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
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News and notes on the Southern District of Florida
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
2022-08-03 11:53
It's the last stretch of summer. And elections are coming up.It's brings up the age old questions about whether judges should be elected or appointed. There's really no good… Read More
2022-07-31 15:45
For a sitting Justice to give remarks like this is extremely concerning. In his Rome speech on religious liberty, Justice Alito mocked "foreign leaders" who condemned his o… Read More
2022-07-27 08:30
Back in the day during the hot summer months in Miami state court, suits were optional. And most judges shut down entirely in August. We haven't gone back that far yet, but Judge… Read More
2022-07-25 12:31
He had his investiture in West Palm Beach last week, and by all accounts, it was a big hit. Congrats! Read More
2022-07-22 12:58
by Michael Caruso I recently had the pleasure of speaking with U.S. Attorney Tony Gonzalez to several law students participating in Judge Bloom’s Judicial Internship Academy this… Read More
2022-07-21 13:02
All the big firms are opening shops in the 305. Chiacgo's Sidley Austin is the latest with a 40 lawyer office. From Reuters: After months of recruiting lawyers from… Read More
2022-07-19 08:00
That's the title of an op-ed that my oldest daughter Nicole Markus (and I) wrote about Dobbs. The intro:My co-author and father was born in 1972, almost 50 years ago. (Sorry, dad… Read More
2022-07-18 13:08
Washington Reviewing the W… Read More
2022-07-18 02:48
Legendary criminal defense lawyer Gerald Shargel (left, with Bruce Cutler and John Gotti) passed away over the weekend. From the New York Times:Mr. Shargel argued that he was no… Read More
2022-07-13 03:13
That’s the title of this interesting post by Adam Feldman over at Empirical SCOTUS. It starts:What this means? The Court’s most common split vote this term was six jus… Read More
2022-07-11 09:00
That's the title to this Bloomberg article about Judge Scola's case involving this "art" from Art Basel a few years ago:Here's the intro to the article:The artist behind a viral sculpt… Read More
2022-07-08 01:03
This one really bothered me -- DOJ indicted 10 defendants in a criminal antitrust case (hoping some would plead and flip). All 10 stay strong and go to trial in Denver federal co… Read More
2022-07-06 15:33
The issue has come up because a judge is piping mad that a defense lawyer said this in closing:So . . . the Court instructed you, rightfully so, that you cannot consider the fact that… Read More
2022-07-05 10:00
There should be outrage. Instead, very little is being done. This entire article about the problem, entitled "Thousands of federal inmates still await early release under T… Read More
2022-07-01 13:10
I started this blog back on July 2, 2005 (happy 17th birthday to the blog!) with a post about putting a Floridian on the Supreme Court. That's now a reality! Yay for K… Read More
2022-06-29 19:03
By Michael CarusoIn 1972—50 years ago—President Nixon made his historic visit to China in February, The Grateful Dead conquered Europe in April and May, Hunter S. Thompson publis… Read More
2022-06-27 14:39
1. The 11th Circuit was an outlier on the First Step Act, holding that courts could not consider intervening changes of law or fact in exercising their discretion to reduce a sentence. … Read More
2022-06-26 17:23
We've all read Justice Thomas' concurrence in Dobbs by now and it's pretty frightening. Not only is it way out of touch with our country, our society, and the world -- it threate… Read More
2022-06-24 14:49
By John R. ByrneThis is a big one. Vote was 6-3. Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joined Justice Alito's opinion. Justice Roberts did not j… Read More
2022-06-22 13:39
That's the title of an interesting article by Florida Bulldog. The intro by Dan Christensen:Miami FBI Special Agent in Charge George Piro is retiring, after sources say he was s… Read More
2022-06-20 21:28
On Tuesday morning, the 11th Circuit will hear three cases en banc. Two criminal cases and one false claims case.Notably, the panel ruled for the government in each of the three cases… Read More
2022-06-20 13:04
The Varsity Blues prosecutions is a pretty good representative sample of how our criminal justice system operates.57 defendants were indicted.54 pleaded guilty (95%).3 went to trial (5%).1 w… Read More
2022-06-16 20:26
Yes for the 3-0-5! The only acquittal from the Varsity Blues case... this is why more cases need to go to trial. Almost every single one of the VB cases pleaded out. … Read More
2022-06-16 18:35
That's the title of this Above The Law article, which details how an appellate court reversed a sentencing court for tacking on 6 years to a sentence because the defendant wasn't happy… Read More
2022-06-15 11:00
That's the start of this must-read article by CATO's Clark Neily. It starts like this:“More weight!” Those are the famous—though perhaps apocryphal—last… Read More
2022-06-14 11:25
...Michael Caruso, the Federal Defender in our District.Congrats to Michael, who is very well-deserving. And I don't just say that because he's a frequent guest blogger. &nb&hell…Read More
2022-06-12 20:06
He will lose, as he should. Here's the clip he is suing over: From Courthouse News:A federal appeals court judge got a talking-to from Roy Moore’s lawyer on Friday aft… Read More
2022-06-10 02:12
That would be nice! From Reuters:Federal judiciary policymakers have approved a plan to eliminate costly fees for online docket searches amid debate in Congress about whether to force… Read More
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