1. Too Close To Call – with all precincts reporting and vote by mail “partially reported”, pending possible recounts:

Ernie Kollra over Alan Schneider by 919 votes (circuit);

Richard Kaplan over Mike Usan by 741 votes (circuit).

2. Winners:

Circuit judge Shari Africk-Olefson over Kristin Padowitz;

Circuit judge Susan Alspector over Camille Coolidge-Shotwell;

Circuit judge Dan Casey over Karen Berger;

County judge Bobby Diaz over Mike Heise;

County judge Mike Davis over Rhoda Sokoloff;

County judge Bob Lee over Stephen Lustig.

3. November Match-Ups:

Jason Allen-Rosner v. Stefanie Moon (circuit);

Maria Markhasin-Weekes v. H. James Curry (circuit);

Corey Cawthon v. Tanner Demmery (county);

Allison Gilman v. Jackie Powell (county).

THANKS FOR PLAYING!

PB Post – Peter Evans quits county bench after calling APD “a gorilla”

Election results should start posting around 7:30 PM tonight, early voting tallies first.  Here is the link from the Supervisor of Elections to stay up to date with results.

                 Mark Twain

“Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.”

SS Editorial Board: Cause for concern in Judge Elizabeth Scherer’s handling of Nikolas Cruz case

“From the moment Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer was randomly assigned Broward County’s trial of the century — the case of school shooter Nikolas Cruz — buzz began about whether she was up to the task.

Though 42 and a former assistant prosecutor, Scherer is a relatively young and inexperienced judge. She was appointed to the bench six years ago by Gov. Rick Scott. It’s believed she got the appointment because her father, attorney Bill Scherer, is a big-time Republican fundraiser who was one of Scott’s early Broward supporters eight years ago …

As the Simpson trial did to Los Angeles, we fear the spectacle the Cruz case will create in our community. Must we really endure this? Must we really spend tens of millions of dollars to prove what we already know — that Cruz is guilty?

We encourage State Attorney Mike Satz to reconsider his decision to seek the death penalty, the only reason why this case will remain alive for years on end. Cruz is ready to plead guilty to 34 life sentences. Let’s lock him up, throw away the key and never utter his name again … ”

COMING SOON – Is Mike Satz delaying resolution of the Cruz case for personal political considerations?

We’re taking a flogging in the comments section for complying with BSO, and that’s ok.  Have at it.  But it’s only fair to know our position, and important to remind everyone going forward.

As stated in Rafael Olmeda’s article, JAABLOG has kicked out two IP Addresses since going live, both in response to law enforcement subpoenas alleging threats of violence.  The first occasion resulted in a prison sentence, while this time no action has been taken.  No other law enforcement subpoenas have been received to date.

Over the years, JAABLOG has received two additional subpoenas for IP Addresses in defamation related proceedings.  One was successfully quashed, and the other is still being litigated.  All subpoenas of this nature will continue to be resisted by JAABLOG, and absent a judge’s order after a finding for a plaintiff, these IP Addresses will not be released.

The issue for today, of course, relates to threats of violence.  The decision was made many years ago that any type of law enforcement request claiming even the slightest hint or implication of a threat of violence will be honored, and that decision stands firmer today than when it was made.  In an age of extremism, outspoken racism, and random, active shooter-ism, all commenters and readers need to understand that JAABLOG will not go to bat against law enforcement for anyone reckless enough to even start a debate questioning if a comment is deemed physically threatening, whether law enforcement is being driven by a judge, or any other type of living, breathing thing.

There you have it.  Agree or disagree, but it’s our position that any competent organization in today’s world must have the same rule, just like Comcast does, the multi-national carrier that also honored BSO’s requests in this matter.  Lastly, it’s always been in the disclaimer too …

And with that, Flame On! …

Rafael Olmeda of The Sun Sentinel has broken a story concerning the comments section of JAABLOG.

The article is found here.

Only in Broward …

Peter Holden and Hunter Davis have been appointed to the circuit court.

Three more seats remain to be filled …

Courtesy of The Dan Lewis Report, here are the presentations from the Fort Lauderdale Civic Association’s Judicial Forum on August 13th, moderated by Howard Finkelstein, and filmed by political consultant Dan Lewis. Questions follow the speeches.

Click on the link above to see video in the following order:

1. Introduction/Cawthon v. Demmery v. Greller;
2. Diaz v. Heise;
3. Sokoloff v. Davis;
4. Gilman v. Phillips v. Powell;
5. Lee v. Lustig;
6. Kollra v. Schneider;
7. Padowitz v. Africk-Olefson;
8. Allen-Rosner v. Moon v. Donoho v. Leali;
9. Coolidge-Shotwell v. Alspector;
10. Usan v. Kaplan;
11. Berger v. Casey;
12. Miller v. Markhasin-Weekes v. Curry.

SS Editorial: Florida needs to restore public trust in picking judges

Why do Broward judges seem so prone to slip up?

Those in the know say it’s partly a reflection of Broward’s exceptionally raucous politics. The backscratching and favor-trading that are common to politics ought to have no place in the judiciary. But it can happen even among judges who are appointed rather than elected.

A 2014 article on the J.A.A.B. Blog, which focuses on the Broward judiciary, cited a “highly politicized and clannish culture that is known for protecting its own…”

Following-up on yesterday’s emailed request for a commitment from the candidates for County Court Judge, Group 10, as to whether or not they will serve a full six-year term if elected:

Mike Heise: “The answer is “absolutely yes”. If elected, I am committing to the voters of Broward County that I will serve the full term for this office.”

As far as Bobby Diaz is concerned, he has not replied as of deadline to the email sent to his personal address, his judicial address, his division address, or his JA’s address.  Furthermore, a text to his personal cell phone at 11:17 A.M. was ignored, after he hung up on a call to the same phone at 11:15 A.M.

Therefore, if Diaz prevails at the polls, it’s definitely a wait and see …

UPDATE: COMMITMENT!

From Diaz’s election Facebook page:

So there you have it.  The You Make The Call! breaking Diaz’s DROP status went up August 10th.  On the evening of August 12th, Diaz posted the above message confirming his intention to serve a full term if elected.  Our emails to Diaz and Heise went out the next day, with absolutely no response from Diaz or his campaign, or direction to the Facebook posting, of which we were unaware.  Oh well, at least it’s a confirmation, and shows somebody over there is reading JAABLOG …

The following question was posed to both Bobby Diaz and Mike Heise earlier today, via email: “as candidates for County Court, Group 10, will you commit to serving a full six-year term if elected, assuming good health?”

Deadline is noon tomorrow, August 14th.

Also, Tallahassee calculated the amounts of Diaz’s DROP and pension, for both this month and the DROP completion date of November 30th, 2019.

As follows:

… Diaz will earn $619,717.20 upon completion of 60 months in DROP. As of this month, his DROP payment has accrued to $453,534.49.

At the time his DROP participation is scheduled to end, November 2019, his monthly retirement benefit will be $10,692.34. The monthly benefit currently credited is $10,415.29.

So there you have it. With an investable $620,000 DROP pot and an annual pension of roughly $128,304, it seems to make economic sense for Diaz to retire in 2019, particularly if he wishes to supplement his income with mediations or other legal work. However, if money is a secondary consideration to service, the figures are irrelevant.

We’ll let you know what the parties have to say about doing a full six at deadline …