Still no U.S. Attorney nomination in SDFLA

 Because President Biden hasn't nominated a U.S. Attorney for our District, the Chief Judge had to appoint Tony Gonzalez to the post in this order.

Juan A. Gonzalez was appointed by the Attorney General of the United States as the interim United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. His appointment expires on February 20, 2022.
Upon polling the District Judges, the Court agreed to appoint Juan A. Gonzalez as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Therefore, it is
ORDERED that pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section 546(d), Juan A. Gonzalez is appointed as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, effective February 21, 2022, until the vacancy is filled.

New Episode of For the Defense: GEOFFREY FIEGER FOR JACK KEVORKIAN

 

FOR THE DEFENSE SEASON 4, EPISODE 5
GEOFFREY FIEGER FOR JACK KEVORKIAN
 

Season 5 of For the Defense continues today with Geoffrey Fieger for Dr. Jack Kevorkian for the string of assisted suicide cases (and acquittals!) in the 90s. You can check it out on all podcast platforms (including Apple, Spotify and Google. All other platforms can be accessed on this website.) 

We launched a few weeks ago with Bruce Rogow for 2 Live Crew and Luther Campbell and followed up with Mark Geragos for Susan McDougal, Juanita Brooks for John DeLorean, and  Gerry Goldstein for Richard Dexter (Deep Throat),  

At the end of the season, I will post the Florida CLE code.   

We will have new episodes every other Tuesday.  Upcoming episodes include:

• Brian Heberlig (Ali Sadr)
• Ed Shohat (Carlos Lehder)
• John Gleeson (Holloway Project)

Please send me your feedback -- and of course, subscribe, like and comment!  If you have a friend that would like to receive these updates, please have them sign up here. 

Thank you! --David

 

Hosted by David Oscar Markus and produced by rakontur
 

CONTACT: info@rakontur.com, dmarkus@markuslaw.com

Mental Health Matters: A Black Lawyer's Perspective

 The Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida cordially invite you to their annual Black History Month program on Thursday, February 17, 2022, at 12:00 noon.   This will be a virtual event.   Please click this link to join the webinar. 

Your weekend moment of Zen

 

Great article about Ketanji Brown Jackson in the Miami Herald

Check it out here.  There's great stuff about her high school debate career, including this gem of a picture from the yearbook of her and Stephen Rosenthal:

 

There's also a quote by yours truly about the importance of professional diversity on the Supreme Court:

The 51-year-old appeals court judge spent her formative years in the criminal defense system, notably as an assistant federal public defender in Washington, D.C. She also served as a staff attorney and commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which dramatically overhauled draconian incarcerations for drug offenders. Occupants of the Supreme Court’s nine seats have typically been tapped from federal appeals courts, major law firms or academia with little to no background in criminal defense, the arena of law that disproportionately impacts minorities and the poor. The last Supreme Court justice to have any criminal defense experience was Thurgood Marshall, the first Black man to sit on the high court. Miami criminal defense attorney David O. Markus, a former federal public defender who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1997, a year after Brown Jackson, believes she would bring a fresh perspective that could serve the entire court well.
“It’s not just diversity in the traditional sense that is important; professional diversity is also critical,” Markus said. “Appointing a former defender won’t even the scales, but at least someone who has experienced what it’s like to defend a case against the overwhelming might of the federal government will have a place to be heard.” Her own family history during the 1980s in Miami, a period that exposed her to both sides of the law, also strongly influenced the legal path she pursued as a lawyer and judge, Brown Jackson herself has acknowledged in prior Senate confirmation hearings. She was raised in suburban comfort in the Cutler Bay area by two educators, including a mother who served as a high school principal and a father who taught history and later became the chief lawyer for the Miami-Dade County School Board. She also had two uncles and a brother who became police officers.
 

 

Nevertheless She Persisted

By Michael Caruso

As public defenders, we usually don't prevail on behalf of our clients.  Either because of immovable facts, challenging case law, or self-inflicted wounds, we have an uphill battle. But we persist because of our commitment to our clients and the idea of justice.

While you were sleeping, an Olympic story of persistence played out.  At the 2006 Olympics in South Korea, a premature celebration cost Lindsey Jacobellis the gold medal in snowboard cross. She was 20 years old at the time. At the 2010 Games in Vancouver, she swerved off course during the semifinal and missed the final. In Russia, four years later, she was leading in the semifinal, stumbled, and missed the final again. In 2018, she made the final but came in fourth. During this time, Jacobellis became the most dominant athlete in her sport— 30 individual World Cup wins, 10 X Games gold medals, six world championships. But she had never won Olympic gold. 

Until yesterday. Now 36, Jacobellis's win made her the oldest snowboarder to medal at the Olympics and the oldest American woman to win gold—in any sport—at the Winter Games.

Jacobellis exemplifies what Maya Angelou said about persistence: "You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can come out of it."

Here's to Jacobellis and all those who persist. 

I’m not sure what made me think of this…

...but this picture of Sam Rabin going into Judge Altonaga’s courtroom at the beginning of Covid popped into my head today.  How funny.  Now, people won’t even wear a mask to a crowded sporting event.  Crazy. Here is the original post.

New federal courthouse in Broward approved

 It's desperately needed. It's going to cost $190 million. And this is what it will look like when it's done in 2026:

The Miami Herald has all of the details here:

The project, the most significant federal investment in South Florida civic architecture since the completion of Miami’s newest U.S. courthouse in 2006, is slated to start rising in 2023 on a site on the Tarpon River acquired by the government last year for $13.5 million. The design features a spare, square white tower with fluted panels of glass and metal that recall the classically inspired federal buildings of the 1960s. In a nod to tropical Modernist design, the 10-story tower is fronted by a wavy, sheltering arcade for pedestrians that extends to the ends of the 3.5-acre lot. At the back, on the riverbank, the plan calls for a new park and promenade and preservation of existing mangroves.