News and Events
Daily News Summary
An electronic digest of media coverage of interest to members of The Florida Bar compiled each workday by the Public Information and Bar Services Department. Electronic links are only active in today's edition. For information on previous articles, please contact the publishing newspaper directly.
Feb. 8, 2010
--The Florida Bar--
THE ONE CAMPAIGN-- Tallahassee Democrat, editorial, http://www.tallahassee.com, Feb. 8, 2010.
The editorial states: ". . . Current Florida Bar President Jesse H. Diner of Fort Lauderdale is putting renewed emphasis on pro bono work among Florida's attorneys — busy men and women who cite, primarily, a lack of time for not taking on clients who cannot pay. Pro bono work isn't required of Florida Bar members, though reporting it is, and a 2008 study showed only half of lawyers are providing free legal services. Mr. Diner and the Bar are advancing a program to try to make pro bono work more manageable through its 'One Client. One Attorney. One Promise' campaign. The One Campaign kicked off in the fall in an effort to make it clear that if each attorney took on just one case and committed to it, the combined effort would drastically reduce the backlog of cases and significantly improve access to justice for Floridians."
WORKSHOP ON PUBLIC RECORDS REQUIREMENTS-- The Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com, Feb. 6, 2010.
The First Amendment Foundation of Tallahassee will hold an open government laws workshop at the Times-Union auditorium in Jacksonville on Tuesday [Feb. 9]. The Sunshine Seminar, being held from 8:30 a.m. to 2:25 p.m., features an overview of Florida's public records and public meetings requirements by First Amendment Foundation President Barbara Petersen and a Florida media law presentation by members of The Florida Bar Media & Communications Law Committee.
--Legal Profession--
GET RID OF DIRECT-FILE LAW-- The Miami Herald, column, http://www.miamiherald.com, Feb. 7, 2010.
The column by Miami-Dade County public defender Carlos J. Martinez states "In the early 1990s, following highly publicized tourist murders, the Florida Legislature reacted by passing experimental laws called prosecutorial transfer or direct file. These laws gave prosecutors the unfettered discretion to decide if children as young as 14 should be tried in adult court. It took the decision away from juvenile judges. A judge is not involved. A courtroom is not involved. No checks and balances. No hearing; no right to be heard. No right to appeal the decision. The results of this experiment are in: Prosecutorial transfer laws produce worse outcomes for youth, victims and the public."
GENETIC DISCRIMINATION LAW OPENS CAN OF WORMS-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Feb. 8, 2010.
Kim was a social worker with a human services agency when she revealed at a staff workshop on caring for people with chronic illnesses that her family had a history of Huntington's disease, an incurable genetic neuro-degenerative disorder. A week later, she was fired despite outstanding performance reviews. In another case, a 28-year-old woman initially was denied health insurance coverage after the carrier learned she had a predisposition to breast cancer. She hadn’t revealed any genetic information but revealed she had undergone prophylactic mastectomies and a hysterectomy. The carrier learned about the operations after requesting her medical records. These are two case studies mentioned in a 2004 report by the Coalition for Genetic Fairness in an argument for a law to protect Americans from health-related discrimination. The Genetics Information Non-Discrimination Act, or GINA for short, took effect in November. The late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., called it "the first civil rights bill of the new century of the life sciences."
--Judiciary--
BENCH TRANSITION MARKED BY SLOW, LOW-KEY YEAR-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Feb. 8, 2010. [Also: FLORIDA SUPREME COURT: CASES DECIDED; FLORIDA SUPREME COURT: CASES PENDING-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Feb. 8, 2010].
This group of articles focuses on the activities of the Florida Supreme Court during the past year. In a year of transition, the Florida Supreme Court lambasted the governor for failing to follow the state Constitution on judicial appointments and tackled the court-clogging foreclosure crisis. Behind the scenes, the justices got acclimated to a new majority following four departures from the seven-member court. However, compared with previous sessions, the state’s high court experienced a relatively low-key year — issuing fewer opinions in 2009 than any of the past five years. High-profile issues made infrequent appearances on the 2009 docket.
DRUG COURT: SMART GROWTH-- The Florida Times-Union, editorial, http://www.jacksonville.com, Feb. 8, 2010.
The editorial states: "Sometimes, the best way to make people pay for their crimes is by giving them another chance to contribute to the community. That's exactly what the Duval County Drug Court tries to do - by sentencing nonviolent, substance-addicted defendants to treatment and counseling instead of jail. So it's good that the court recently received $2.9 million in grant funding to grow its program over the next three years to serve nearly 700 Jacksonville residents, according to information from the office of the Fourth Judicial Circuit."
HEALTH PROBLEMS FORCE LONGTIME JUDGE BOYLSTON TO BOW OUT OF RE-ELECTION BID-- Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, Feb. 7, 2010.
Citing "ongoing medical issues," Lake County Judge Richard W. "Red" Boylston, a fixture on the county bench for the past two decades, announced that he will not seek a fifth and final term in November after all. The 54-year-old judge, who began his law career prosecuting felons, said he believed he could win re-election to the nonpartisan post but doubted he could physically complete another six-year term.
APPLICATIONS SOUGHT FOR VOLUSIA JUDGESHIP-- Daytona Beach News-Journal, http://www.news-journalonline.com, Feb. 8, 2010.
A new opening for a Volusia County Court judge has been created with the announced retirement of Judge John Roger Smith, effective July 5. The Judicial Nominating Commission for the 7th Judicial Circuit will accept applications until March 1. The commission has until April 2 to send up to six nominees to Gov. Charlie Crist, who will choose the appointee, commission chair William J. Voges said.
--Other--
ODOM, 78, WAS GIFTED LAWYER AND BOY SCOUT ENTHUSIAST-- Tallahassee Democrat, http://www.tallahassee.com, Feb. 6, 2010.
Perry Odom was an admired attorney. For many, though, he left his biggest mark on the hundreds of young men he shepherded through the Boy Scouts. Odom, 78, died Thursday [Feb. 4] of brain cancer. An attorney for more than 35 years, Odom was a longtime scoutmaster and officer in the local Boy Scout council. Odom was honored in June when local scouts built and named an outdoor chapel for him at Camp Wallwood reservation in Gadsden County. Odom, a native of Jacksonville, earned a degree from Florida State and worked for a Jacksonville insurance company before graduating from the University of Florida law school. In 1964, he joined the Tallahassee law firm of Ervin, Varn, Jacobs, Odom and Kitchen. In a firm that included former Gov. LeRoy Collins, Supreme Court Justice Richard Ervin and Bob Ervin, Odom was prized as a versatile, intelligent attorney.
ESTEEMED LAWYER RICHARD MARS ALWAYS SPOKE HIS MIND-- The Ledger, http://www.theledger.com, Feb. 5, 2010.
Veteran Bartow defense lawyer Richard Mars, who defended some of Polk County's most high-profile criminal cases, died late Thursday [Feb. 4] following a nine-month battle with lung cancer. He was 70. A one-time prosecutor, Mars abandoned that job after 18 months when he was told he couldn't smoke in his office. He walked out and became a defense lawyer, launching a career that would span more than three decades. In his own words, Mars spent his life "protecting the rights of the innocent and the downtrodden." Mars, a New Jersey native who grew up in Miami, received his law degree from Florida State University. He majored in business and took the law school admissions test on a lark, stumbling into his passion.
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07-01-2005
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