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.
Oct. 2, 2008
--Legal Profession--
CONFLICT COUNSEL OFFICE: REVOLVING DOOR IN REPRESENTING THE POOR-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Oct. 2, 2008.
In a foundering economy with tight employment prospects, a new West Palm Beach-based state agency created as a backup public defender's office is having problems retaining lawyers, suffering massive turnover in its first year. At least 26 attorneys and staffers have left the office — including many who were forced out. The departures aggravate problems faced by an agency that many critics charge is underfunded and poorly operated.
MOTION TO BOOT SHORSTEIN HALTS COURTHOUSE CASE-- The Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com, Oct. 2, 2008.
Jacksonville City Hall's top lawyer accused State Attorney Harry Shorstein on Wednesday [Oct. 1] of years of bias and misconduct, prompting a judge to suspend a grand jury probe of cost overruns on the Duval County Courthouse project. Chief Circuit Judge Donald Moran didn't say when or if the grand jury could resume investigating the project. He said that would depend on how long it takes to litigate city attorney Rick Mullaney's blistering motion to disqualify Shorstein from the investigation. Shorstein is retiring at the end of the year and will be replaced by the newly-elected Angela Corey. Shorstein denied any bias or misconduct but said even if everything Mullaney says is true, it isn't grounds for disqualification under Florida law.
DAMAGE CONTROL CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS INADVERTENT INFORMATION LEAKS-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Oct. 1, 2008.
When a law firm's lawyers leak privileged information, they place their bar cards in jeopardy. However, when a company entrusted with legal document management does the same thing, there isn’t much recourse available. A recent decision from the 3rd District Court of Appeal spotlighted this problem, which has caused a lively debate in law schools, law firms and bar associations across the country. Document management firms could be on the hook for a costly breach-of-contract suit, but that doesn't solve the problem entirely for the other litigants in a case, said Robert Atkinson Jr., who teaches legal ethics at Florida State University. Atkinson worries that a company with little to lose holding the keys to confidential information creates the potential for real problems in litigating cases ethically.
--Judiciary--
PUBLIC TO WEIGH IN ON COURT SYSTEM'S FUTURE-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, Oct. 2, 2008.
The Florida Supreme Court Task Force on Judicial Branch Planning is holding a public meeting tonight to help put together its long-term strategy to deal with the future of the court system. The meeting, in Coral Gables, is one of nine public meetings being held around the state.
CRIST PICKS 'HUMBLE MAN' TO FILL HIGH COURT VACANCY-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, Oct. 2, 2008. [Also: CRIST APPOINTS POLSTON TO HIGH COURT-- Florida Capital News, http://www.floridacapitalnews.com, Oct. 2, 2008; GOV. CRIST PICKS CONSERVATIVE FOR FLORIDA SUPREME COURT-- Sun-Sentinel, http://www.sun-sentinel.com, Oct. 2, 2008].
From The Miami Herald: Ricky L. Polston, a conservative Tallahassee appellate judge, became the Florida Supreme Court's newest member Wednesday [Oct. 1] after he was selected by Gov. Charlie Crist. Polston, 52, will replace retiring Justice Kenneth Bell. Raised on a small family farm in Graceville, Polston was appointed in 2000 by then-Gov. Jeb Bush to the First District Court of Appeal, which deals with the majority of legislative and executive branch feuds. Polston is also a certified public accountant, father of four daughters and adoptive father of six sons.
--Legislature--
POPULAR CLASS-SIZE AMENDMENT MAY BE SIDELINED BY ECONOMY-- Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, Oct. 2, 2008.
Florida's popular class-size amendment may be put on ice, thanks to a weakening economy and a statewide budget crisis. Despite strong public support, a broad consensus is forming that the goal of limiting class size is simply too expensive during the current economic crunch. School superintendents, grappling with cuts, would welcome the move and the Florida Education Association, the state's teachers union, said it would not object -- but only if the changes were temporary. Florida lawmakers pitching the modifications acknowledge that the public will never accept a full reversal, yet insist that they have no choice but to look at class sizes.The bottom line: Everyone is expecting draconian budget cuts this year and next as the economy deteriorates and softening the class-size amendment for awhile could be one of the least painful cuts confronting Florida's schools.
JUDGE RULES LEGISLATURE OVERSTEPPED ITS AUTHORITY ON CUBA TRAVEL RESTRICTION-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Oct. 2, 2008.
In a strongly worded order, a Miami federal judge Wednesday [Oct. 1] ruled the Florida Legislature overstepped its authority when it passed restrictions targeting travel and charter companies booking trips to Cuba. The amendments to the Florida Travel Act placed restrictions on charter companies, requiring a $250,000 state bond while other travel agencies pay only $25,000. It also allows the bond money to be used to investigate sellers of travel-related services to Cuba. State lawmakers supporting the amendments said they were made with consumer protection in mind, but opponents viewed it as a thinly veiled move by the state to toughen the federal Cuban trade embargo. U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold said the right to impose sanctions is solely within the powers of the federal — not state — government, adding the amendments constituted little more than a political attempt to impose economic sanctions on travel to Cuba.
--Civil Justice Issues--
STRAND SEEKS REHEARING ON PUBLIC FINANCE CHALLENGE-- South Florida Business Journal, http://southflorida.bizjournals.com, Oct. 1, 2008.
The Florida Supreme Court is being asked, once again, to revisit a seesaw battle over certain types of public financing for major infrastructure projects. On Monday [Sept. 29], Gregory Strand, a North Florida veterinarian, filed a motion with the state high court asking justices to reconsider their recent ruling in his case against Escambia County. The specific fight is over Strand’s objection to the use of $135 million in tax-increment financing (TIF) for a road project, partly because he did not get to vote on the spending. The case has held far-reaching implications for other publicly financed projects, including a new stadium for the Florida Marlins. Strand won a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court last fall, which said public votes should be required to commit future property taxes for bonds over $1 million. Court cases about public financing for big projects that relied on TIF were left in a gray area. One such case involved auto dealer Norman Braman. He filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade challenging the public funding plan behind a new stadium.
SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH BEACH RESTORATION-- Northwest Florida Daily News, http://www.nwfdailynews.com, Oct. 1, 2008.
It took two years of waiting, but Destin and Walton County's beach restoration projects have turned out to be legal.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled Monday [Sept. 29] that the restoration of two miles of Destin beach in 2007 and four miles of beach in Walton County the year before did not violate beachfront owners' property rights. The 5-2 decision ended a lawsuit brought by property owners who began fighting the state permit for the project in 2004. Destin landowner Linda Cherry, who with her group Save Our Beaches was a part of the initial lawsuit, said the group is reviewing its options. The court said in its opinion that the state has a constitutional duty to protect its beaches and that the Florida Beach and Shore Preservation Act authorizes the state to add sand to beaches eroded from storms and other causes.
--Other--
CIVICS PILOT PROGRAM TO BE LAUNCHED IN LEON COUNTY SCHOOLS-- Tallahassee Democrat, http://www.tallahassee.com, Oct. 1, 2008.
Leon County seventh-graders will be the first to engage in a statewide pilot program created to stimulate more civic education in schools. District and state officials discussed the need for more exposure to community service and civic-related activities during a news conference Tuesday [Sept. 30] in Tallahassee. The district has made a three-year commitment to the program, spearheaded by former Gov. Bob Graham and U.S. Rep. Lou Frey. Graham's hoping the curriculum, created by the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship and funded through the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will plant seeds for future "players," who will take an active role in community service and in doing their civic duty. Mike Pate, the Knight Foundation's program director for Tallahassee, said $471,000 will be given to the program over the next three years.
SEMINOLE'S THIRST FOR ST. JOHNS WATER DRAWS FIRE-- Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, Oct. 2, 2008. [Also: HEARING BEGINS ON TAPPING ST. JOHNS-- The Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com, Oct. 2, 2008].
From the Orlando Sentinel: Seminole County's quest to pump 5.5 million gallons of water a day from the St. Johns River is merely the first step in becoming a regional water provider at the expense of the river's ecosystem, critics charged Wednesday [Oct. 1] in the opening round of a widely anticipated state hearing. North Florida governments and environmentalists hope to thwart Central Florida's growing thirst for the water of the environmentally fragile river that meanders 310 miles north through the Orlando region to Jacksonville and the Atlantic Ocean. A trial-like state administrative hearing in Sanford could block pumping from the river and force Central Florida to practice more aggressive conservation of water that comes from the increasingly stressed underground Floridan Aquifer. The hearing stems specifically from North Florida's effort to prevent the St. Johns River Water Management District from issuing a permit to Seminole County for river withdrawals.
VOTE-COUNTING MACHINES REJECT DIFFERENT BALLOTS-- The Palm Beach Post, http://www.palmbeachpost.com, Oct. 2, 2008.
The latest salvo in the legal fight over a razor-thin judicial race was either a dud or gave losing Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Richard Wennet ammunition to demand a new election. Those were the wildly divergent views expressed Wednesday [Oct. 1] after Wennet's legal team conducted a recount of 262 of the roughly 102,700 ballots cast in the Aug. 26 election. Plagued by ever-changing ballot counts that prompted three recounts, the race wasn't decided until last week when attorney William Abramson was declared the winner by 61 votes. When the 262 ballots were fed through two tabulators used during the recounts, they rejected different numbers of ballots. But, as is always done during recounts, the rejected ballots were then counted by hand. The vote totals remained the same. Still, attorney Gerald Richman said the inconsistencies show that the machines can't be trusted.
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[Revised:
07-01-2005
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