Friday, October 07, 2022

Same Courthouse, Different Purpose

By John R. Byrne

"Feel Good" Friday story about Angel Sanchez, who went from prison to graduating in the top ten percent of UM law school. Judge Williams and Judge Miguel de la O helped along the way, giving him internships in their chambers.

Sanchez was recently sworn in to the DC bar at the Richard E. Gerstein justice building, the courthouse where he had been sentenced to 30 years in prison (admission to Florida has to wait because of the clemency process). Worth a read.

Wednesday, October 05, 2022

Yom Kippur news and notes

1. Trump goes to SCOTUS.

2. A vibrant press is important.  This article came out on Monday asking why an 11th Circuit case had been pending for 7 years.  And shortly thereafter, the 11th issued its opinion.

3. KBJ is active to start our her tenure on SCOTUS. Check her out here:

 

4. RIP Laurence Silberman

Tuesday, October 04, 2022

The Onion files a brief

By John R. Byrne

Ever wonder what it'd be like if the staff at The Onion tried its hand at writing a brief? We basically got that yesterday. The online newspaper filed an Amicus brief yesterday with the Supreme Court asking the Court to take up the case of Novak v. City of Parma, Ohio, 33 F.4th 296 (6th Cir. 2022). In short, in 2016 Novak created a Facebook page parodying the Parma Police Department. Novak was arrested, spent five days in jail, and was actually prosecuted, ultimately securing an acquittal. He later sued the City and several police officers for violating the First Amendment. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants and the Sixth Circuit affirmed. 

The Onion is now asking the Court to take the case, seeing the ruling as a threat to its "business model." The Onion also fires a (tongue in cheek) shot across the bow at the federal judiciary, which "is staffed entirely by total Latin dorks" who "sweetly whisper 'stare decisis' into their spouses’ ears." Some court watchers say sanctions could be coming. I hope not.

Sunday, October 02, 2022

October Term 2022 and diversity in the courts

 It's here.

And --thankfully -- we have a much more diverse Court.


In addition to the diversity on SCOTUS, we are making inroads in courts around the country, including here at home.  Congrats to Penny Augustin-Birch, who was sworn in as our newest magistrate judge.





Meantime, I apologize for the sporadic blogging.  It's been a year of trials for me, starting with one here in Miami before Judge Martinez, then in Denver before a different Judge Martinez, and after that, one in Fort Myers of all places.  The jury in that case went out on the Friday before Hurricane Ian turned towards SW Florida.  The jury indicated it was hung, and the parties expected that we would be back for further deliberations last week.  And of course, we couldn't.  Tragically, Fort Myers was devastated and the courthouse is closed indefinitely.  A mistrial was declared.  Here's an article about it.

At the end of this month, my partner Margot and I will be headed off to SDNY for a lengthy trial out there, so blogging will be a little rough when I'm away, but I will do my best.  Wish us luck!  

And if you'd like to write a guest post, just email me.

Friday, September 30, 2022

Cannon, Special Master, 11th Circuit, oh my

 It's hard to keep up with all of the Trump goings-on.

Cannon rules for Trump.

Cannon gets reversed by CA11.

Cannon appoints Special Master per Trump's request.

Special Master rules against Trump.

Cannon overrules Special Master.

Read the latest order here, where Judge Cannon says that the Special Master was wrong to force Trump to verify certain items and also tells the Special Master that he's moving too fast. 

 

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

It's a hurricane day...

 ...and it's the long conference in the Supreme Court.


The Dolphins are 3-0 and play tomorrow night.

What else is cooking?

Stay safe out there.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Hurricane Ian update

11:45am update- All courthouse locations in the district will be closed tomorrow (Wednesday).  Miami and Fort Pierce will also be closed on Thursday. 

Monday, September 26, 2022

Money in College Sports


By John R. Byrne

    Tough loss for the Canes on Saturday but it may not hurt recruiting that much if the Name, Image, and Likeness money keeps flowing. Last Thursday Judge Singhal, who played baseball at Rice, moderated a panel at UM law school exploring the legal dynamics of this NIL era. In short: it's complicated. Some states have NIL laws, others don't, and at least one state (Alabama) passed a law and then repealed it. Meanwhile, SCOTUS--with Justice Kavanaugh leading the charge--seems ready to endorse a pay-for-play model. It's the wild west right now (a QB recruit is allegedly getting 8 million to play for Tennessee). Will be interesting to see how this shakes out over the next few years.