Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Coral Gables Commission Election Results

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

All the votes are in!  Registered Voters: 33,002; Ballots Counted: 6,903; Voter Turnout: 20.92%
Click for larger imageCongratulations to Ariel Fernandez who is elected Commissioner in Group IV for a four-year term.  Let the fireworks begin?

Ivette O’Doski led the pack in Group IV, but with 47.26% that is not quite enough to prevent a run-off election against Melissa Castro who–despite having a much smaller campaign budget–managed to get 39.43% of the vote (that’s just under 8% less than O’Doski).  There will be a runoff between the two on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.  So either way, there will be a second woman on the five-person Commission.

Here’s the voting info from the City’s web page.

  • Coral Gables General Biennial Runoff Election Polling Place List
  • Voter Registration Due (Runoff Election Only): Monday, March 27 (Register online) [Yes, it does seem weird to have the deadline fall before we knew we’d need a runoff.]
  • Request for Vote-By-Mail Ballot Due (Runoff Election Only): Saturday, April 15 (Request a VMB ballot online) [That’s in 4 days, folks!]
  • Runoff Election (Early Voting/Mail-in Ballot Dropoff): Saturday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23 | 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. | War Memorial Youth Center, 405 University Drive

Notably, in Group IV, Jackson Rip Holmes was leading Sean McGrover by a vote just before the last tranche of vote-by-mail ballots got counted.  That would have been something.

Overall, I think these results are something of a rebuke for the idea of a developer-financed slate as organized by Mayor Lago–and for the politically ambitious Mayor himself. Although if O’Doski wins the runoff, I guess it will be fairer to call it a partial rebuke?

Posted in Coral Gables | Comments Off on Coral Gables Commission Election Results

New 9/11 Revelations Further Implicate the Saudis–and US Efforts to Protect the Saudis

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

For years now, local muckraker The Florida Bulldog has been, well, doggedly digging into the back story of 9/11, especially the long-running and increasingly substantiated claims of secret Saudi links to the terrorists. Now in Ex-FBI agents accuse top CIA, FBI officials of 9/11 coverup; CIA said to use Saudis, others for illegal domestic spy operations Dan Christensen has new revelations:

Weeks before 9/11, an angry New York FBI agent nearly “came over the table” at CIA officials who were blocking him from obtaining intelligence about two al Qaeda terrorists who would soon take part in hijacking an American Airlines passenger jet and crashing it into the Pentagon.

“Someone is going to die,” the counterterrorism agent wrote in a bitter email shortly after the 2001 encounter.

That astonishing account, and many others, are contained in a sworn declaration by Donald Canestraro, an investigator for the Office of Military Commissions, part of the Department of Defense’s Military Commissions Defense Organization. It is dated July 20, 2021.

[…]

The 22-page declaration, first obtained by the national security website Spytalk, is not confidential, but rather it’s marked CUI – Controlled Unclassified Information. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency defines CUI as “government created or owned information that requires safeguarding or dissemination controls consistent with applicable laws, regulations and government wide policies.”

The declaration by Donald C. Canestraro, linked above, is full of stuff to warm the heart of anyone who thinks the CIA uses foreign cut-outs to do things it lacks legal authority to do, and of course lots of testimony suggesting various nefarious activities by the Saudis. It also describes some US officials’ desire to keep the 9/11 Commission in the dark about the Saudi ties. Legally, a great deal of this declaration is hearsay, since it describes what a plethora of informants told the US investigator authoring the deposition. But it is very hard to imagine why he would make any of it up much less swear to it under oath; in some cases I suppose one can imagine motives for the pseudonymized informants (“CS-1” to “CS-23”) to shade things. Overall, it seems like pretty good hearsay from the look of it, but I imagine it will be mostly unjustly ignored.

Posted in 9/11 & Aftermath | Comments Off on New 9/11 Revelations Further Implicate the Saudis–and US Efforts to Protect the Saudis

A Simple Choice

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.” — West Virginia State Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 642 (1943) (Robert H. Jackson, J.).

vs.

I’ll tell you what you can talk about in school — DeSantis to expand ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law to all grades.

Justice Jackson

Justice Robert Jackson

Wrong Choice

Choose wisely.

Posted in 2024 Election, The American Orban | Comments Off on A Simple Choice

Democracy Takes Another One on the Chin in Tennessee

Posted on April 6, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

Tennessee has a bad gerrymandering problem in which cities (with black people) get cut up to be swamped by white rural districts. This produced a legislature with an even larger than natural Republican majority.

A week after the shootings in Nashville, three Democratic members of the legislature took part in a demonstration on the floor of the House in favor of better gun laws and safer schools. They made noise. No one was threatened or injured. Nothing was broken. Except democracy: the House is now voting on whether to expel the ‘Tennessee 3’ — two Black men and one White woman (one of only 11 in the state House) for “lack of decorum”. Details at the Washington Post, and some impressive short videos at Mother Jones on Twitter.

For all the weird and and unpleasant things in politics this week, this one bothers me the most.

Update: Lots of info at The Tennessean web site. Among the facts I learned – Rep. Jones was expelled but not Rep. Johnson. The difference might be because he’s Black and she’s White — indeed Johnson herself raised the possibility. Or it might be because he had a megaphone and she did not; the megaphone may have been due to the fact that, as Rep. Sam McKenzie, explained, “Republican leadership has repeatedly cut off Democrats’ microphones during debate”.

Posted in Politics: US | Comments Off on Democracy Takes Another One on the Chin in Tennessee

Bard Dishes (Inconsistently!) on MiamiLaw

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

Prompt: Tell me the best things about the University of Miami School of Law

Here are some of the best things about the University of Miami School of Law:

  1. Location: The school is located in Coral Gables, Florida, which is a beautiful and vibrant city.
  2. Student body: The student body is very diverse, and students come from all over the world.
  3. Curriculum: The curriculum is very rigorous, and students learn from some of the best minds in the legal field.
  4. Job placement: The school has a strong reputation for job placement, and many of its graduates go on to work at top law firms and corporations.
  5. Bar passage rate: The school has a high bar passage rate, and its graduates are well-prepared to take the bar exam.
  6. Faculty: The faculty is very accomplished, and they are dedicated to teaching and mentoring students.
  7. Student organizations: The school has a wide variety of student organizations, which allow students to get involved in the legal community and to pursue their interests.
  8. Moot court: The school has a strong moot court program, which allows students to compete in simulated legal competitions.
  9. Clinical programs: The school has a wide variety of clinical programs, which allow students to gain practical experience in the legal field.
  10. Scholarship opportunities: The school offers a variety of scholarship opportunities, which can help students to reduce the cost of their legal education.

These are just a few of the best things about the University of Miami School of Law. If you are considering attending law school, the University of Miami is definitely worth considering.

Prompt: Tell me the worst things about the University of Miami School of law

According to students, the worst things about the University of Miami School of Law are:

  1. Cost: The school is ranked as one of the most expensive law schools in the country, and tuition costs have been rising steadily in recent years.
  2. Location: The school is located in Coral Gables, Florida, which is a relatively expensive area to live.
  3. Student body: The student body is very diverse, but some students feel that this can make it difficult to find a sense of community.
  4. Curriculum: The curriculum is very rigorous, and students often feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they have to do.
  5. Job placement: The school’s job placement rate is relatively low, and some students have difficulty finding jobs after graduating.
  6. Bar passage rate: The school’s bar passage rate is also relatively low, and some students have difficulty passing the bar exam.
  7. Faculty: The faculty is very accomplished, but some students feel that they are not always available to help students outside of class.

These are just a few of the things that students have said about the University of Miami School of Law. It is important to note that these are just the opinions of a few students, and that not everyone has the same experience. If you are considering attending the University of Miami School of Law, it is important to do your own research and to talk to current students and alumni to get a better sense of the school.

10-7, we win, right?

Posted in AI | Comments Off on Bard Dishes (Inconsistently!) on MiamiLaw

Exhibits A and B?

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

The other day I posted Strange Corners of Privacy Law, in which Ohio sheriff’s deputies brought suit about music videos featuring their fruitless search of a rapper’s house, after which $400 appears to have somehow vanished (details, alas, hard to find as the deputies turned off their body cams). Here now is one of the allegedly offending videos in question by Afroman, “Will You Help Me Repair My Door”,

Not exactly breaking new ground musically, but a mellow accompaniment to to the footage of a failed search.  Apparently, the warrant was not just for drugs, but also kidnapping!

If you’re hungry for more where that came from, there’s also Lemon Pound Cake…

As noted in the comment to the earlier post, I found a link to the text of the complaint. Yes, a real lawyer signed this.

Posted in Law: Criminal Law, Law: Privacy | 1 Comment