The true "Miami Mafia"

Fidel and Raul call the Cuban-American exile community the "Miami Mafia," and some criminal case defendants in town are referred to as members of an actual Miami mafia, but the true "Miami Mafia" is located at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. These former colleagues from the US Attorney's Office in Miami have carried that moniker for years and risen to top posts, prompting Abbe Lowell to joke at last week's NACDL white collar crime conference in Washington that the Miami Mafia has taken over the department. It may appear that way, as, among others, Ed Nucci is Acting Chief of the Public Integrity Section, Mike Mullaney is Acting Chief of the Counterterrorism Section, Paul Pelletier is Acting Chief of the Fraud Section, Barry Sabin is one of the Deputy Assistant Attorney Generals for the Criminal Division, Andrew Oosterbaan is Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Ken Blanco is Chief of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, Steve Tyrrell did important work as Deputy Chief of the Counterterrorism Section, and Mary Butler is doing a great job in the Abramoff corruption probe (you can read her plea agreement in the Bob Ney case here). My apologies to those I missed. Congratulations to these fine public servants, and remember them when you need to grovel up at DOJ for any of your clients. Your new guest blogger (blame Markus), Marcos Daniel Jimenez

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lunch

I didn't want to forget to thank David for allowing me to guest blog this week while he's away. Thanks David. Enjoy Aspen.

Remember the Order requiring two civil lawyers to play rock, paper, scissors?

In the continuing efforts to show civil lawyers how to get along, here's an order requiring a lunch date between a plaintiff and defense lawyer.

"To take this right away, is to reduce a man to slavery."

by Not Scalia

Judge Patricia Seitz began her Order finding Florida's Third-Party Voter Registration Law unconstitutional with this quote from Thomas Paine. Because this law chilled the rights of third-party groups to register voters, Judge Seitz' decision is a victory for democracy and should be applauded.

You can find the Order here.

Phineas Paist

by Brian Tannebaum

As we prepare for the opening of the new federal courthouse (anyone know the opening date?), now is as good a time as any to learn about Phineas Paist, the architect of many of Miami's most famous landmarks, including the old Miami Federal Courthouse.

Interesting guy, died in 1937, in Miami.

Here's an excerpt from the site about his life:

Around 1920 in Miami Phineas will evolve from his association at the Deering estate [Vizcaya] to become a city planner and lord of architecture for The Coral Gables Plantation heir George Merrick.

Phineas Paists contributions of the Douglas entrance, the Police and Fire Station bldg. and the new Miami Federal Courthouse
will prove to be a unique collection of buildings in the Beaux Arts Style,

Vacation time...

I'm going to be on vacation so I've invited a couple guest-bloggers and have asked prior posters to pitch in while I'm away. I've also asked them to identify themselves at the top of the post so you know who the author is. You can also check at the bottom of the post where the blogger template inserts their name. Enjoy!

In the meantime, here is an interesting article by Vanessa Blum about the Padilla hearings yesterday in which I am quoted.