THE CAPTAIN REPORTS: ELECTION 2024 - QUALIFYING WEEK UPDATE....... BREAKING NEWS   As we reported last night (read below) Candidate Scott Janowitz has jumped out of his County Court Group and filed against Incumbent Circuit Court Judge Yery Marrero. UPDATE #2. Scott Janowitz has paid his Qualifying Fee. He is locked into Group 25 and will be running against Judge Marrero. ———————— Very little to report after two days. Qualifying Week ends at Noon on Friday. As of 5 PM today, there have been no new candidates entering races for Circuit or County Court Judge. In the Circuit Court: Al ..read more

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS: ELECTION 2024 - QUALIFYING WEEK Welcome to Qualifying Week. Over the next five days, the candidates who have filed to run in their respective Groups in both the Circuit and County Court will need to formally commit by paying their Qualifying Fee. As always, we can expect to see some surprise candidates jumping into races this week. The question for this week is - WHO ARE THE MOST LIKELY CANDIDATES TO DRAW OPPOSITION?  (nb edited by Rumpole for blog reasons- see below) But, before we get to the judicial races, the burning question on the mind of all criminal defense at ..read more

 FACDL had this to say about the SAO and all that... And oh yeah, we are getting reports that our friends at NBC 6 Miami just covered the below press release and asked for the SAO for a response but were told everyone was busy with seeking prison on resisting arrest without violence and NVDL trial because crime is crime and that's the fact jack. It takes a whole bunch of prosecutors to scope out witnesses on a case, get them together to get their stories straight, get them some food and arrange a conjugal visit, and then rush to cover it all up. So it's understandable they could not immed ..read more

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS: ELECTION CENTRAL - 2024 On August 20th, voters in Miami-Dade County will head to the polls to elect several new judges in both the Circuit and County Court. As I have for the past 19 years, your Captain will be on top of all of the races, bringing you the breaking news that our readers have come to expect from your humble Blogger. You won’t get this kind of coverage in the Miami Herald, nor the Daily Business Review, the Miami News (now I’m aging myself), or any other local thread. Thanks to Rumpole and the Justice Building Blog our readers know that they will obtain thei ..read more

 There is a "happy hour" sponsored by the Dade County Bar Association on April 11.  Here are all the reasons you should not go.  1. There will be civil lawyers present.  2. They will probably be drinking white wine spritzers. nuff said, right? But if you're still considering.... 3. Their war stories are always something like "Then during summary judgement they forgot I had an affidavit from the insurer indemnifying my client ...." as which point all the civil drones listening say something like "Are you kidding me? I would have love to seen what Judge Monica-Beth Gonzalez-S ..read more

 Because baseball matters. On 4/8/1974 Henry Aaron hit home run number 715 passing George Herman Babe Ruth as the all time home run leader.  Aaron's life was threatened. He was called disgusting names. His family was also threatened. Because he was a black man breaking the most hallowed record in sports.  This was in 1974- during our lifetime. Fifty years ago this Monday. In the United States of America a black man's life was threatened because he had the temerity to hit more home runs than anyone else in our national pastime.  Something to think about.  Here's the vid ..read more

 We came across this wonderful article on Judge Illana Diamond Rovner, the first woman on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.  Appointed by Ronald Wilson Reagan, she is everything a great judge should be. She has an amazing life story starting with her parents fleeing the Nazis six weeks after she was born in 1938. Her father was able to immigrate from Latvia and save his family's life. This was back when the United States was a beacon of freedom to the world and immigration was not a dirty word. (And yes we are well aware of the abject failures of the Roosevelt administration to do ..read more

 The start of baseball season reminds us that you can't tell the players without a programme.  Springtime turns a young ASAs thoughts to promotion or that job at the insurance company defense firm paying 125K to start.  Herewith we (no altruists us) provide you our readers the latest update of the SAO division assignments.  For some reason we cannot find Michael Von Zamft's new assignment. Hmm...may have to check further on that.  MISDEMEANOR DIVISION (Motto: "Wrecking the future of poor people one misdemeanor conviction at a time."  )  Misd Division As ..read more

 As we start the new month of April, we have some updates on courthouses.  As the new civil courthouse rises, so does the anticipation of what it will be, including the amenities. Today we learned some inside information about the new civil courthouse, including .... There will be a food court and besides Chick-fil-A and a Cuban Cafe, such high-end eateries like Prime 112 (they have a great kobe beef hot dog)  and a high-end lunch restaurant run by famed chef Thomas Keller, he of French Laundry fame, who runs an "impossible to get into" restaurant at the Surf Club- tentativ ..read more

  Burton Young, a true legend in law, passed away Saturday night at the age of 96.  Burt Young was a past president of the Florida Bar. Under his leadership the nomination process for Judges in Florida became non-political and non-partisan for many years.  Burton Young practiced family law well into his 90s and for decades he was the go-to lawyer in a family case and was recognized as the dean of that area of the law. His practiced included trial, appellate and cases before the Florida Supreme Court.   Burton Young was known as both a gentleman in and out of court, c ..read more