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.
July 21, 2010
--The Florida Bar--
FLORIDA BAR GIVES JUDICIAL CANDIDATES A FORUM-- The Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com, July 20, 2010. [Also: FLORIDA JUDICIAL CANDIDATE INFORMATION POSTED ONLINE-- Citrus Daily, http://citrusdaily.com, July 21, 2010; THE FLORIDA BAR SHEDS LIGHT ON JUDICIAL RACES WITH NEW "SELF-DISCLOSURE" STATEMENTS-- The Florida Independent, http://www.floridaindependent.com, July 21, 2010].
Statewide, 70 candidates for county and circuit judge positions in the Aug. 24 election filed voluntary self-disclosure statements with a website launched Monday [June 19] by The Florida Bar, www.floridabar.org/judicialcandidates. The statements, which include biographical information and 100-word personal statements explaining why they believe they would make good judges, are governed by the Code of Judicial Conduct, which prohibits candidates from making statements that appear to commit them on legal issues likely to come before them.
--Legal Profession--
ATTEND A FREE BANKRUPTCY CLINIC-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, July 21, 2010.
Miami-Dade residents can learn how to file for bankruptcy by attending a free clinic Friday [July 23] offered by Put Something Back and The Bankruptcy Bar Association. A bankruptcy attorney may be present to discuss individual cases or give advice on general bankruptcy matters.
--Civil Justice Issues--
IT'S HARD TO GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT BEING ON CAMERA-- Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, July 19, 2010.
Whether you're using an ATM, driving through a busy intersection or stopping at the corner store for a gallon of milk, there's a good chance cameras are following your every move. The message they are meant to impart: Don't even think about doing something you shouldn't, because you will be caught in the act. Law-enforcement officials say the proliferation of cameras in public places, and those used by business owners and homeowners, are integral to deterring and solving crimes. The wide use of surveillance cameras has raised concerns from some who say their benefits should be weighed against their potential for misuse. Surveillance cameras — especially government-owned systems — also concern University of Florida law professor Christopher Slobogin, who was asked to serve on an American Bar Association Task Force to devise rules governing transaction surveillance.
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT TO HEAR REDISTRICTING CASES-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, July 20, 2010.
The Florida Supreme Court will take up cases challenging three redistricting amendments slated for the Nov. 2 ballot. The justices Monday [July 19] halted trial court proceedings while they consider arguments to either dismiss a challenge to a pair of citizen initiatives or decide it themselves. The initiatives, Amendments 5 and 6, are aimed at stopping gerrymandering that benefits incumbents and political parties in legislative and congressional redistricting.
ROYAL PALM BEACH WIDOW RECALLS EFFORTS TO QUIT SMOKING IN TRIAL AGAINST TOBACCO GIANTS-- The Palm Beach Post, http://www.palmbeachpost.com, July 21, 2010.
To quit smoking, Margaret Piendle and her late husband tried every trick they could. They threw away ash trays, chewed gum, jammed toothpicks and straws in their mouths and munched on candy. Decades passed and their efforts to quit failed again and again, Piendle told a jury Tuesday [July 20]. By the time her husband, Charles Piendle, finally kicked the habit for good he was 48 - and seven years from death by lung cancer. Margaret Piendle, of Royal Palm Beach, is now suing tobacco giants R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris in Palm Beach Circuit Court, alleging they are to blame for her husband's untimely death. Her legal team must convince a jury that Charles Piendle was addicted to cigarettes and that cigarette makers' attempts to conceal the risks of smoking contributed to his addiction.
--Criminal Justice Issues--
AGE MAY KEEP KILLER OFF DEATH ROW-- Florida Today, http://www.floridatoday.com, July 21, 2010.
Prosecutors won't seek to send convicted killer George Porter, 78 years old and ailing, back to Death Row. The appeals process for death sentences may take decades, prosecutors say and the sentence would never be carried out. In prison since 1988, Porter likely will be sentenced to a third life term in August. He was found guilty of two charges of first-degree murder in the death of his former girlfriend, Evelyn Williams, and her boyfriend, Walter Burrows, in Melbourne.
--Other--
JUDGE LENDS A HELPING HAND-- Pensacola News Journal, http://www.pnj.com, July 21, 2010.
John Kuder has 57 children. At least, it sometimes feels that way. In addition to his two grown adopted sons, Kuder feels like a father to the 55 children living at his orphanage outside of Viyawada, India. A senior circuit judge for the First Judicial Circuit, Kuder was born in Ohio, but has lived in the Gulf Breeze and Pensacola area since childhood. In the summer of 2004, Kuder's wife, Susan Bleiler, was attending a conference in Singapore when she met a young pastor from India, Ravi Chandra. Chandra and his wife, Prasanthi, both shared Kuder's and Bleiler's compassion for the poor in India and Southeast Asia. Over the next two years, a plan came together leading to the formation of The John P. Kuder Home and School for Orphaned Children.
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[Revised:
07-01-2005
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