2024-04-19 10:45
Guest Blogger Oliver A. Ruiz:By now, you are no doubt aware that Taylor Swift's new album was released at midnight. Unless you don't have a smartphone, radio, or TV. Speaking of TV, som… Read More
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News and notes on the Southern District of Florida
2024-04-18 15:01
That was Sentencing Commission Chair, Judge Carlton W. Reeves. From FD.org:
The bipartisan United States Sentencing Commission voted unanimously today to prohibit conduct for which a… Read More
2024-04-17 11:30
By John R. ByrneSenator Bob Graham passed away yesterday. He was a great leader for Florida and our country during his years as a state representative, state senator, Governor of Florida, an… Read More
2024-04-16 14:06
… so that he can attend his son's high school graduation and the U.S. Supreme Court argument in his case?Despite your views of Trump, isn't this a no-brainer? Why is the judge g… Read More
2024-04-11 11:01
By John R. ByrneSignificant order entered by Judge Moore yesterday in the racial gerrymandering lawsuit filed against the City of Miami. After holding a bench trial back in January, Judge Mo… Read More
2024-04-10 14:36
It's AUSA Michael Berger versus defense lawyer Howard Srebnick. Law360 has the story on openings:Ecuador's former comptroller on Tuesday denied accepting and laundering $10 milli… Read More
2024-04-09 10:00
The NYT has an opinion piece about the issue and starts with a story about our own Judge Raag Singhal:In 1999, a
Florida lawyer, Anuraag Singhal, represented a man convicted of gunnin… Read More
2024-04-04 11:30
This one was before Judge Rodney Smith, who granted a Rule 29 motion. Congrats to the defense lawyers -- Sam Rabin and Jessica Duque. (I am particularly proud of Jessica, a… Read More
2024-04-02 16:24
Just an absolute tragedy. And such hard news to swallow. Our thoughts go out to Judge Matthewman and his entire family during this very difficult time. Here is the ob… Read More
2024-04-02 10:29
By John R. ByrneFor a lawyer, serving as a federal law clerk can be one of the most rewarding (and valuable) experiences of his or her legal career. Every lawyer I've met who has clerked in… Read More
2024-04-01 12:56
By John R. ByrneAt the end of last week, Judge Moreno sent the plaintiffs in the latest Joe Carollo/City of Miami lawsuit back to the complaint drawing board, dismissing their First Amended… Read More
2024-03-29 13:53
Congrats to blogger John Byrne, who was part of the team who heard those two magic words -- not guilty -- before Judge Williams last week. It was an interesting case involving mo… Read More
2024-03-28 14:13
By John R. ByrneDisney and the State of Florida appear to have buried their respective hatchets. As we noted in a post a few months ago, Florida prevailed over Disney in a federal lawsuit ar… Read More
2024-03-25 21:21
The Feds just raided Diddy's home in Miami, according to the Miami Herald.Federal agents raided the Miami area home of rap mogul Sean Combs, better known as Diddy, reports say. Diddy o… Read More
2024-03-24 22:42
That's the title of Justice Breyer's new book, and he's making the rounds promoting it. This morning he was on Meet The Press. Here's the NBC report:Former Justice Stephen… Read More
2024-03-22 16:39
Can’t
Touch This: SCOTUS Unanimously Decides That Inconsistent Acquittals Bar Retrial.
 &hell…Read More
2024-03-21 15:14
The legal community is abuzz with this David Lat report that two of Judge Cannon's law clerks have resigned:Judge Cannon has had at least two law clerks quit on her, according to
mult… Read More
2024-03-20 23:37
CONGRATULATIONS.Here's the WH Press Release:Detra Shaw-Wilder has been an attorney in private practice at Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton in Coral Gables, Florida since 1994, rising f… Read More
2024-03-19 14:56
The Complaint is available at this link. The case has been assigned to Chief Judge Altonaga. Lisa Willis, from the DBR, covers the lawsuit here:Former President Donald Trump sued ABC a… Read More
2024-03-18 12:51
SCOTUS ruled that "and" means "or." It's pretty wild.The 11th Circuit, apparently more honest and less conservative than SCOTUS, previously held that and means and.The Supreme Court ca… Read More
2024-03-14 11:54
Looks like it’s an amazing trip. The Jerusalem Post covers it here:A delegation of 14 US federal judges arrived in Israel on Sunday for a week-long educational tour on the… Read More
2024-03-11 02:08
The blog has addressed this question a bunch of times and it's time to ask it again in light of what happened before Judge Wolfson in state court. Here's the AP coverage, and Rumpole c… Read More
2024-03-06 13:49
That's her with her children and Chief Judge Altonaga. That means all three new judges are in and working. Congratulations again to all three!Cases will now start getting transferred.L… Read More
2024-03-05 10:00
It's really hard to believe, but the Supreme Court forgot to wipe the metadata from the Trump opinion that came out yesterday. Internet sleuths found that the three liberal Justi… Read More
2024-03-04 13:21
By John R. ByrneFor you First Amendment scholars out there, the Eleventh Circuit just granted re hearing en banc in McDonough v. Garcia, 90 F.4th 1080, 1086 (11th Cir. 2024). The case involv… Read More
2024-03-01 12:54
First, a big congrats to our three new judges. Jackie Becerra, David Leibowitz, and Melissa Damian were all confirmed this week. And Judge Becerra was sworn in yesterday, w… Read More
2024-02-27 10:30
1. Jackie Becerra is up for a full vote at 11am. 2. David Leibowitz is expected to be up for a full vote at 2pm. 3. Melissa Damian is expected to get a cloture vote next week. &hell…Read More
2024-02-26 19:14
That was Judge Bob Scola at the plea and sentencing of Philip Esformes. The Herald covers it here:A South Florida businessman pleaded guilty on Thursday to stealing millions of d… Read More
2024-02-25 19:06
From the court's website; applications are due 3/31.The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of two full-time United States Magistrate Judges for the… Read More
2024-02-23 13:27
I'm told that Jackie Becerra and David Leibowitz will get floor votes as early as next week. They should both get sworn in shortly afterwards. Whoever is sworn in first will get the op… Read More
2024-02-21 20:31
By John R. ByrnePresident Biden may have pardoned Alex Saab, a Venezuelan businessman and Maduro supporter who conspired with others to inflate the price of food and medicine during a hunger… Read More
2024-02-20 13:30
Judge Nancy Abudu being sworn in as our newest 11th Circuit judge
I am very excited to share this bonus episode with you -- an interview with our newest 11th Circuit Judge, Nancy Abudu… Read More
2024-02-16 01:49
1. What did you think about Fani Willis' demeanor on the stand?
Fani Willis: "I probably had some choice words about some of the things that you said that were dishonest within this m… Read More
2024-02-13 19:00
Breaking News Update: Looks like we will have some new judges pretty soon as the Senate is moving forward. From its Twitter account this morning:Vote scheduled: At 5:30pm, on Mon… Read More
2024-02-09 14:49
Oh, you gotta like it when the states say the feds are messing things up. This time it's about guns. From Reuters:The Hawaii Supreme Court has upheld the state's laws that… Read More
2024-02-08 13:22
Big argument at 10am this morning for the future of our country. Politico dives into the six actual legal questions that are presented here:Just 109 words.Whether Donald Trump can legally r… Read More
2024-02-06 13:00
That's Judge Charles Wilson in his interview with the DBR, available here, about taking senior status (which this blog broke at this post). Here's a snippet of the interesting ar… Read More
2024-02-05 13:53
By John R. ByrneThe City of Miami has been dealing with quite a bit of litigation in recent years, including defending against claims that the City helped Commissioner Joe Carollo exact reve… Read More
2024-02-01 11:24
By John R. ByrneGovernor DeSantis scored a victory yesterday in the Northern District of Florida. Judge Allen Winsor dismissed Disney's First Amendment retaliation lawsuit against the Govern… Read More
2024-01-31 13:38
By John R. ByrneUpdate on the racial gerrymandering case brought against the City of Miami. Trial testimony concluded yesterday. At issue are now "updated" voting maps, which have been chall… Read More
2024-01-30 12:38
By John R. ByrneNot SDFLA news or even news from the federal court world. But still worth covering. The judge in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial denied Murdaugh's request for a new trial. Mur… Read More
2024-01-29 00:30
Most judges will tell you that they don't want to be the story and don't want to make news. Especially federal judges. Yet Judge Lewis Kaplan was front and center in the Trump ca… Read More
2024-01-25 12:02
The University of Miami has a great article about Andy Adler here:Assistant Federal Public Defender Andrew Adler sat third chair in a
Supreme Court case back when he was an attorney a… Read More
2024-01-22 23:07
He sent the letter to President Biden today and will be taking senior status effective 12/31. That means President Biden will have the opportunity to nominate someone for that se… Read More
2024-01-22 14:15
That's the title of this Hill article by Max Burns. From the intro:Back in his 2020 run for the White House, Joe Biden won over the skittish left in part because of his willingne… Read More
2024-01-18 01:42
Good luck to our SDFLA nominees -- Jackie Becerra, Melissa Damian, and David Leibowitz.All 3 are expected to get through the committee... then on to the full Senate. Let's go!I re… Read More
2024-01-16 13:09
By John R. ByrneNot from our district but notable. Judge Mizelle from the Middle District of Florida dismissed an indictment charging a defendant for possessing a firearm in a federal facili… Read More
2024-01-16 03:30
...in his excellent newsletter Original Jurisdiction here. You all should subscribe. It's worth it. Here's the section on Judge Newsom:
Judge of the Week: Judge Kevi… Read More
2024-01-11 12:29
By John R. ByrneYesterday, the Eleventh Circuit ruled against Governor DeSantis in the First Amendment retaliation case filed by Andrew Warren, the former state attorney for Florida's Thirte… Read More
2024-01-10 11:59
It doesn't look too good. Remember that President Trump commuted his sentence. But that put him on supervised release and apparently he isn't doing well. Apparently he viol… Read More
2024-01-08 14:00
By John R. ByrneIt doesn't happen too often, but on Friday three judges issued opinions in a criminal case. Both Judge Jordan and Judge Luck dissented from parts of Judge Lagoa's majority op… Read More
2024-01-03 08:39
... but those hopes probably won't get us far, so we need you judges to have some more mercy when sentencing. The Guideline Manual is definitely not your friend. In the mean… Read More
2024-01-01 12:57
By John R. ByrneHappy New Year, everybody. Justice Roberts issued his year-end report (excerpted below). He covers how changes in technology have affected the work of the courts, covering th… Read More
2023-12-27 00:30
I’ve never seen an opinion start like this. Have you? Read More
2023-12-21 20:09
Let's Just Cut to the Chase, Please GUEST POST BY MICHAEL CARUSO
Yesterday, the 11th Circuit decided U.S. v. Sotis (Mizelle (M.D. Fla.) with William Pryor and Marcus joining)… Read More
2023-12-21 11:30
The blog will be very slow over the next two weeks. Judges, check out this order. We hope you agree!
I'm not sure I can say it any better than the excellent Federal Magistra… Read More
2023-12-20 14:28
Well this will be a Merry Christmas for Alex Saab.He was indicted before Judge Scola in a sprawling indictment alleging FCPA and other violations. He was sitting at FDC. But Vene… Read More
2023-12-19 19:20
Chief Justice John Roberts begins his tribute to Justice O'Connor: "It has been said that the Supreme Court is like a family, a family composed entirely of in-laws." #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/… Read More
2023-12-18 21:30
Well, I wrote this post about the oral argument, and then the Court decided the case. That was quick! Here's the opinion by Chief Judge Pryor, denying Meadows removal claim. &hell…Read More
2023-12-18 03:51
...17. Woweee. He's now your friendly neighborhood D.A.More from the ABA:Park’s father brought up the idea of attending law school when Park was only age 13, the… Read More
2023-12-14 14:24
By John R. Byrne A while back, the blog covered the 60 million dollar verdict entered against City of Miami commissioner Joe Carollo based on his actions related to the Ball & Chain… Read More
2023-12-12 20:12
The NY Times has the interesting story here about how the Special Counsel, now led by Michael Dreeban in the Supreme Court, has asked SCOTUS to take Trump's appeal directly and bypass… Read More
2023-12-11 11:30
Back in October, the blog broke the news that the judges had voted Randy Katz as our newest magistrate. However, Randy has withdrawn his name from consideration. My understanding… Read More
2023-12-07 17:58
By John R. ByrneIf you're a college football fan, you know about the recent travesty of FSU being snubbed by the College Football Selection Committee. Did we really need to see Alabama in an… Read More
2023-12-06 13:30
pictured: Randall
Jackson (left), Tom Barrack, and Michael Schachter (right) FOR THE DEFENSE,
HOLIDAY BON… Read More
2023-12-05 14:34
By John R. ByrnePretty crazy story broken by Joshua Goodman, a reporter from the AP, about a former American diplomat who was allegedly a spy for Cuba. For two decades the man, Manuel R… Read More
2023-12-04 01:32
We know from United States v. Garcon that in the 11th Circuit "and" means "and" for purposes of the safety valve provision of the Sentencing Guidelines. (Another case involv… Read More
2023-11-30 01:39
Here are their opening statements. Really well done. I thought each of the nominees gave personal and touching openings. And they were all very well spoken.
NOMINEE:… Read More
2023-11-29 13:34
Good luck to Jackie Becerra, Melissa Damian, and David Leibowitz who will be appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 10am this morning.You can watch it here Read More
2023-11-27 18:52
The case is Brown v. U.S. and the issue is: Whether the "serious drug offense" definition in the Armed Career Criminal Act
incorporates the federal drug schedules that were in effect… Read More
2023-11-26 21:21
Yes, according to George Conway, Michael Luttig, and Barbara Jean Comstock, who wrote this essay in the New York Times.Why, you ask?Because it's still beholden to Trump. So they'… Read More
2023-11-22 12:35
By John R. ByrneThanksgiving is one of the best times to watch football. And we have a Dolphins game on Black Friday. If you're racking your brain trying to remember the last time the NFL pl… Read More
2023-11-20 13:44
As we all recover from post-it note gate during this Thanksgiving holiday week, this story caught my eye. And I love it. A bunch of lawyers don’t like AI and sued, saying it was… Read More
2023-11-17 12:41
By John R. ByrneAmy Howe, of SCOTUSblog and Howe on the Court blog fame, once again brought her talents to the Southern District of Florida yesterday. She speaks every fall to the South Flor… Read More
2023-11-14 08:30
This is a no-brainer in my opinion, but one that Preet himself did not do as a U.S. Attorney in New York. From his piece in the New York Times:Prosecutors formally advised lawyers for… Read More
2023-11-13 11:30
Okay, I think this one is really silly, but everyone seems to be talking about the two post-it notes left in the elevators at the U.S. Attorney's Office for hours last week. Some… Read More
2023-11-10 11:25
By John R. ByrneYes, we're finally getting a new federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. The groundbreaking ceremony was this past Wednesday. So, if you ever wanted to see a bunch of federal… Read More
2023-11-08 11:30
Government press conferences and press releases about arrests have always bothered me. It's especially infuriating when the government complains about defense lawyers speaking to… Read More
2023-11-07 15:34
Lots of folks down here have been talking about the case and Dan Rashbaum’s representation of Charlie. I haven’t been posting about the case because I was involved pre-char… Read More
2023-11-06 00:12
Here's the newsletter, which you should subscribe to. And his discussion about Judge Altman:
Judge of the Week: Judge Roy Altman.
Pro-Palestine or even pro-Hamas law students a… Read More
2023-11-03 18:53
By Judge Raag Singhal
I write today to come to the
defense of my colleague and close friend Judge Roy Altman. I’ll call him Roy because that’s who wrote
the piece in Natio… Read More
2023-11-03 01:55
...and I'm very grateful he is doing so in defense of Israel and against the terrorists. John Byrne detailed his UM speech and article in this post. This time, he writes a… Read More
2023-11-01 14:43
UPDATE -- The White House made it official here. Congratulations to the three nominees!I have it on good authority that President Biden will nominate Jackie Becerra, Melissa Damian, an… Read More
2023-10-30 21:20
Congratulations to Peter Forand and Maria Medetis, the new Chief and Deputy Chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney's Office.Mark Lapointe named them both today in an office-wide… Read More
2023-10-30 00:52
I missed this speech by the relatively new Justice. The AP covered it here: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett said Monday that it
would be a good idea for the na… Read More
2023-10-26 13:40
By John R. ByrneTough week for the qualified immunity defense in the 11th Circuit. This case involved a school resource officer who sought and obtained arrest warrants for first and second d… Read More
2023-10-25 11:20
By John R. ByrneUM law school held a panel talking about the current crisis in the Middle East. Interesting perspectives from Judge Altman (not on behalf of the federal bench, he was careful… Read More
2023-10-24 11:00
Judge
Marcia “Great” Cooke
By Vanessa Singh Johannes Read More
2023-10-23 13:22
By John R. ByrneA few weeks back, we covered an 11th Circuit case involving a passenger in a car who refused to identify himself during a traffic stop and, as a result, was arrested. That ca… Read More
2023-10-18 19:50
Really sad news. Peter was a good dude and a smart lawyer. Too young. Read More
2023-10-18 13:13
By John R. ByrneFamous author John Grisham appeared at the Coral Gables Books & Books yesterday to promote his new book, "The Exchange," which is a sequel to "The Firm." He was very funn… Read More
2023-10-17 12:26
It will be interesting to see how Judge Chutkan deals with Donald Trump when he violates the gag order she imposed yesterday. Even the judge recognized that putting him in jail d… Read More
2023-10-15 22:00
Yikes -- a huge piece of marble fell inside the courtyard at the Supreme Court where the Justices and clerks mingle. From the AP: The Supreme Court
avoided a catastrophic a… Read More
2023-10-13 11:18
By John R. ByrneThe Miami-Dade Chapter of Florida Association for Women Lawyers (MDFAWL, for short) recently hosted a lunch panel at Greenberg Traurig titled, "Supporting Women in the… Read More
2023-10-12 13:00
By John R. ByrneOften times, when groups of appellate judges disagree on matters of statutory interpretation, the disputing parties fall into predicable camps (Republican nominees on o… Read More
2023-10-11 12:34
The Sam Bankman-Fried trial is on! Defense lawyers read this NY Times piece about the judge shutting down and abusing the defense, and simple sighed. We’ve all been t… Read More
2023-10-10 12:45
Howard Bashman of the legendary How Appealing blog will get his first SCOTUS argument. Reuters describes it this way: Bashman, who writes the popular legal industry website H… Read More
2023-10-09 11:59
And one of them is our very own Judge Darrin Gayles, who was named chair of the Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction. Represent! Read More
2023-10-05 20:28
Congratulations to Judge Katz. More to follow. Read More
2023-10-05 13:19
By John R. ByrneIf you haven't been living under a rock, you've probably seen the news about the Trump civil fraud trial in New York. The former president didn't need to personally appear bu… Read More
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