SAO update – Mickey Rocque, who has wanted to run for State Attorney for years but never did out of respect for Mike Satz, reports he is excited to run and serve the people of Broward County.

Paul Backman is not, as rumored, running for SAO, and is expected to officially file for Clerk of Courts soon.

Regina Faulk is rumored to be considering a run for her outgoing boss’s job.  This could be more than a rumor, however, as multiple texts and an email asking her to confirm or deny have not been returned as of posting …

Anyone else?  Stay tuned …

Six Degrees of 17C! – speaking of Faulk, she’s on the Grievance Committee that signed off on the subpoena asking for protected JAABLOG IP Addresses.  Today’s news of her potential future ambitions are coincidentally her second newsworthy appearance on the blog as of late, as she was also a witness on Brenda v. Coleman:

Since it’s a small Browardtown after all, it’s not surprising there’s another member of the GC whose firm, Cole, Scott & Kissane, was JAABLOG-worthy years back, during Gardinergate:

(From ANSWER BRIEF OF RESPONDENT, by Dave Bogenschutz and Jack Goldberger)

Lastly, the lawyer whose signature appears on the subpoena on behalf of the GC, Sean Collin, is no longer showing up as a listed member of 17C. We’ll be following up with the Bar tomorrow to see if he was termed out, or something else.

In any event, Collin’s firm, Lyons, Snyder, Collin, has been a financial contributor to Bobby Diaz’s reelection bids over the years, and we learned through a PRR that NSU grad Collin had once been assigned to Diaz’s division as a newbie ASA.  Diaz’s wife Dian Diaz is, of course, a witness on Brenda v. Blog.  And JAABLOG’s relationship with the judge named Diaz certainly doesn’t require much expounding around here …

There’s more, but for now …Thanks for playing 6 degrees of 17C!

Attention current and former Broward ASA’s – The original, legendary, Miami’s Rumpole, has thrown down the gauntlet.  He’s promised to publish all your comments disproving his opinion of Satz.  Here’s the link to support your leader!

Thank you TFB – the Bar has confirmed they will not be covering anything to do with Michelle Suskauer at this point in time, just as they previously indicated they won’t be informing the membership about their quest for JAABLOG’s IP Addresses.

That’s right, because “The Daily News Summary doesn’t include clips about pending litigation or pending disciplinary cases … (and) … The Florida Bar News also only reports on Bar cases that conclude with court-ordered discipline“, it will be up to blogs like JAABLOG that are read statewide by judges and lawyers alike to spread the news of what’s going on at the highest levels of a major government agency.

Interesting, isn’t it?  JAABLOG’s arguments concerning the need and importance of an unfettered and protected Fourth Estate have now been bolstered by the Bar’s very own policies concerning news blackouts when they’re sometimes the ones in an unflattering spotlight.

Here’s what Howard Finkelstein had to say on the topic earlier this week:

“In my over forty years in this courthouse, I can say without the blog, so many secrets would stay a secret forever.  It is only because of the blog that some of the dirty deeds and corruption of our criminal justice system and legal profession have seen the light of day, and reached the public’s ears.  If they will not keep their own house clean, then the blog is more important today than ever before.”

And if you don’t believe him, read what the great Sandy D’Alemberte had to say about Brenda v. Blog, shortly before his passing ...

COMING SOON – $750 Grand Theft cutoff applied retroactively, please; Catching up with Pro Bono Warrior John Howes …