in North Florida.
Judge Samuel Salario of the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Southwest Florida.
Judge Tatiana Salvador of the 4th Judicial Circuit, which hears cases from Duval, Clay and Nassau counties.
Judge Meredith Sasso of the 5th District Court of Appeal in Central Florida.
Judge Ed Scales of the 3rd District Court of Appeal, which hears cases from Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
Judge Elijah Smiley of the 14th Judicial Circuit, which hears cases from Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties.
Judge Adrian Soud of the 4th Judicial Circuit, which hears cases from Duval, Clay and Nassau counties.
Judge William Thomas of the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County.
Judge Daryl Trawick of the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County.
Judge Thomas Winokur of the 1st District Court of Appeal in North Florida.

Judge Moore closes courts on December 24

Here’s the Administrative Order.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Festivus for the rest of us.

It’s going to be a quiet two weeks in the District.  But the powers that be have made the deadline for applying to the Florida Supreme Court on December 24.  Fun times.  Here’s an article about the applicants for the two open seats (Lagoa/Luck) so far:

As of Friday evening, 12 applicants had already handed in their paperwork in a process that stems from President Donald Trump naming former Florida Supreme Court justices Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Atlanta-based court handles cases from Florida, Alabama and Georgia.

The openings offer Gov. Ron DeSantis an opportunity to appoint two more justices to a Supreme Court he’s already reshaped.

Shortly after taking office in January, DeSantis named three conservative jurists --- Luck, Lagoa and Carlos Muñiz --- to replace three liberal-leaning justices who were forced to step down after reaching a mandatory retirement age.

The applicants as of Friday evening included lawyer Belinda Noah, along with five Florida appellate judges and six circuit judges from across the state.

Judges Ed Scales and Norma Lindsey of the 3rd District Court of Appeal, Judge Samuel Salario of the 2nd District Court of Appeal and Judge Thomas “Bo” Winokur of the 1st District Court of Appeal had applied. They were all appointed to their current jobs by former Gov. Rick Scott.

Also in the running were circuit judges Cymonie Rowe, of the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County; Daryl Trawick, of the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County; Howard McGillin, of the 7th Judicial Circuit, which is made up of Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia counties; Elijah Smiley, of the 14th Judicial Circuit, which is made up of Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties; Tatiana Salvador, of the 4th Judicial Circuit, which is made up of Duval, Clay and Nassau counties; and Hunter Carroll, of the 12th Judicial Circuit, which is made up of Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties.

Raag Singhal confirmed!

The vote was 76-17.  Congratulations to our newest federal judge!  Woohoo!

Raag Singhal to be confirmed today (UPDATED)

Most of the country will be focused on the impeachment vote today. But the Trump judge machine is still operating and another slate of district judges will be confirmed today, including our own Raag Singhal this afternoon. Judge Singhal is great, so say what you will about Trump, but we are getting a good one!

UPDATE -- looks like it will actually be tomorrow (Thursday).