Monday, March 06, 2006

Mandatory Minimums Gone Forever - Just Kidding

Interesting piece in the Congressional Quarterly Today about James "mandatory minimum" Sensenbrenner, the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Apparently, Mr. Sensenbrenner and others on this important committee believe that mandatory minimum sentences are unduly harsh and unfair. Well, not really. Nevertheless, Mr. Sensenbrenner has "agreed to strip many of the mandatory minimum sentences aimed at curbing street gangs and violence against judges from legislation that the House is likely to consider this week." The blog Sentencing Law and Policy discusses the recent article and has an interesting series entitled "Dead Booker Walking." Check it out.

Secret Dockets

It looks like the controversy of secret dockets is becoming part of the federal judicial landscape. Jurist.law.pitt.edu has an interesting article on the issue and explains that there has been a “sharp increase” in secret proceedings in U.S. federal courts. More than five thousand criminal defendants have had their case records sealed, that is more than five times the number from 2003. Hidden federal dockets, where the existence of the case is not disclosed, is also on the rise. Interestingly, as many readers already know, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that secret dockets were unconstitutional in United States v. Ochoa. Are secret dockets the trend of the future?

Friday, March 03, 2006

Blog press

Florida Trend has an article about Florida legal blogs by Cynthia Barnett and mentions SDFLA.

(I'm home for the weekend, and then back to Savannah for trial on Monday. We've zoomed through 50 witnesses. Another 100 to go...)

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Judicial Retirement

Magistrate Judge Hugh J. Morgan announced his retirement today. Judge Morgan has served six terms and has been on the bench for almost 25 years. He was the only magistrate to sit in the Florida Keys thus raising questions about whether he will be replaced or the part-time mag position in Key West will be gone forever. Anyone with inside information on what will likely happen feel free to comment.

A Bridge to Freedom?

Judge Moreno issued a landmark decision finding that 15 repatriated Cubans were removed to Cuba illegally insofar as the Coast Guard's decision to remove the refugees "was not a reasonable interpretation of present executive policy." This case highlights the debate about the "wet-foot, dry-foot policy" that allows Cubans to remain in the United States if they reach land. Cuban refugees had reached the old, unused Seven Mile Bridge but the Coast Guard determined that the bridge had been abandoned and that the Cuban refugees had not reached dry land in the United States. Judge Moreno disagreed.

The question of the day is whether Fidel Castro will allow these Cubans to return to the United States...

Read more from today's Miami Herald