Florida

Diversity Issue Heats Up in Miami Courts

A simmering controversy over a series of insensitive remarks recently made by Miami area judges has heated up further, following the resignation of a Broward County jurist chairing the court’s newly created diversity board. Elijah H. Williams, the first black to be appointed to the Broward County bench in 20…

Jul 18, 2007 8:35 PM CDT

Judge Off Case for Columbine Remark

A Florida judge has been removed from a case for comparing a juvenile’s appearance to that of two teens who went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School. Judge Charles Kaplan of Broward County made the remark when he was overseeing the juvenile delinquency case of a 14-year-old boy…

Jul 12, 2007 1:31 PM CDT

2 Irked Jurists: 2 Ethics Cases for 1 Atty

Did Arnold Levine rifle through the papers on a Florida judge’s desk? Or did he merely, as he claims, pick up a copy of a document that he had faxed to the judge, in plain sight of other lawyers and court personnel? That seems to be the question in one…

Jul 11, 2007 8:24 PM CDT

Armed Attorney Forced Off Murder Case

A Florida attorney who allegedly carried a loaded gun into a Broward County courthouse in his briefcase has been removed as defense counsel in a murder case and charged with carrying a concealed firearm. Stephen Finta, 59, told the judge in the case that he was carrying the .357 Ruger…

Jul 6, 2007 8:15 PM CDT

No Misconduct by Florida ‘NHI’ Judge

The former chief criminal judge in Broward County, Florida, has been cleared of misconduct for using the acronym NHI, short for “no humans involved,” after an April attempted murder trial ended in the defendant’s acquittal. The victim, the defendant and the witnesses in the case were all African-American, and several…

Jul 3, 2007 9:02 PM CDT

Slain Victim’s Kin Own OJ Book Rights

A highly controversial book authored by fallen football hero O.J. Simpson that some considered his confession to the 1994 murders of his former wife, Nicole, and a male companion, Ron Goldman, is now likely to be published after all. But if so the profits will go not to O.J. Simpson’s…

Jul 3, 2007 6:52 PM CDT

11th Circuit OKs Search of Football Fans

“Voluntary” pat-down searches of fans entering football stadiums do not violate the 4th Amendment prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizes, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decided today. Ruling in a case brought by a Tampa Bay Buccaneers season-ticket holder Gordon Johnston, a civics teacher, the appeals court said…

Jun 26, 2007 7:24 PM CDT

Efforts to Protect Immigrants from Crime Elicit Praise—and Criticism

In separation investigations more than 1,000 miles apart, officials say they have found that illegal immigrants are targeted as crime victims at least in part because they are reluctant to contact police. Authorities say they have been sensitive to these concerns, focusing enforcement efforts on immigrants who have committed crimes…

Jun 22, 2007 2:19 AM CDT

Gunman Blames Lawyer for Foreclosure

A gunman angered over the loss of his home tied up a legal secretary and stole her car today. The gunman entered a lawyer’s office in Ocala, Fla., and told the 64-year-old secretary who greeted him that her boss had taken his home in a foreclosure, the Ocala Star-Banner reports.…

Jun 21, 2007 8:36 PM CDT

White Lawyer Takes Misdemeanor Plea; Black Youth Faces 20-Year Prison Term

Their crimes, arguably, are quite similar. Both were accused of shooting at another person. Both say they didn’t. And, fortunately, nobody was seriously injured in either case. But the resulting punishment faced by two Florida men is quite different. A well-connected white former prosecutor has taken a misdemeanor plea, which…

Jun 19, 2007 2:31 AM CDT

ACLU ‘Juneteenth’ for Florida Ex-Cons

Seeking to help disenfranchised former convicts in Florida, the American Civil Liberties Union is promoting a “Juneteenth” effort. Its purpose is to make them aware of a state clemency program and help them apply for a restoration of their civil rights–including the right to vote. The effort takes its name…

Jun 19, 2007 1:28 AM CDT

‘Phenomenal Year’ for Florida Lawyers

Defying predictions of a law practice slowdown, attorneys in South Florida report their business is booming. “It was a phenomenal year to be a lawyer,” John C. Sumberg, managing partner of Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod, an 85-attorney firm in Miami, tells the Daily Business Review. “We had many…

Jun 18, 2007 9:16 PM CDT

Foreclosures Explode in South Florida; Poor, Minorities Hit Hardest

Although South Florida is still a bit below the national average for the total percentage of mortgages in foreclosure, that may not be true much longer. The number of foreclosure lawsuits filed to force non-mortgage-paying owners from their properties has doubled and tripled in some counties, compared to last year.…

Jun 15, 2007 11:20 PM CDT

Suit Claims Racist Tobacco Marketing

A Miami attorney has filed a $1 billion suit that claims tobacco companies targeted blacks with racist marketing tactics. Solo practitioner J.B. Harris filed the suit on behalf of Coral Springs, Fla., woman whose mother and grandmother died of smoking-related illness, the Daily Business Review reports. The suit claims the…

Jun 6, 2007 1:47 PM CDT

Is Florida Paternity Register Working?

It may be time for some unmarried men in Florida to forget the classic post-coital cigarette, a state supreme court justice said this week. Instead, those who want to be dads should hasten to the Florida Department of Health and announce, “I want the state to know that I’ve just…

Jun 6, 2007 1:07 AM CDT