Subject: U.S. Courts

• New Times Owners Arrested

  October 19, 2007

• BREAKING NEWS: Liberty City Seven Verdict -- Give up, Mukasey!

  December 13, 2007

• Florida Supreme Court Takes Three Amendments Off the Ballot

  September 3, 2008

• Jack Thompson, 2 Live Crew's Greatest Nemesis, Disbarred

  September 25, 2008

• Was it a Tall or a Venti?

  October 16, 2008

• Wait, So Registered Child Abusers Had More Adoption Rights Than Gays?

  Riptide was going to write you up a nice "The Florida Supreme Court for Dummies" post, but in its research found itself caught up in tangents. Our interest was spurred in part by yesterday's overturning of the gay adoption ban by a Miami judge (as well as by future Crist appointments). The issue will likely find itself before the Florida Supreme Court. But the court has taken up the issue before in James W. Cox vs. Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) back

  November 26, 2008

• There Ought to Be a Law

  November 28, 1990

• Break a Leg, Sweetheart!

  January 1, 1992

• Falcon and Magluta

  February 12, 1992

• County's Crane Ordinance Deconstructed in Federal Court

  Today there was a minor crane accident on NE 79th street. The crane tipped, but no one was hurt. It was fitting as Miami-Dade's controversial crane ordinance was also tipped over this week in a federal court. The county passed the law in March of last year, the same month a much more serious crane accident claimed two lives. The measure had been on the table before that  -- after a string of accidents in 2006 claimed 14 lives -- but had met with resistance from the construction industry. Th

  January 15, 2009

• Obama's Chief Counsel Dismissed from 'Black October' Case

  Two months ago, the New Times brought you the story of the "Black October" legal case in Miami's federal court, where a handful of poor Bolivians are suing Gonzalo "Goni" Sanchez de Lozada and Carlos Sanchez Berzain -- Bolivia's former president and defense minister -- for allegedly leading the massacre of 67 indigenous protesters and then fleeing for safety in the Magic City.The case is still sitting on the desk of U.S. Judge Adelberto Jordan, who hasn't ruled yet whether the Bolivians have sta

  February 4, 2009

• Gorilla Warfare

  April 7, 1993

• Junkies

  April 14, 1993

• 'I Was Cooperating with Evil': A Former Gitmo Prosecutor Sounds off About a Corrupt Process

  Two years ago, when Darrel Vandeveld flew to Guantánamo Bay to work as a prosecutor, no one else believed more in the detention camps and all they stood for in the War on Terror.Courtesy Wikimedia Commons"I was totally gung ho," Vandeveld tells Riptide. "I was convinced that we actually had the 'worst of the worst,' and I was prepared to do whatever it took to get them convicted."But for Vandeveld, a Navy JAG lawyer who had served in Bosnia, Africa, Afghanistan, and Iraq, a young Afghan named M

  February 20, 2009

• One Lawyer's Fight to Change Guantanamo Bay -- At the Expense of His Career

  Maj. Tom Fleener was enjoying a quiet life as an assistant public defender in Wyoming when he was thrust into the greatest legal conundrum of our times.Courtesy Wikimedia CommonsFleener, an Army Reservist, became more and more outraged as he read about the military commissions set up in Guantanamo Bay for the "enemy combatants" held there. In particular, he couldn't believe the detainees were forced to accept pro bono military lawyers even when they wanted to represent themselves.He was so outra

  February 25, 2009

• Florida Convict Isn't Joking This Time

   When death row inmate Michael Lambrix applied to be a Florida Supreme Court Justice in January, the nominating committee had a good laugh. "It's tongue-in-cheek," said Chair Robert Hackleman - and it probably was. (Lambrix wrote: "My biggest qualification...is that I'm the only applicant that has been totally screwed by the justice system.") But it seems the chuckles ensuing from lawyers and judges have now faded into an uncomfortable silence. This past February 9, the litigious convict

  March 4, 2009

• The Same People Who Brought You Amendment Two Gear Up For Gay Adoption Fight

  It's been a long time since we've heard from the folks at the Liberty Council, the religious right wing organization that played a huge role in Amendment Two -- the ban that threatens any recognition of homosexual commitment in Florida. Wonder what they're up to? Oh, doing everything in their power to uphold Florida's gay adoption ban, of course. They're filing an amicus brief in support of the ban in advance of the impending supreme court showdown over the gay marriage ban that Miami-Dade judge

  March 5, 2009

• The King Was Shot but Survived

  August 3, 1995

• The Boulder Boys Must Die

  September 21, 1995

• Blogger Rumpole Ruffles the Courts

  August 14, 2008

• Jack Thompson Don't Know Jack

  June 19, 2008

• BEST JUDGE

  May 13, 2004

• Golden Conflict

  January 19, 2006

• Mock Trial

  October 19, 2006

• Water Fight

  August 10, 2006

• BEST HERO

  May 12, 2005

• BEST LOCAL BAND OF ALL TIME

  May 13, 2004

• BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE GOOD

  May 15, 2003

• Best About-Face

  May 17, 2001

• Cough It Up

  February 15, 2001

• Frank Talk About Free Speech

  May 25, 2000

• In the Rough

  February 24, 2000

• Speak Your Mind, Lose Your Job

  July 1, 1999

• News of the Weird

  September 3, 1998

• Stealth Indictment

  May 21, 1998

• Bye-Bye, Baba

  November 27, 1997

• Go Directly to Court

  October 30, 1997

• Juris Without Prudence

  January 2, 1997

• Keep It Coming!

  December 16, 1992

• Coral Gables Officials to See Red

  July 15, 1992

• The Further Adventures of Willy and Sal

  March 11, 1992

• Marco Rubio Takes a Swipe at Sonia Sotomayor

  May 28, 2009

• Where's Timoney Now? In D.C. Supporting Sotomayor

  We all know Miami Police Chief John Timoney likes to get out of town every chance he gets, so he couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet Vice President Joe Biden and talk up President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. "She's done all right for herself. She's the quintessential American story, from rags to riches," Timoney said. Timoney, who also serves as head of the Police Executive Research Forum, went up for the presser with a bunch of other law enforcement bigwigs to demonst

  June 9, 2009

• Where's Timoney Now? Up in DC Supporting Sotomayor

  We all know Miami Police Chief John Timoney likes to get out of town every chance he gets, so he couldn't pass up a chance to meet Vice President Joe Biden and talk up President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. "She's done all right for herself. She's the quintessential American story, from rags to riches," Timoney said. Timoney, who also serves as head of the Police Executive Research Forum, went up for the presser with a bunch of other law enforcement big-wigs to demen

  June 9, 2009

• Hialeah Boat Captain Gets 3 Years for Human Smuggling

  The young Hialeah boat captain caught transporting eight immigrants to Boynton Beach this past January will serve up to three years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra sentenced 28-year-old Jovel Dominguez-Hernandez to 36 months yesterday for human smuggling. The indictment notes his goal was "commercial advantage or personal gain." Dominguez-Hernandez admitted to accepting $3,000 to bring Haitian immigrants into the U.S. from the Bahamas, court documents show. Palm Beach Sh

  June 9, 2009

• Al Franken Finally Wins, Karma Makes Up For 2000 Florida Election Fiasco

  via CPBlotterThe Minnesota Supreme Court has unanimously declared Al Franken the winner of the 2008 Minnesota Senate race. Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty is widely expected to certify the results and send the SNL-alum to the highest legislative body in the land. The win will give Democrats a filibuster proof 60 seat majority in the Senate. Update: Politico reports Franken's opponent Norm Coleman has conceded. The eight month battle over the results rival

  June 30, 2009

• Mel Martinez Takes Pride in Sotomayor's "Historic Achievement"

  The Senate's lone Hispanic Republican, Florida's Mel Martinez, says he'll vote for the Supreme Court's first Hispanic nominee. Martinez is the second Republican senator to announce his intent to vote for Sonia Sotomayor. (Olympia Snowe quickly become the third after Martinez's announcement.)Here's his statement: "Given her judicial record, and her testimony this week, it is my determination that Judge Sotomayor is well qualified to serve as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court

  July 17, 2009

• Charlie Crist Finally Makes up His Mind About Sotomayor

  Charlie Crist had been awkwardly mum on whether he would support the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Now that it's almost assured she'll get confirmed, he has finally decided to let everyone know that, no, he would not vote to confirm this lady. Here's his statement (via Naked Politics): "Judge Sotomayor is worthy of respect for her many accomplishments and her remarkable story of success. However, I have strong concerns that Judge Sotomayor would not strictly and object

  July 21, 2009

• United States Will Officially Have It's First Hispanic Justice

  Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by the Senate today. No big surprise there. Every member of the Democratic caucus, save for Ted Kennedy who remains ill and could not attend, voted for Sotomayor. That would include, of course, Bill Nelson.While only nine republicans offered their "yays," including Mel Martinez. She'll officially be sworn in this Saturday at 11 am. [Salon: Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court justice]

  August 6, 2009

• Cuba Ordered to Pay $27.5 Million for Jailing Dissident Journalist

  Cuban dissident journalist Omar Rodriguez Saludes was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 27 years in prison simply for telling the truth. Today a U.S. federal judge ordered the government and communist party of Cuba to pay $27.5 million to Rodriguez Saludes's mother.    "During his imprisonment, he has been beaten, starved, given poor food, placed in solitary confinement, and deprived of medical treatment... I have no doubt that the acts of the Cuban government are intended to

  September 2, 2009