The purpose of this summary provided by the Communications Department of The Florida Bar is to present media coverage that may be of interest to members. Opinions expressed in the articles are attributable solely to the authors. The Florida Bar does not adopt or endorse any opinions expressed below. For information on previous articles, please contact the publishing newspaper directly.
March 14, 2023
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The Florida Bar
THE LATEST EDITION OF THE FLORIDA BAR NEWS BRIEFS PODCAST IS NOW AVAILABLE
The Florida Bar | Article | March 14, 2023
The latest edition of Florida Bar News Briefs, a weekly podcast dedicated to what’s happening in the legal profession, is not available with stories including: A major civil litigation reform package moving through the Legislature, University of Florida’s law dean moving on to become president of Barnard College in New York, an alimony reform package filed in the Senate, and more. The Florida Bar News Briefs is a product of The Florida Bar Journal & News Department.
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Legal Profession
ATTORNEY STRESS, BURNOUT AND LOW PAY CREATE HIRING CRISIS AT ESCAMBIA COURTHOUSE
Pensacola News Journal | Article | March 14, 2023
Both the State Attorney’s and Public Defender’s offices are struggling to attract and keep attorneys, leaving many current government attorneys feeling overworked and underpaid. In Florida’s First Judicial Circuit, State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden and Public Defender Bruce Miller both said that since their funding comes from the state legislature, it’s tough to compete with private law firms that can offer more money. Bowden Madden also cited the benefits that private laws firms can offer, such as remote work options, which are difficult to compete with. Not only does the State Attorney lose lawyers to private firms, she says they can lose attorneys to other state agencies that offer the same wages but work-from-homer benefits. In the past 12 months, the State Attorney’s Office lost a dozen felony attorneys, and Miller says the Escambia County Public Defender’s Office is currently four assistant public defenders shy of being fully staffed.
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Criminal Justice
‘I NEVER GAVE UP’: JUDGE EXONERATES SOUTH FLORIDA MAN IN PRISON FOR NEARLY 35 YEARS
Miami Herald | Article | March 13, 2023
After spending nearly 35 years behind bars in South Florida, Sidney Holmes was exonerated Monday [March 13] after Circuit Judge Edward Merrigan’s overturned a wrongful conviction for a 1988 armed robbery in Broward County. Holmes had been accused of being the getaway driver for two unidentified men who robbed a man and a woman outside a convenience store in unincorporated Broward in 1988. Holmes’ exoneration comes after a 2 1/2-year investigation with the Broward State Attorney’s Office, said Seth Miller, executive director of the Innocence Project of Florida, a nonprofit that helps innocent prisoners in the state obtain their freedom. Holmes wrote to the organization in 2019, and they agreed to take on the case because of “indicators of actual innocence,” such as car and photo lineup misidentifications, Miller said. Investigators also disregarded Holmes’ whereabouts, even though they were verified by several family members.
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Criminal Justice
CROWELL & MORING CONTINUES 15-YEAR FIGHT FOR PRO BONO CLIENT AFTER SUPREME COURT DENIES CASE
Daily Business Review | Article | March 13, 2023
Throughout Crowell & Moring’s 15-year representation of Crosley Green, a Florida man convicted of murdering Charles “Chip” Flynn in 1989 and conditionally released in 2021, the law firm has devoted thousands of pro bono hours to getting Green out of prison and then preventing him from going back. The attorneys are now preparing their final strategy: an appeal for parole or clemency to the Florida Commission on Offender Review or Gov. Ron DeSantis following the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of Green’s writ of certiorari at the end of February. His legal team was ultimately unsuccessful against Florida prosecutors, who continued pressing to keep Green in prison after Judge Roy Dalton Jr. ordered the state to retry or release Green in 2018. The order came after the team proved that Green’s prosecutors had withheld exculpatory evidence—notes from officers who responded to the murder scene and believed Flynn’s ex-girlfriend killed him.
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Civil Justice
HAVE UNPAID FINES COST YOU YOUR DRIVER’S LICENSE? OPERATION GREEN LIGHT CAN HELP YOU PAY THEM
Palm Beach Post | Article | March 14, 2023
Operation Green Light, which started Monday [March 13] and runs through Friday, is back. For one week only, the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller in Palm Beach County will waive the 25% collection agency fee for anyone who pays their overdue fines in full. The annual event gives people whose driver licenses have been suspended because of unpaid fines the opportunity to restore their driving privileges and save money while doing so. “The ability to legally drive is not only a privilege. It is a necessity for many people,” said Joseph Abruzzo, Palm Beach County’s clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller. “Getting to work, taking kids to school and providing for your household become huge challenges when you do not have a driver license. Operation Green Light not only helps people get their license back, but it saves them money as well.”
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Legal Profession
PUBLIC DEFENDER OFFICE HOSTING GIDEON WEEK TO MARK MAJOR 1963 U.S. SUPREME COURT RULING
TC Palm | Article | March 13, 2023
The 19th Judicial Circuit Public Defender Office is declaring this week (March 13-19) Gideon Week to mark the 60th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Gideon v Wainwright that ruled states must provide free legal representation to indigent criminal defendants. Public Defender Offices were created following the 1963 Gideon opinion to provide attorneys for people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer in criminal cases. From his Florida prison cell, Clarence E. Gideon, who had been convicted of breaking into a poolroom and taking money from a vending machine, petitioned the U. S. Supreme Court and argued that the U. S. Constitution should not allow poor people to be convicted and sent to prison without legal representation. On March 18,1963, the Supreme Court ruled that Gideon’s trial and conviction without legal representation was fundamentally unfair and violated the Constitution’s 6th and 14th Amendments.
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Tech Tip
GIVE MICROSOFT OFFICE A NEW THEME WITH DARK MODE
The Florida Bar | Tech Tip | March 14, 2023
Change up the theme in Microsoft Office by enabling the Dark Mode feature. To activate Dark Mode for all Office programs, open any Office app and then go to File, Options, General. Then open the dropdown menu next to Office Theme and select Black. On a Mac? You can set macOS to Dark Mode by clicking on the Control Center icon located in the top right corner of your screen. Select the Display Module, and then select Dark Mode.