Satellite U.S. Attorney's office

The Ferraro Law Firm is hiring -- and its hiring federal prosecutors. Jeff Sloman, the former U.S. Attorney, joined the firm, as did Alan Kaiser. Two more well-regarded prosecutors are set to join next month -- Melissa Damian and Russell Koonin.

The firm is known for asbestos litigation, and the website says in bold on the first page: "We have helped more than 20,000 people recover over approximately $ 1 billion dollars in asbestos and mesothelioma lawsuits." That's billion with a B:



In other news, lots of summer not guilty verdicts -- in addition to the cops last week, Jan Smith and Christy O'Connor also notched an NG...

A bunch of SCOTUS opinions due out shortly. Stay tuned.

NGs for the cops on trial before Judge Middlebrooks

Across the board not guilty verdicts today for the three police officers charged with perjury before Judge Middlebrooks. Richard Sharpstein was at his finest with the following quotes (via the Miami Herald):

• A triumph for truth, justice and the American way,'' Farraj's defense attorney, Richard Sharpstein, said Thursday. "Our clients are grateful for a true verdict by a great and dedicated jury.''
• "I've got bad news for you. There is no Superman. There is no Batman. That was George Clooney in a suit. Those weren't even his real abs,'' Sharpstein told jurors. "I'll tell you who the real crime fighters are: these gentleman sitting here in court.''
• Sharpstein blamed the twisted facts of the traffic stop on a rookie federal prosecutor, ... who "freaked out'' during his first court case and botched the case. "You always remember your first time and sometimes you remember it with a little pain and a lot of regret,'' Sharpstein said.

Beat LA (and Rumpole)

Running around like crazy the last few days, and then I see this straw man put up and knocked down by Rumpole on his blog. I will respond when I have a minute.

In the meantime, let me say that I obviously do not agree with Scalia's dissent in Holland, and I have not taken the position that Scalia is friendly to criminal defendants -- what I have said is that Scalia is the best friend that criminal defendants have on the Supreme Court (here's one of the first posts that got the debate started). That's not such high praise when the voting patterns of this Court are examined.

Anyway, more on this later when I have time to respond, and congrats to Todd Scher for the big victory.

Here are the 5 opinions that were decided today.

My first call for impeachment

Questions to ponder

I know, I know -- you're bored without Lost, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, 24, and Glee. At least there's Friday Night Lights, and True Blood just came back. And football is just around the corner. While you wait, here are some questions to think about this Monday night:

1. Was Justice Souter right? John McGinnis and Michael Rapparort think no way.

2. Should Clarence Thomas run for President in 2012? Kashmir Hill and David Lat say yes!

3. Should state judges be permitted to affiliate with a political party? Yes, says the 7th Circuit. Here's the opinion. (Should we expect a similar Florida lawsuit soon?) The 7th Circuit did say that state judges could not endorse political candidates or directly solicit for cash, just like here in Florida.