SDFLA notice regarding Covid19

This notice went out from the clerk’s office yesterday:

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
If you have traveled to any of the following countries within the last 14 days:
ITALY
IRAN
SOUTH KOREA
CHINA
Or if you reside with or have had close contact with someone who has
traveled to one of the above areas within the last 14 days
Or if you have been asked to self-quarantine by any hospital or health agency
Or if you have been diagnosed with, or have had contact with, anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19
Please advise the Court Security Officer prior to entering the Screening Area.
If a person answers yes to any of the above questions, they shall be denied entrance to the courthouse and be given the attached sheet of paper directing them to whom they should speak.
If you have any questions or concerns, you should contact Angela E. Noble, Kevin Kappes or Brandy Lonchena at 305-523-5001.
Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.

If you have been denied entrance to the courthouse: If you are represented by an attorney, please contact your attorney.
If you are a juror, please contact the
Jury Department
(305) 523-5190
For District Court matters, please contact Angela Noble, Clerk of Court
(305) 523-5001
For Bankruptcy Court matters, please contact Joe Falzone, Clerk of Court
(305) 714-1800
For Probation matters, please contact Probation
(305) 523-5331
For all other matters please contact
Angela Noble, Clerk of Court
(305) 523-5001

You be the judge: What is an appropriate sentence for Harvey Weinstein?

The prosecutors are asking for the Court to consider 11 single-spaced pages of uncharged and unproven conduct.

The defense will be filing its memo shortly.

USA Today has this summary:

Harvey Weinstein's sentence for his conviction on two sex crimes should reflect his "lifetime of abuse" as shown at his trial and in 36 other cases of sexual harassment and assault, workplace abuse and even physically assaulting a reporter, Manhattan prosecutors said in a letter to the trial judge released Friday.

The 11-page letter from Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi was sent to Judge James Burke in advance of Weinstein's sentencing on March 11, when prosecutors are expected to make an oral statement in court about the sentence.

The trial evidence, the testimony of the six accusers who took the stand, and additional allegations outlined in the letter, Illuzzi said, "show a lifetime of abuse towards others, sexual and otherwise."

She asked the judge to "impose a sentence that reflects the seriousness of defendant's offenses, his total lack of remorse for the harm he has caused, and the need to deter him and others from engaging in further criminal conduct."

Weinstein was convicted Feb. 24 of third-degree rape and first-degree sexual assault involving two women, and was acquitted of three more serious charges. He could be sentenced to prison for a term ranging from five years to 25 years.
***

"As this court is well aware, in imposing what it deems to be a fair and just punishment, a sentencing court is not limited to the evidence at trial," Illuzzi wrote, citing precedent to argue that the judge has "wide discretion to consider all circumstances that shed light on a convicted person's background, history and behavior" in considering a sentence.

"Chief among the information considered at sentencing is the defendant's history of 'misconduct, whether or not it resulted in convictions,' " Illuzzi said, citing precedents in several federal cases.

Justice Roberts is fired up...

...at Sen. Schumer for his comments that Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh "have released the whirlwind and ... will pay the price." Roberts responded: "Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter."

I wonder where all of that whirlwind talk got started.  Here's Kavanaugh to the Dems during this confirmation hearing: "Since my nomination in July, there’s been a frenzy on the left to come up with something, anything, to block my confirmation. You sowed the wind and the country will reap the whirlwind."

Of course, Trump makes it a daily occurrence to criticize judges across the country. Trump has led the charge with attacks against the judiciary, so it's unfortunate for the Democrats that Schumer went there.  And it's too bad that the Chief decided to single out and decry this (wrong and awful) attack instead of the daily right wing attacks.  They are all wrong and need to stop.

What's the appropriate sentence for a 22-year old austic man who stalked and taunted the families of the Parkland victims?

This is a tough one.

The sentencing guidelines were 57-71 months.  The statutory maximum for each of the 4 counts of conviction was 5 years (60 months).  The defense asked for a downward variance and a residential program to address his mental issues.  The prosecutor asked for an upward variance to 20 years! (The stat max for each count stacked on top of each other). Of course we all feel for the victims, but 20 years is more than many rapists, murderers, and terrorists get.

After a lengthy sentencing, Judge Ruiz issued a guideline sentence of 66 months.

A summary from the New York Times:

A 22-year-old California man was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison on Monday after cyberstalking and threatening to kidnap relatives of those killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., federal prosecutors said.

The man, Brandon Michael Fleury, impersonated the confessed gunman on social media for three weeks to threaten and taunt survivors of the shooting and victims’ loved ones. He was found guilty in October of three counts of cyberstalking and one count of transmitting a kidnapping threat.

Sabrina Puglisi, Mr. Fleury’s lawyer, said she was disappointed that the judge did not place Mr. Fleury in a residential treatment program, given that he has autism spectrum disorder. However, she said, she was pleased the judge’s sentence was much lower than the maximum 20 years that Mr. Fleury had faced.

“The judge made a strong argument that this type of trolling behavior on the internet is not OK, not acceptable and it won’t stand,” Ms. Puglisi said in an interview on Monday. “He wanted to send a message to deter people from doing the same.”

What will happen when FDC or other federal prisons get coronavirus?

Will the corrections officers (who are already short staffed) show up to work?
Will prisoners be locked in their rooms 24-7?
Are the feds ready?

The virus is already in Chinese prisons.  From the LA Times:

Prisons are an ideal environment for viral transmission, according to medical experts. Doctors recommend keeping a distance of at least 6 feet from any sick person to avoid contagion from respiratory droplets when they cough or sneeze. Confirmed cases should remain in complete isolation, with the door closed.
“You aren’t going to see bottles of Purell. You’re going to see people existing very close together, which aids transmission,” said Brandon Brown, an epidemiologist at UC Riverside.
Perhaps the closest comparison to the prison scenario would be cruise ships, he said, where large populations living in close quarters have illustrated the virus’ explosive spread. Scientists have another concern: feces. In addition to the virus surviving for hours on surfaces — handrails, elevator buttons and even exchanged business cards — researchers suspect major contagion occurs in shared bathroom settings.