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.
Sept. 2, 2008
--Legal Profession--
LARIZZA WANTS TO SMOOTH ELECTION RANCOR-- The Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com, Sept. 1, 2008.
State Attorney-elect R.J. Larizza says his contentious campaign to oust incumbent John Tanner in the 7th Judicial Circuit is not going to extend into his taking over of the office. Larizza, 50, will go from his private practice in St. Augustine, where he has one associate attorney, to an operation of 214 employees and offices in four counties. However, he said he is not planning to clean house, noting his campaign and issues were with Tanner, not with them. Larizza, who worked for Tanner until leaving in 2002 to open his own practice, said he has already contacted staffers in the circuit.
COREY'S GOAL: OFFICE EFFICIENCY-- The Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com, Sept. 2, 2008.
There are a lot of things people want to know about 4th Circuit State Attorney-elect Angela Corey. Come January, Corey will become the top prosecutor for Duval, Clay and Nassau counties. She will replace State Attorney Harry Shorstein, the man who fired her in 2006 and strongly supported her opponent, Chief Assistant State Attorney Jay Plotkin. Corey said her top priorities include restructuring the office to make it more efficient.
STELMA'S POSITION OFFICIAL-- Jacksonville Daily Record, http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com, Sept. 1, 2008.
It's just court administrator now. After six months of serving as acting court administrator following the departure of Britt Beasley, Joe Stelma had the acting title lifted after notifying the Florida Supreme Court Thursday [Aug. 28]. Though just announced, the decision was actually made Aug. 14 following a majority approval of all county and circuit court judges in the 4th Judicial Circuit.
YOUR CHANCE TO HELP OUT PROSECUTORS-- Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, Aug. 31, 2008.
The Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office has a new strategy for coping with state budget cuts: actively recruiting people to volunteer to help prosecutors. State Attorney Lawson Lamar on Friday [Aug. 29] detailed his "Volunteer September" effort, which aims to fill 100 positions with dedicated volunteers in his agency. Volunteer opportunities include positions in administration, records management, translation, victim advocacy and law internships, Lamar said.
--Judiciary--
DEAL LETS THREE COURT WORKERS KEEP JOBS-- Florida Today, http://www.floridatoday.com, Sept. 1, 2008.
Three Brevard County court workers will keep their jobs as part of an agreement reached this week between state and court officials to halt the layoffs of more than 200 court employees statewide by Oct. 1. Last week cuts ordered by the state Legislature had forced the layoffs of the three Brevard and two Seminole County employees. The changes were expected to shave $385,404 from the 18th Judicial Circuit's budget, spokeswoman Michelle Kennedy said. On Thursday [Aug. 28], Kennedy said, state court officials announced to each circuit's chief judge via telephone conference that Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince and Lisa Goodner, director of the Office of State Courts Administrator, had convinced legislative leaders that the cuts had gone too deep.
--Civil Justice Issues--
SHACKLING OF MENTALLY ILL FOSTER CHILDREN IN DADE, BROWARD COURTS IN QUESTION-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, Aug. 31, 2008.
Last month, a 16-year-old Broward County girl was brought into Circuit Judge John A. Frusciante's courtroom for a hearing. She was handcuffed, her legs shackled with cloth restraints, with two armed deputies leading her by the arm. Her offense? She's never been charged with one. A mentally ill foster child who was neglected by her mother and wound up in a psychiatric center, the teen was being restrained to keep her from running away, her attorney said. The girl is among roughly 2,200 foster children in psychiatric centers in Florida recovering from abuse and neglect. Now, the practice of restraining mentally ill foster children in court is prompting questions in both Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
JUDGE STRIKES DOWN CUBA TRAVEL BAN FOR PROFESSORS-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, Aug. 30, 2008.
A federal judge has struck down a controversial state law that essentially banned professors at state universities in Florida from traveling to Cuba for research purposes, declaring it unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz ruled that the 2006 law "is an impermissible sanction and serves as an obstacle to the objectives of the federal government.'' The law prohibited the use of state and nonstate funds for travel to Cuba and other countries labeled by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. The judge struck down one provision of the law -- the one banning nonstate or private funds from being used for such travel. That means most academics at state universities would be allowed to resume travel to Cuba because most of those trips are covered by private funds, said Florida International University Professor Lisandro Perez, who founded the university's Cuba Research Institute.
MAN ACQUITTED IN TERROR PLOT GETS HIS DAY IN COURT IN DEPORTATION HEARING-- Sun-Sentinel, http://www.sun-sentinel.com, Sept. 2, 2008.
In a cramped immigration courtroom, a 33-year-old Haitian, for a second time, is fighting charges he took part in a terrorist plot to bomb the Chicago Sears Tower and Miami FBI headquarters as a member of the so-called Liberty City Seven. It's legal, but some lawyers question the fairness of government officials now seeking to deport Lyglenson Lemorin after a jury acquitted him in December. Last week the government presented its case for sending Lemorin back to Haiti, despite the jury's verdict and his status for more than 20 years as a legal permanent U.S. resident. Lemorin is expected this week to tell his version of events to the administrative judge hearing his case. His unusual situation as an acquitted man on trial highlights the lesser legal rights of immigrants, even when they are legal residents.
LAWSUIT OVER SEVERE BEATING IN BROWARD COUNTY JAIL READY FOR TRIAL-- Sun-Sentinel, http://www.sun-sentinel.com, Sept. 1, 2008.
A federal trial is set to begin today in Miami in the case of Dana Jones, 46, a former jail inmate suing the Broward Sheriff's Office for being beaten into a coma while in custody. Ex-Sheriff Ken Jenne, who has been brought to a federal detention center in Miami for the trial, is at the top of the witness list. Jones lives in a Pompano Beach nursing home, where he requires extensive care because of brain damage from his injuries. He was found Dec. 16, 2006, on the floor of Broward County's main jail. In his lawsuit, he accuses the Sheriff's Office and the jail's medical provider, Armor Correctional Health Services, of ignoring a prior mental condition, failing to protect him from other inmates and bungling an investigation into the beating and whether deputies may have incited it. The suit seeks payment of medical costs and unspecified damages.
--Criminal Justice Issues--
STATE DISTRIBUTES 'COLD CASE' PLAYING CARDS-- Pensacola News Journal, http://www.pnj.com, Aug. 30, 2008.
Florida law enforcement officials are distributing "cold case" playing cards to prisons and probation offices in hopes of solving unsolved homicide and missing person cases. The cards feature 52 of Florida's unsolved crimes and include a photograph of the victim and information about the case. This is the third edition of the cards distributed to the 67 prisons and 156 parole offices in Florida. According to the Florida Attorney General's office, the idea for the cards originated in 2005. The cards were distributed in the Polk County Jail, and within months, a tip from an inmate led to arrests in an unsolved murder.
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[Revised:
07-01-2005
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