Should judges be using AI?

We know that they are.  Sometimes it jumps off the page.  In fact, here's an article detailing how much it's being done:

To get a baseline, I tested all the published circuit opinions from January 2022, more than 300. Pangram found no signs of AI-generated text in any of them. Not one passage, and not one sentence. Every opinion returned "0.000000%" AI. That gave me some confidence that Pangram was not mistaking the ordinary conventions of judicial writing for AI authorship. (Pangram's methods are insensitive to dates, so I did not worry that the opinions' timing influenced these results.)

The results for 2026 looked very different. More than 50 opinions showed signs of AI authorship. The exact percentages ranged from less than 1% to more than 50% AI-written, with most results clustering near the bottom of that range. Still, the contrast with January 2022 was hard to miss.

 We know judges are using AI.  Should they be using it?

Hispanic Heritage Event: "Is Miami Still the Gateway to the Americas?"

By Jordi C. Martínez-Cid

It has long been said that the city of Miami is the “Gateway to the Americas”—a city where cultures, languages, businesses, cross-border legal matters, international crime, and more collide. In our more interconnected global world, is it still?

The District's Hispanic Heritage Event this year will explore that question through the views of younger practitioners. Panelists will discuss what brought them to the United States, the factors that prompted their move, and the influence those experiences have had on their careers. We will hopefully get more insight on how Miami can regain, maintain, or redefine our unique position.

More information on the event and how to RSVP can be found in the flyer below. As a member of the committee that helps plan this, I hope that you can join us on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, in the Ceremonial Courtroom (13-3) at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. United States Courthouse. The food at these events is always exceptional.

Judge Becerra Puts FIU Disciplinary Process on Ice

 By John R. Byrne

FIU has a student group that goes by the name "ICEBreakers." The goal of ICEbreakers is to end FIU's agreement to "deputize the FIU police department with the powers of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents."

One of the arrows in ICEBreakers's quiver is public protest. And so when FIU's President, Jeanette Nunez, was interviewing a former pro athlete on FIU's campus on March 13, several ICEBreakers members who were in the audience protested. They did so by standing up between one to three minutes and facing the audience while wearing the same "ICE OFF FIU" T-shirts.

This prompted disciplinary action. FIU sent (most) of the students a letter that stated they had failed to comply with a school regulation and directing them to submit a two-minute "video reflection"  "explaining your understanding of FIU Regulation 110, what is expected under FIU Regulation 110 related to indoor and outdoor areas, and how you will apply what you have learned moving forward." (Sounds kind of like the 2026 version of writing the same sentence over and over again on a blackboard).

In any event, the students instead filed a lawsuit that, among other things, asked the court to enjoin the school from taking action against the students.

Judge Becerra granted the injunction. She held that Regulation 110(3) ran afoul of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969), because it categorically bans protests and similar expression inside university buildings whether or not they cause a material and substantial disruption. The protest here, Judge Becerra noted, didn’t appear to cause any such disruption: “[B]ased on the evidence submitted to date, it does not appear that any Plaintiff, or anyone else wearing an ‘ICE OFF FIU’ T-shirt, spoke or did anything other than sit, stand, and walk.”

You can read the whole order here. 

BREAKING -- Legendary Miami reporter Jay Weaver retires

By David Oscar Markus

As long as I can remember, if there was a newsworthy federal case in Miami, Jay was there.  A real institution.  It's strange to think he won't be sitting in the back of the courtroom. His last article was yesterday (about a sentencing in one of my cases).  

It feels a little weird for me to ask Jay for a comment instead of the other way around.  

From Jay: “After 46 years of chasing stories as a reporter, it feels weird to just stop and retire. I wasn’t burned out or bored. But I turned 71 this month, and it seemed like the right time to slow down and start enjoying more of life and the world. I’m gonna miss the federal court beat — all the crazy stories about corruption, fraud and 'funny money,' as Judge Lenard once described the laundered proceeds in a Miami drug case. But I’m really gonna miss the prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges. They’re the ones who made my job so interesting and rewarding. Thanks for the countless tips and comments.”

Alex Mena from the Herald sent this email to the newsroom:

Folks:

After 27 years at the Miami Herald and more than 45 years in journalism, Jay Weaver is retiring.

Jay's career has been defined by relentless reporting, deep sourcing and an extraordinary ability to untangle complex investigations. He has been a force behind some of the Herald’s most consequential journalism.

He has written about a rogue's gallery of corrupt politicians, crooked cops, Ponzi schemers, drug traffickers and steroid-using MLB players. Among his notable works: ground-breaking stories on South Florida's Medicare rackets that highlighted the loss of billions of dollars in government benefits because of local scams by clinic owners, patient recruiters and physicians.

Jay was part of the Herald teams that won Pulitzer Prizes for Breaking News in 2001 for coverage of the Elián González saga and in 2022 for coverage of the Surfside condominium collapse. He was also a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting for the Dirty Gold investigation, which exposed an international gold-smuggling network that laundered drug money through illegal Amazon mining operations and into major U.S. companies.

Along the way, Jay earned national recognition for groundbreaking reporting on Medicare fraud, performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball, corruption in Opa-locka, the assassination of Haiti's president, and the Herald's "Shakedown City" investigation into corruption at Miami City Hall. He is also the co-author of two acclaimed books, The Grifter's Club and Dirty Gold.

More than the awards, Jay leaves behind a legacy of fearless reporting, meticulous journalism and a body of work that made South Florida, and the world, better understood.

Please join us in thanking Jay for his remarkable career and wishing him the very best in retirement.

We will celebrate Jay with a newsroom lunch on Tuesday, Sept. 1. More details will follow, but for now, please save the date and plan to join us in sending him off.

Congratulations to Jay on an incredible career.  I hope he enjoys his well-deserved retirement.  

Dimitri Vorbe Entitled to Bond Hearing

By Jordi C. Martínez-Cid

Dimitri Vorbe is a prominent businessman who previously ran one of Haiti’s biggest electrical utilities until a clash with the administration of the since-assassinated President Jovenel Moïse. The U.S. Government claims that Mr. Vorbe supported armed gangs officially designated as foreign terrorist organizations. He was arrested in September 2025 by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and has remained in custody without a bond hearing (and without an order of removal). A planned deportation to the Dominican Republic seemingly had to be abandoned after the govenrment of that country refused to accept Mr. Vorbe.

On Monday, Judge Gayles ruled that Dimitri Vorbe is entitled to a bond hearing befoer the immigration judge or that he should be removed under reasonable conditions of supervision. The decision is a significant win for Mr. Vorbe’s legal team. In granting the habeas corpus petition, the district court engaged in a complicated jursidictional and adminsitrative-exhaustion analysis, and ultimately reject the government’s position that Mr. Vorbe could remain in mandatory detention based on a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Secretary Rubio’s letter stated that Mr. Vorbe's presence in the United States could have serious adverse foreign-policy consequences. Mr. Vorbe's bond hearing must occur by August 24 or he must be released, and Judge Gayles is requiring a status report from the parties on August 31. Case number is 1:25-cv-24964-DPG and the order is here.

"District Court" Finds that Race Didn't Predominate

By John R. Byrne

I put "District Court" in quotes because this isn't your typical opinion from a district court judge. Instead, three judges--Judge Britt Grant (from the Eleventh Circuit), Judge Ruiz, and Judge Becerra--sat as the district court. Why? Federal law requires constitutional challenges to congressional or statewide legislative apportionment to be heard by a special three-judge district court. And at least one member of that panel must be a circuit judge. 

The panel actually found that race played a role in the redistricting process. But that's not enough. The plaintiffs in these cases have to prove that race predominated over other considerations when the map drawers drew up the new lines. In this instance, the panel found that the plaintiffs didn't meet their burden.

You can read the opinion, which is replete with colorful maps, here. 

One more procedural wrinkle: if the plaintiffs appeal the denial of injunctive relief, it goes right to the Supreme Court, with no stopover at the 11th Circuit. 

Some Friendly, Random Advice from Judge Huck

By John R. Byrne

Through our years of practicing law, we're constantly learning—whether from watching opposing counsel, co-counsel, or through good old-fashioned trial and error. But one of our judges has quite helpfully published "some friendly, random advice" about federal court practice that should be required reading for every federal practitioner. That judge is Judge Huck, and you can read his tips on his SDFLA webpage. 

But Judge Huck is now taking his show on the road, so to speak. Beginning in September, he is embarking on a CLE breakfast series in which he (and another district judge) will expand on this advice in person. If you're a young professional—a lawyer with four years of practice or less—you can register for one of these breakfasts, which will be held at locations throughout Miami (Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, etc.).

The first breakfast, featuring Judge Huck and Chief Judge Altonaga, will be held at the law firm of Leon Cosgrove Jimenez in Coral Gables on September 9, 2026, and has already been approved for 1.5 Professionalism Credits by The Florida Bar. Space is limited to 20 attorneys. You can register here. 

Oh, and if Judge Huck ever gives you a pop quiz on what the first rule of "Judge Huck Club" is, don't mess it up like I did. It's this: "Judges do not like surprises!" I went with Rule #2, which is to "learn about your judge."

Kudos to Judge Huck for giving back to our federal bar through this CLE series.

SDFLA Judge update

By David Oscar Markus

Two judge updates in our District:

1.    District Judge Jeff Kuntz was informally sworn in today and is now hearing cases in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

2.    Magistrate Judge Brandy Galler was sworn in on July 30 and is hearing cases in Ft. Pierce. 

 Congratulations!