Should judges be elected?

Appointing judges has its problems, but after reading Rumpole’s blog and speaking to the state practitioners, it seems that electing judges is much worse and doesn’t make much sense. What do you all think?

In the meantime, watch this John Oliver clip in juries:

https://youtu.be/1f2iawp0y5Y

It is very possible that the next Supreme Court Justice went to high school in Miami

Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Miami Palmetto High School grad, is on Biden’s short list.  She currently sits on the district bench in D.C.  She was a star debater in high school. I got to know her as she was a few years ahead of me in high school (I went to Killian) and a year ahead of me at law school.  She’s a great person.  A former PD, she would be a wonderful addition to the Court.  

Here’s what Noah Feldman has to say:

Joe Biden has fulfilled his promise to choose a woman as his running mate. Let’s turn our attention to another promise he made: to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court. A number of women with different kinds of legal experience have been suggested by NGOs and journalists. But to legal insiders, Biden’s options narrow down very quickly to two names: Justice Leondra Kruger of the California Supreme Court, and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the federal district court in Washington, D.C. 

*** 

Jackson became a federal judge in 2013. There was no major fight over her nomination, probably because it was for a district court position, which is not the traditional path to the Supreme Court. (Of the current justices, only Justice Sonia Sotomayor was a district court judge, and she followed that with a long stint on the court of appeals.) She’s now just shy of her 50th birthday. Jackson’s national profile rose significantly in 2019 when she presided over a case in which the House Judiciary Committee sought to enforce its subpoena against Donald McGahn, the former White House counsel. Jackson’s opinion rejected the Trump administration’s claim of absolute immunity and insisted that “presidents are not kings.” No comparably high-profile case has come before Kruger.

Michael Nadler leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office

 He’s joining Stumphauzer Foslid Sloman Ross & Kolaya. A big get for them. Big enough for the AP to cover the move here:

A federal prosecutor who has jailed some of Venezuela’s biggest crooks is stepping down, The Associated Press has learned, leaving a void that could dampen U.S. efforts to expose criminal activity in the South American country amid rising tensions with the Trump administration. Michael Nadler, an assistant U.S. attorney, is leaving to enter private practice next month at a boutique Miami law firm— Stumphauzer Foslid Sloman Ross & Kolaya—said a person familiar with the move who insisted on speaking anonymously because it hadn’t been made public. Nadler, 48, has indicted multiple Venezuelan Cabinet ministers, businessmen and Swiss bankers as part of a sustained effort by investigators in the Southern District of Florida to recover some of the $300 billion estimated to have been stolen from Venezuela in two decades of socialist rule.

Nadler had this to say about the move:

It's has been an honor and privilege working as an AUSA for almost 10 years. Having the opportunity to work on some of the biggest cases in the country and focusing on high-level complex money laundering, Foreign Corruption Practices Act, foreign bribery cases, and targeting corruption at the highest levels in these international cases has been the highlight of my career to date. I thank the US Atty Fajardo for entrusting me and having the confidence in me to work these cases and to Willy Ferrer for hiring me. Leaving was an incredibly difficult decision. But when the opportunity presented itself to join a fantastic group of people and really talented lawyers at a well-respected and prominent boutique law firm, the choice was much easier. I look forward to this new chapter in my life.

President Trump nominates Judge Moore to chair the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Here’s the link to the announcement:

Today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key positions in his Administration: Judge K. Michael Moore, of Florida, as Chairman of the United States Sentencing Commission. Judge Michael Moore serves as the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, a post which he has held since 2014. Judge Moore was appointed to the Southern District of Florida by President George H. W. Bush in 1992. Before his appointment to the Federal bench, Judge Moore served as the Director of the United States Marshals Service and as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Judge Moore also spent over a decade of service as an Assistant United States Attorney.

Court order postponing jury trials AND grand juries until January 4

 The order is here.  

My earlier comments on the order are here.  

How will Kamala Harris be on criminal justice issues?

 It’s hard to tell.  She’s faced a ton of criticism when she was the District Attorney in San Francisco and Attorney General of California (who can forget this exchange in the democratic debates).  But she is pitching herself as a “progressive prosecutor” and there are some who have supported this view, including this public defender.  Last September, Harris release her criminal justice plan, which sounds pretty good (summarized from Newsweek)

Among the goals she listed were ending mass incarceration, investing in programs aimed at reducing crime, legalizing marijuana, making changes to the criminal justice system's "sentencing schemes, stopping private prison use and encouraging prisoners' rehabilitation, the last of which was a callback to her earlier "Back on Track" program.

There will be no trials in the SDFLA for the rest of the year

 It’s a pretty striking announcement. (The official order isn’t up yet, but it’s been leaked.) 

And there’s no telling when we will have grand juries back.

Schools are reopening in October, but not the courthouses.  I’m not saying which is right (I have no idea) but lots of criminal defense lawyers in town are frustrated.  

And... if it’s not safe enough to conduct trials, how is it safe — or fair — to keep folks locked up at FDC and FCI (where another person just died).  Both FDC and FCI are complete disasters right now.  Families were protesting outside of FCI this weekend because of the conditions there.

It’s hard to see when the criminal justice system in South Florida will return to normal.  

RIP Ron Lowy

 Just heard this sad news.  Ron was a super nice guy that you always saw around the courthouses and jails.  Here’s a nice article about him when he won an award from the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis Club.  He recently represented Cesar Sayoc, which was a highly publicized case.  Sad.