"Finally, there is good ol’ common sense."

"Finally, there is good ol’ common sense." That's the 11th Circuit's newest judge, Kevin Newsom, who is quickly making a name for himself as a folksy, fun writer. From the intro to this opinion:

It is hornbook law that rights of all kinds—even constitutional ones—can be waived. For instance, a criminal defendant might for one reason or another elect to waive his Fourth Amendment freedom from unreasonable searches, his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, or his Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel. In the same way, a civil litigant can waive his Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial or his right, rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment, to be free from overbroad assertions of personal jurisdiction. So too, a sovereign State may choose to waive its Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit.
This case also concerns waiver—but not of some fundamental constitutional guarantee. Rather, this case is about … the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, affectionately (and hereinafter) known as “ERISA.” In particular, this interlocutory appeal requires us to determine whether a defendant is capable of expressly waiving the six-year statute of repose contained in ERISA Section 413(1), 29 U.S.C. § 1113(1)—or whether instead, the protection provided by Section 1113(1) is so essential, so fundamental, that it (seemingly almost alone among personal rights) is inherently indefeasible and unwaivable.
We won’t bury the lede. In response to the district court’s certified question, we answer yes—Section 1113(1)’s statute of repose is subject to express waiver.

Complete list of District Court Applicants

In case you missed Friday's post, here is a complete list of the 45 applicants for the 5 open District Court seats in the Southern District of Florida (which will all be in the "Northern Division" -- i.e., Broward, Palm Beach, and Ft. Pierce):

1.	Altman, Roy
2.	Angueira, Roberto
3.	Arzola, Antonio
4.	Blumstein, Mark
5.	Bonner, Robert
6.	Brown, Richard
7.	Butchko, Beatrice
8.	Caruso, Michael
9.	Colbath, Jeffrey
10.	Cooperstein, Theodore
11.	Cortinas, Angel
12.	Davis, Michael
13.	Day, Timothy
14.	Greenberg, Benjamin
15.	Haimes, David
16.	Harwin, Michael
17.	Haury, William
18.	Hemming, Norman
19.	Kastrenakes, John
20.	Keever-Agrama, Dina
21.	Klingensmith, Mark
22.	Koenig, Timothy
23.	Lopez, Peter
24.	Manalich, Ramiro
25.	Marzen, Chad
26.	McCawley, Sigrid
27.	Meek, Leslie
28.	Morris, Tinesha
29.	Muniz, Michael
30.	Prescott, Orlando
31.	Rebull, Thomas
32.	Ruiz, Rodolfo
33.	Sanchez-Llorens, Migna
34.	Sasser, Meenu
35.	Sherwin, Michael
36.	Singhal, Raag
37.	Smith, Rodney
38.	Thornton, John
39.	Trawick, Daryl
40.	Villafana, Ann Maria
41.	Visconti, Melissa
42.	Ward, Kimberly 43. Roby, Willliam
44.	Williams, Dwayne
45	Wood, Marina Garcia

Status of U.S. Attorney, Magistrate Judge, and U.S. District Judge (UPDATED)

Lots of tips are coming in regarding the open positions in the Southern District of Florida.  From the tips I have received, here is what we know:

-- There was a new round of interviews in D.C. for U.S. Attorney.  It appears that the 3 new finalists are:

Jose ("Pepe") Diaz
Ariana Fajardo-Orshan
Lilly-Ann Sanchez

-- We have heard that the following have applied for the open Magistrate Judge seat in Miami.  This is not a complete list.  If you know of others, please send me a completely confidential tip.  The list of known applicants:

Jackie Arango
Barry Blum
Penny Birch
Celeste Higgins
Lynn Kirkpatrick
Lauren Louis
Ani Martinez
Stephanie Moon
Gera Peoples
Corey Steinberg
Erica Zaron

-- UPDATED— here is the complete list for the 5 open District Court seats:

1.
Altman, Roy



2.
Angueira, Roberto



3.
Arzola, Antonio



4.
Blumstein, Mark



5.
Bonner, Robert



6.
Brown, Richard



7.
Butchko, Beatrice



8.
Caruso, Michael



9.
Colbath, Jeffrey



10.
Cooperstein, Theodore



11.
Cortinas, Angel



12.
Davis, Michael



13.
Day, Timothy



14.
Greenberg, Benjamin



15.
Haimes, David



16.
Harwin, Michael



17.
Haury, William



18.
Hemming, Norman



19.
Kastrenakes, John



20.
Keever-Agrama, Dina



21.
Klingensmith, Mark



22.
Koenig, Timothy



23.
Lopez, Peter



24.
Manalich, Ramiro



25.
Marzen, Chad



26.
McCawley, Sigred



27.
Meek, Leslie



28.
Morris, Tinesha



29.
Muniz, Michael



30.
Prescott, Orlando


31.
Rebull, Thomas


32.
Ruiz, Rodolfo



33.
Sanchez-Llorens, Migna



34.
Sasser, Meenu



35.
Sherwin, Michael



36.
Singhal, Raag



37.
Smith, Rodney



38.
Thornton, John



39.
Trawick, Daryl



40.
Villafana, Ann Maria



41.
Visconti, Melissa



42.
Ward, Kimberly


43.
Roby, Willliam


44.
Williams, Dwayne



45
Wood, Marina Garcia

Who in the world will be U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida?

Who in the world will be U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida?

Initially, Jose Felix Diaz (“Pepe”) was one of the front runners. But the selection process has been all over the place and it appeared that he was out of the running in favor of Jon Sale. Then recently we heard it was going to be Judge Fajardo Orshan. Now, Marc Caputo, who has been all over this story, is reporting that Diaz, of Apprentice fame, is again a front-runner.

Meantime, applications for the 5 open federal judicial seats are due tomorrow. If you have tips on who is applying, please email me. All tips are anonymous of course.

Chief Judge Merrick B. Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is the new chair of the Executive Committee.

Chief Judge Merrick B. Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is the new chair of the Executive Committee.  Our former chief judge, Federico Moreno, sits on that Committee.  It's his 4th year doing so.  He sits along with the Circuit Chiefs of the DC, 2nd, 5th, and 9th, plus two district judges.