SDFLA closed tomorrow (Monday) for ETA

 From the clerk:

Message posted 11/8/2020 @ 2:45 p.m. 

CLOSURE OF MIAMI, FORT LAUDERDALE, WEST PALM BEACH, FORT PIERCE AND KEY WEST FEDERAL COURTHOUSES, INCLUDING BANKRUPTCY AND PROBATION, ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2020

During inclement weather periods, the safety of the public and Court personnel is always a priority. In the event of hazardous weather conditions, including hurricanes and tropical storms, the policy of the Southern District of Florida is to close federal courthouses when the local public schools within a particular county close.  In light of the announced closures of public schools in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Monroe Counties, the federal courthouses in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce and Key West will be closed on Monday, November 9, 2020.  A closure in any division includes the Bankruptcy Court and Probation, if any, in that Division.  The courthouses will reopen when public schools in those counties reopen or until further order of Chief United States District Judge K. Michael Moore. In the event of an emergency, information about the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida can be obtained from the following sources:

- The Court’s website: www.flsd.uscourts.gov

- Recorded telephone messages at each courthouse

- Broadcast messages sent to CM/ECF e-filers

- Television announcements

Please note that if the Court’s website is unavailable, the Administrative Office of the US Courts will post emergency messages on behalf of the Court on its website: www.uscourts.gov

News & Notes

I've had enough election coverage.  Here's some other interesting tidbits:

1.  Magistrate Judge Alicia Valle is up for re-appointment.  Jon Sale leads the re-appointment committee here.  Please send him comments.  

2.  People's Court Judge Marylin Milian and her husband, former AUSA and Circuit Judge John Schlesinger had some fun promoting at home court here.

View this post on Instagram

Get to know Judge Milian’s husband, Judge John Schlessinger who you’ll be seeing a lot of this season!

A post shared by The People’s Court (@thepeoplescourttv) on Sep 10, 2020 at 11:13am PDT

 

3.  ACB is already asking questions.  Pretty interesting.

4. Some folks have asked me if the prosecutors or judges have responses to the podcast episodes so far on Harvey Weinstein (with Donna Rotunno) and Luis Alvarez (with Roy Black).  But this is a podcast for criminal defense lawyers about their work.  I'm happy to post any rebuttal though.  If the prosecutors or judges would like to comment, please send me your comments and I will post them in full.  

Have a great weekend everyone. 

Recreational drug use is a winner on election day (UPDATED WITH SAD NEWS)

 Lots of controversy still swirling... but one thing both sides agree on -- recreational drugs should be legalized.  Here's an article on BuzzFeed, titled: "The Real Winner of the Election? Drugs."

In New Jersey, Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota, residents voted to legalize recreational cannabis.

Mississippi and South Dakota voted to legalize the medical use of cannabis in-state. And, for the first time in US history, Oregon decriminalized hard drugs, like cocaine, heroin, oxycodone, and methamphetamine. The state also voted to legalize psychedelic mushrooms.

This is all to say that — despite the anxiety of not yet knowing who's been elected president by Wednesday — the country took historic and progressive steps in destigmatizing drug use and drug-related offenses.

 

UPDATE -- some very sad news -- Pat Trese has passed away.  He was only 50 and a really nice guy.  I just met him last week during a two-day zoom hearing in federal court.  Rumpole has more at his blog.  Awful news.  2020...

FOR THE DEFENSE, EPISODE 2 ROY BLACK DISCUSSES HIS DEFENSE OF LUIS ALVAREZ

Happy Election Day!  One of the big issues in this election is criminal justice and especially racial justice.  George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice, and so on.  Back in the early 80s, Miami was going through a similar time of racial tension. 

This episode of the podcast will take us back to that time and examine a case where Roy Black represented a Hispanic police officer, Luis Alvarez, who was charged with the killing of a young Black man, Nevell Johnson.  

This episode is available now on all podcast platforms including Apple, Spotify and Google.

I think you'll enjoy hearing from famed criminal defense lawyer Roy Black (who has represented William Kennedy Smith, Rush Limbaugh, Helio Castroneves, and Marv Albert just to name a few).  This was the case that thrust Roy into the national spotlight, and he didn't disappoint.  Check it out!

And a big thanks to those of you who listened to the premiere episode last week with Donna Rotunno, the lawyer that represented Harvey Weinstein (which is still available on Apple, Spotify, and Google). 

As the kids say, please like and subscribe to the podcast! It would really help me to get the word out!  THANK YOU!

Of course there's already a problem in Miami with the election

 The Feds are investigating what's going on with piles of ballots sitting at post offices in Miami.  The Herald is covering it here:

Two days after inspectors found dozens of undelivered ballots sitting in a post office in South Miami-Dade County, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General is preparing to sweep other mail facilities in Miami-Dade for ballots that haven’t reached their destination ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Scott Pierce, the special agent in charge for the USPS Inspector General’s Southern Area Field Office, confirmed to the Miami Herald on Sunday afternoon that special agents “will be busy over the next couple of days conducting several station visits” at mail distribution centers in Miami-Dade.

Pierce wouldn’t disclose which locations or how many would be searched.

“Our investigation continues and, at this time, we aren’t releasing any additional statements,” he said.

On Friday night, agents discovered 48 ballots in the Princeton post office near Homestead after State Rep. Kionne McGhee tweeted a video that showed a backlog of undelivered mail piling up at the facility. McGhee said the video was shared with him anonymously by a concerned USPS employee.

Ugh, this is crazy to me.  All of us really need this election to be over already.  And with stuff like this going on, I'm concerned that we won't have an answer Tuesday night.  Fingers crossed.