2023-01-26 20:26
By Michael CarusoYesterday, a friend alerted me to this article by an enterprising young reporter covering a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Among the nominees, two were for the federal… Read More
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News and notes on the Southern District of Florida
2023-01-24 14:04
That's the title of my latest article, this one for the Albuquerque Journal.Here's how it concludes:While it is true that the rich and famous often enjoy some advantages in the crimin… Read More
2023-01-23 13:37
Check out the en banc decision last week in Sosa v. Martin County, Florida, which held that there is no recourse for falsely arresting someone and illegally holding him for 3 days. The judge… Read More
2023-01-20 13:48
By John R. Byrne"[I]nvestigators have been unable to determine at this time, using a preponderance of the evidence standard, the identity of the person(s) who disclosed the draft major… Read More
2023-01-18 18:25
The case is United States v. Dupree. And it's a biggie.Judge Jill Pryor for the majority explains:This appeal requires us to consider whether an inchoate of-fense qualifies as a &ldquo&hell…Read More
2023-01-17 10:30
Controversy on the Michigan Supreme Court. From AboveTheLaw:Less than a week after making history for being Michigan’s first Black female Supreme Court Justice, Justice Bolden i… Read More
2023-01-12 14:45
By Michael CarusoBecause David’s readers are technologically adept, you know that artificial intelligence (AI) is having a profound effect on the practice of law. Lawyers use AI to rev… Read More
2023-01-10 19:06
By Sabrina Puglisi You hear attorneys talk about the “good old days” when trials were more the norm than taking pleas. Attorneys like H. Frank Rubio, who was happiest when he was… Read More
2023-01-10 14:09
By John R. ByrneThere are currently three openings on our district court bench and still no nominations from the White House. The open seats are from when Judges Moreno, Ungaro, and Co… Read More
2023-01-09 16:12
He is being sworn in this morning.Congrats to Mark.Lots of line prosecutors and defense lawyers (and even judges) wondering what changes will be made. Good luck!UPDATE -- He… Read More
2023-01-06 00:17
By Michael CarusoThe term "Jailhouse lawyer" is used to describe an incarcerated person who helps those similarly situated with legal filings. And the term is often used with disdain—t… Read More
2023-01-04 20:18
Rick Singer, the mastermind of the Varsity Blues case, and the main cooperating witness, was sentenced today to 3.5 years in prison. Although it was significantly lower than the… Read More
2023-01-03 03:29
The view from the Federal Detention Center Miami: the pool at Downtown 5th “luxury apartment rentals” #BecauseMiami pic.twitter.com/bNjL5UqZNU— Because Miami (@BecauseMiami… Read More
2023-01-02 10:20
By John R. ByrneA tough note to end 2022 on for cruise companies Carnival, MSC SA, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian. Judge Bloom has ordered them to pay over $439 million in damages for e… Read More
2022-12-28 14:44
Roy Black has written a wonderful letter in the DBR about advocacy and time limits. It's worth a read:With great sadness I read of the death of advocacy in these pages on Dec. 23rd (… Read More
2022-12-27 13:39
By Michael CarusoFor all those like me who receive a Treasury check every two weeks, last Friday's passage of the 2023 spending bill came as a welcome relief. And, because this bill is a "mu… Read More
2022-12-27 03:14
Erwin Chemerinsky says because the Court's approval rating is so low, it's time for a change to restore legitimacy for the Court. He says 18-year term limits are the answer:The U… Read More
2022-12-23 14:27
It's time to air some grievances: 1. Prosecutors who still don't turn over all 302s. 2. Prosecutors who still don't agree to turn over exhibit and witness lists. &hell…Read More
2022-12-21 13:52
By John R. ByrneThis holiday season, a Girl Scout troop took a trip to New York to see the Rockettes perform at Radio City Music Hall. Security instantly descended on one of the moms i… Read More
2022-12-21 01:08
Hat tip: Frank Ramos from Linkedin. If you don't follow him, you should Read More
2022-12-19 14:47
This is THE debate in white collar circles over the past few years. Takhalov (the B-girls case) got the discussion going again in the 11th Circuit. Interestingly, the Supre… Read More
2022-12-16 14:07
By John R. ByrneMore textual interpretation from the Eleventh Circuit and Judge Pryor, this time tackling the meaning of "suicide" in a life insurance policy. The policy at issue, like… Read More
2022-12-14 04:19
Remember when Judge Pryor joked about Slate journalist Mark Joseph Stern at a recent Federalist Society convention?Well, after that speech, Stern called up Judge Pryor and asked to interview… Read More
2022-12-12 04:02
David Lat's excellent newsletter, Original Jurisdiction, pointed out these two exchanges in the website designed case, which are completely bizarre. JUSTICE ALITO: Justice Jackson [off… Read More
2022-12-09 14:09
By Michael CarusoYesterday, David mentioned a new report which describes a “federal jailing crisis” that disproportionately impacts poor people of color. The report was authored… Read More
2022-12-07 14:43
Fantastic news.Mark is a great guy and will be a wonderful U.S. Attorney.Lots of speculation and chatter in the bar about how he will shake up the office and what measures he will take to ch… Read More
2022-12-06 22:32
By John R. Byrne"And" means "and," it turns out. That's the holding of the Court after en banc review in United States v. Garcon, Case No. 19-14650. Judge Pryor wrote the majority opin… Read More
2022-12-05 02:32
That's former judge Michael Luttig on Moore v. Harper, which will be heard by the Supreme Court this Wednesday. The question presented is:Whether a state’s judicial branch… Read More
2022-12-02 02:43
That was fast... and furious. The 11th Circuit quickly vacated Judge Cannon's order appointing a Special Master in the Trump/Mar-a-Lago search case. The per curiam opinion… Read More
2022-12-01 15:42
She joined Judge Ho and spoke at Yale. Per Reuters:Branch, a member of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who is the only judge to publicly join Ho's boycott, s… Read More
2022-11-30 17:55
This is a biggie from the Third Circuit.In U.S. v. Banks, the court held loss, for sentencing guidelines purposes, means actual, and not intended, loss:The Guideline does not mention “… Read More
2022-11-28 14:58
By Michael Caruso I rarely write about pending cases, but this case caught my attention as a former line cook and current lawyer.Recently, Amanda Ramirez filed a $5 million class action… Read More
2022-11-28 01:24
That's the question presented in Ciminelli v. United States, which SCOTUS will hear tomorrow morning. The government's use fraud statutes is out of control; it has criminalized basic breach… Read More
2022-11-22 03:53
Gonna take this week off.I hope all of you have the best Thanksgiving.I'm thankful for all of you and the great comments, tips, and readers. And also thankful for the great posts… Read More
2022-11-17 13:06
By John R. ByrneIf you've been following the news, you know about the cryptocurrency collapse. Here comes the litigation. A plaintiff has sued Sam Bankman-Fried (the founder and former… Read More
2022-11-16 14:34
JUST IN: Appeals court scheules oral arguments in DOJ appeal of Judge Cannon's special master order from Nov. 22 -- in case anyone was naively hoping for a quiet Thanksgiving week. pic.twitt… Read More
2022-11-14 21:43
That's the title of the AP's explosive report on DEA agents and federal prosecutors. The article, by Jim Mustian and Joshua Goodman, is a must-read. The story centers around test… Read More
2022-11-14 03:01
He starts at the 24 minute mark here.Judge Pryor’s speech is getting a lot of press. Here’s an example from Reuters:A prominent federal judge on Thursday called the growth… Read More
2022-11-10 19:10
By Michael CarusoIn the great Larry David movie “Clear History,” he plays a disgraced marketing executive who, unsurprisingly, at various points in the story, creates drama… Read More
2022-11-10 14:02
Yesterday, a former Yale women's soccer coach got 5 months:Prosecutors said Meredith from 2015 and 2018 accepted $860,000 from Singer in exchange for designating the children of wealthy pare… Read More
2022-11-09 12:50
Nicole is coming. Mag court postponed till Thursday. Stay safe. Read More
2022-11-08 12:12
By John R. ByrneEver seen a judge invoke the All Writs Act? Doesn't happen everyday. And now the Eleventh Circuit is going to weigh in on its use in the 3M MDL pending in the NDFLA.&nbs&hell…Read More
2022-11-07 22:05
There were some interesting dissents today at SCOTUS from denials of cert. Professor Berman summarized the opinions here:In Anthony v. Louisiana, Justice Sotomayor dissents from… Read More
2022-11-04 12:41
By John R. ByrneFun night at the Alfred I. DuPont building for the Federal Bar Association judicial reception and installation. Chief Judge Altonaga swore in Tal Lifshitz as FBA President. N… Read More
2022-11-03 15:54
Michael CarusoAs David's loyal readers know, this is a momentous year for the Supreme Court. The public's confidence in the Supreme Court is at a historic low, the Court's investigation of t… Read More
2022-11-02 19:57
I can't believe a prosecutor mentioned the Chewbacca Defense in closing and got away with it. From United States v. Moise, the court quotes the prosecutors closing:And I don&rsqu&hell…Read More
2022-11-01 12:47
By John R. ByrneThe latest issue of The Federal Lawyer carries an article by Judge Bloom spotlighting the Judicial Intern Academy and the Civil Discourse and Difficult Decisions program (&ld&hell…Read More
2022-10-30 14:23
North Bay Village Commissioner Convicted After Lying to See Lover in Detention Center https://t.co/MY9zuG2UBn— NBC 6 South Florida (@nbc6) October 27, 2022 Julianna Strout was al… Read More
2022-10-28 11:59
CNN has a post about Justice Thomas' stay here. SCOTUS covers Graham's request for the stay. And here is Georgia's response.Of course, it's time to get rid of grand ju… Read More
2022-10-26 14:09
By John R. ByrneThe City of Miami has been sued for an "illegal" parking tax. It's a class action. One of the named plaintiffs? Criminal defense attorney Richard Klugh, who's now takin… Read More
2022-10-25 11:30
The 11th Circuit is now going to audio stream all oral arguments. The announcement is here:The Court is pleased to announce oral arguments held in open court in all court locati… Read More
2022-10-24 14:53
By John R. Byrne More and more multidistrict litigations (MDLs) are coming to our district. They’re often complicated and a lot of work goes into them, so, when the Joint Pa… Read More
2022-10-21 14:23
By John R. ByrneA lot of South Florida connections to the ongoing DOJ investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents. Last Thursday, one of our district’s… Read More
2022-10-20 12:14
By John R. ByrneFallout continues from the death penalty phase of the Parkland shooter. The Sun Sentinel covers recent court rulings on Florida’s death penalty here. Before 2016… Read More
2022-10-19 12:10
We've had this debate on the blog for many years, and there is no good solution.We all just wanted judges who are hard-working, nice, fair and will grant a continuance! Well, there are… Read More
2022-10-17 01:03
Imagine if a criminal defendant or his lawyer refused to follow court orders or the law. They'd be put in jail before you could say not guilty.But BOP does its own thing and real… Read More
2022-10-13 17:33
The physical courthouses will close when public schools are closed, so that remains the same. But Chief Judge Altonaga has tweaked the policy so that court employees are now expe… Read More
2022-10-12 02:42
Judge James Ho (CA5) and another 11 judges -- including Judge Branch from the 11th Circuit -- have said they won't hire law clerks from Yale because they feel Yale has a cancel culture. &hell…Read More
2022-10-08 19:00
That's the title of my latest piece in The Hill, which you can access here. Here's how it starts out:Cheating to gain an advantage against your opponent is as old as competition i… Read More
2022-10-07 15:18
By Michael CarusoYesterday, the Palm Beach-Federal Bar Association hosted a judicial reception that honored and presented the portrait of the late Magistrate Judge Dave Lee Brannon. As most… Read More
2022-10-07 12:51
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… Read More
2022-10-05 12:51
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… Read More
2022-10-04 14:25
By John R. ByrneEver 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 yesterd… Read More
2022-10-02 17:45
It's here.And --thankfully -- we have a much more diverse Court. And then there were four. (Photo from before yesterday's investiture of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, by the Supreme C… Read More
2022-09-30 13:34
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… Read More
2022-09-28 13:32
...and it's the long conference in the Supreme Court. Today at SCOTUS: The justices meet privately for their annual "long conference" to review cert petitions that have rolled in over… Read More
2022-09-27 15:52
11:45am update- All courthouse locations in the district will be closed tomorrow (Wednesday). Miami and Fort Pierce will also be closed on Thursday. Read More
2022-09-26 12:58
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… Read More
2022-09-23 12:44
By John R. ByrneThe "Jefes" were out in force yesterday at the SDFL's Hispanic Heritage event. Judge Ruiz led a panel discussion with Chief Judge Altonaga, Chief Magistrate Judge Torres, Flo… Read More
2022-09-22 03:09
Here's the per curiam opinion, which reverses Judge Cannon and grants the requested stay.The panel was Rosembaum, Grant, Brasher.It starts this way: Following the execution of a search warr… Read More
2022-09-21 12:06
Our current U.S. Attorney, Tony Gonzalez, appeared before the special master in New York, along with a number of other DOJ lawyers. When is the last time a U.S. Attorney appeared in a… Read More
2022-09-19 12:06
What a game! It just shows that you're never out of it and to keep fighting.On that note, DOJ is in the 11th Circuit fighting to get a stay of Judge Cannon's order. Its brief is… Read More
2022-09-16 12:28
1. She appointed District Judge Raymond Dearie to be the Special Master.2. She denied DOJ's motion for partial stay.DOJ will now head to the 11th Circuit.Politico covers the orde… Read More
2022-09-15 19:32
President Biden just nominated him to be the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida.He's a really good guy and well liked by just about everyone. Folks will discuss the timing bec… Read More
2022-09-15 14:29
By Michael Caruso I wanted to offer a brief supplement to Kate And David's wonderful DBR piece posted below. We've all seen the "Practice Random Acts of Kindness" bumper sticker. Why do we… Read More
2022-09-14 11:42
That's how Marc Mukasay started his opening in the SDNY's Nikola trial. Nikola's founder Trevor Milton is on trial and accused of defrauding investors. I love following good lawy… Read More
2022-09-12 11:18
That's the title of a column that my middle daughter, Kate Markus, and I wrote in the Daily Business Review. Here's the intro:As a high school student, I deal with seemingly arbi… Read More
2022-09-10 03:34
Here's the filing.Government’s Proposed CandidatesThe Honorable Barbara S. Jones (ret.) – retired judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New… Read More
2022-09-08 00:24
After being pardoned, the State of New York went after Bannon with its own investigation. He is due to surrender tomorrow. From the NY Times:Stephen K. Bannon, the onetime… Read More
2022-09-05 16:36
You can read the whole order here.Random thoughts:She asks the parties for recommendations on who the special master should be. That will be an interesting list.DOJ will surely appeal… Read More
2022-09-04 14:14
A true mensch and a great judge. The New York Times has a wonderful piece about Judge Michael Hanzman's handling of the Surfside case:Each day, before the unusual hearings unfol… Read More
2022-09-02 14:40
To the dismay of many, it was reported that Judge Cannon had the wifi turned off in the courthouse and prohibited reporters from tweeting or otherwise reporting on the hearing from cou… Read More
2022-09-01 13:37
You can read it here.Thank goodness the lawyers start with explaining to the reader in the first line that references to "President Trump" mean "President Donald J. Trump."Sorry, it's a pet… Read More
2022-08-31 12:10
Here's the 36 page filing.It includes pictures of the classified documents:Politico covers the filing here:“The government also developed evidence that government records were li… Read More
2022-08-28 19:26
If you recall, Judge Cannon showed some skepticism over Trump's lawsuit requesting a special master and ordered Trump's legal team to beef up its request.They did so Friday evening in this p… Read More
2022-08-26 17:24
You can read it here.Lots and lots of redacted pages.And here is the previously sealed government response to what should be redacted Read More
2022-08-26 13:25
By Michael CarusoMr. Byrne's post yesterday reminded me of a recent article and our professional choices.Let's assume we all want to "do good." Is the way you do good effective? Is the… Read More
2022-08-25 19:55
1. Magistrate Judge Reinhart orders the search warrant affidavit unsealed by noon tomorrow but with the redactions proposed by the government. Here's the order.2. Judge Can… Read More
2022-08-25 12:24
By John R. ByrneA bunch of big national firms have recently placed their stakes in the Miami legal market. And now they're gobbling up legal talent. The DBR covers it here.Kirkland & Ell… Read More
2022-08-23 14:50
Trump filed this lawsuit seeking a special master to oversee the search of Mar-a-lago. But he didn't file a motion in the Reinhart case, which is strange. The lawsuit was filed i… Read More
2022-08-21 15:39
That's the title of this CBS deep dive into Magistrate Judge Reinhart's background since he is presiding over the Trump search warrant litigation. It's a very positive article fo… Read More
2022-08-18 18:53
The Miami Herald covers the ruling here:A federal judge in Florida ordered Thursday that the Justice Department propose redactions to a key document supporting the Aug. 8 search of for… Read More
2022-08-16 19:20
Here's the opinion. For those of you who don't get the reference, here's a link the wiki page on it.Gotta love it Read More
2022-08-15 11:49
That's really the most important document, by far. It has the justification -- or the explanation of probable cause -- for the search. Meantime, the insane attacks on… Read More
2022-08-12 21:40
By John R. Byrne Hot off the presses. Here's the order. The inventory of the seized items will remain redacted. Here are the unsealed materials.Here's a write up from th… Read More
2022-08-11 21:02
Here's the motion, signed by the U.S. Attorney (Tony Gonzalez) and Jay Bratt, the Chief of the Counterintelligence section. Just filed in the Mar-a-Lago warrant case: “UNITED STA… Read More
2022-08-11 12:15
And it's been renamed the Albert Krieger annual meeting, which is very cool.Other news:1. Trump takes 5. Get ready for all of the bad 5th Amendment takes.2. If the governme… Read More
2022-08-09 17:59
The Miami Herald and numerous other outlets are saying it was Magistrate Judge Reinhart. They point to docket entries showing sealed warrants signed on 8/5 by Reinhart. Perhaps… Read More
2022-08-08 15:45
BY MICHAEL CARUSOI assume everyone has read an opinion or order and wondered, "where did that come from?" For example, Judge Ed Carnes has quoted Bob Dyan on occasion, see, e.g., Wright v. F… Read More
2022-08-05 14:27
…finally.Here they are:Judge Carlton W. Reeves: Nominee for Commissioner and Chair of the United States Sentencing CommissionJudge Carlton W. Reeves has served as a United State… Read More
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