U.S. District Court

Appeals Court (Maybe?) Sides With Rick Scott on State Employee Drug Testing

This is obviously why it takes three years to get through law school: the courts are whack as hell. Case in point, today's decision coming out of the federal appeals court on whether Rick Scott can pee-test state employees for drug use. Following the announcement, both sides of the dispute are claim ... More >>

Florida Sues BP and Haliburton Over 2010 Oil Spill

Florida got the Earth Day festivities kicked off early with some good old fashioned litigation. Over the weekend, Florida joined Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana is suing BP and Halliburton over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The suit, filed by State Attorney General Pam Bondi in United S ... More >>

Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Possibly Identified and Arrested UPDATED

The age of 24 hour cable news/Twitter feeds have come smashing together...Via CNN, The Miami Herald had reported that Boston Marathon bombing investigators may have identified a suspect. There had been reports of a possible suspect leaving a black bag at the site of the second explosion via su ... More >>

Elmo Puppeteer Kevin Clash's Latest Accuser Is From Florida, Seeks $75,000 in Damages

It was only a matter of time before the whole Elmo sex scandal thing had a Florida connection. Because a gay sex puppet scandal ain't a gay sex puppet scandal until the Sunshine State gets involved, dammit! A Florida man identified only as "John" filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan ... More >>

Days of Rage: The U.S. Supreme Court and President Obama Leave the Undocumented and Their Allies No Choice but to Escalate Civil Disobedience

Prosecutors Agree to Release Inmate Who Proved His Innocence (Updated)

A federal inmate who has served 11 years on drug charges he says he didn't commit has convinced prosecutors to let him out of prison. Elroy Phillips refused to accept his fate after being sentenced to 30 years on charges of selling drugs to an undercover cop. He conducted records searches, hired a p ... More >>

Judge Delays Release of Innocent Man, Says She Wants More Paperwork

A federal judge declined today to release a man from prison where he is serving a 24-year term on drug charges, despite the fact that prosecutors have agreed to drop the charges against him. Elroy Phillips will remain in federal prison in Miami while prosecutors and his defense attorney file a ... More >>

Former Alcee Hastings Aide Convicted on 30 Counts in Fraud Case

​Mikel Jones, a former aide to Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings, was convicted for his role in a scheme to defraud a New York venture capital fund that financed the operation of his Philadelphia law firm.Jones, a 55-year-old Boynton Beach resident, was convicted of conspiracy, money laundering, 14 c ... More >>

Dear Federal Court: Please Help Florida Suppress the Vote

Racism? Not here.​To: U.S. District Court From: Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning We're having a small problem with voting down here in Florida. In May, our Legislature passed some brilliant new requirements designed to crack down on unnecessary voters -- specifically, people who are poor, ... More >>

Elroy Phillips, in Jail on a Charge He Says He Can Prove Is Bogus, Will Get Day in Court (Updated)

Photo by Eric BartonPhillips, in prison in Kentucky, received the judge's ruling in the mail yesterday.​A South Florida man sentenced to decades in prison for a minor drug charge will finally get his chance in court to prove he didn't commit the crime. U.S. District Court Judge Joan A. Lenard issu ... More >>

Don't Believe Elroy Phillips Is Innocent? Read the Evidence He Collected Yourself

Photo by Eric BartonPhillips at the Federal Medical Center prison in Kentucky.​This week's cover story in New Times is on Elroy Phillips, a convict who says he has gathered the evidence from prison to show he's not guilty. If you've read the story and still aren't convinced, below are bits of the ... More >>

Lawsuit Pits Jewish Nursing Home Against Seventh-Day Adventist

adventistinfo.org.ukCan you sue your employer for not respecting the Black Sabbath?​The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against a Jewish nursing home in Boca Raton for allegedly attempting to force a Seventh-day Adventist to work on the Sabbath.The EEOC says it has ... More >>

Rick Scott's Dirty Deeds That Didn't Make Top 12 List

​This week's New Times cover story, "Enemy of the State," details the dozen worst accomplishments from Gov. Rick Scott's first six months in office. Unsurprisingly, there were plenty of dirty deeds that didn't make the list. Here are a few of the highlights:1. Following a property-tax-cutting prop ... More >>

Microsoft Sued Over Dumb Commercials by Gag-Gift Company With Dumber Commercials

shirtshop.nl​Dropping phones in urinals has now led to a lawsuit filed by a Boca Raton gag-gift company.Cellrderm -- a company that sells patches similar-looking to nicotine patches that are marketed as "cellular abuse aid" -- has sued Microsoft in a U.S. District Court, claiming it ripped off ... More >>

Scott Rothstein Saga: Debra Villegas Goes to Prison; Four Enter Guilty Pleas

Scott W. Rothstein​The gifts of prison sentences keep coming, thanks to Scott Rothstein.Debra Villegas, the second in command for Rothstein's gigantic Ponzi scheme, surrendered to her new home at a minimum-security federal prison last week to begin her ten-year sentence.Villegas, now 44, pleaded g ... More >>

This Tax Day Brings Bad Tidings for "So Ethical" Richard Rubin

Back in 2005, I questioned Richard Rubin, husband of criminally charged former Broward County Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin, about his relationship with the shadowy politically connected real estate broker Ira Cor. Ira Cor: Real estate broker to the politicians.​Rubin worked as a sales a ... More >>

Meet Alcee Hastings' Accuser

Winsome Packer with friends​Congressman Alcee Hastings has been hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a conservative group called Judicial Watch. Hastings​The merits of the case aren't known but the plaintiff is quite a serious person. Her name is Winsome Packer, a Republican who wa ... More >>

The Feds Bury Border Patrol Abuses of Immigrants, But What's Been Unearthed Reveals a Culture of Cruelty

The Feds Bury Border Patrol Abuses of Immigrants, But What's Been Unearthed Reveals a Culture of Cruelty

Sean Healy's Weston Mansion Sells for $500K More Than Appraisal Value

Courtesy Doreen MarinaRiviera Manor in the exclusive Weston Hills Country Club.​Sean Healy's "Riviera Manor" in the Weston Hills Country Club was a veritable Ponzi playground, a seven-bedroom mansion that both headquartered the scam and hosted its trappings. The court turned the property over to M ... More >>

Ponzi Playboy Sean Healy Blew Through the Money He Swindled

Broward Health Hit With Whistleblower Lawsuits

browardhealth.orgMarc Goldstone​Shortly after Marc Goldstone began his new job as general counsel of Broward Health in November of last year, he found that the public hospital district -- which is among the nation's largest -- had been violating a range of federal laws and court orders, some of wh ... More >>

Two-time Sea Turtle Poacher Bruce Bivins Sentenced

Photo by Flickr user anej1030​For some old-timers in Riviera Beach, the start of any date out with your woman begins with sea turtle eggs. You poach them, sprinkle salt on their papery skin, and then eat the aphrodisiacs in one bite. Back when I first wrote about that nasty habit back in 2002, cop ... More >>

Two-time Sea Turtle Poacher Bruce Bivins Sentenced

Photo by Flickr user anej1030​For some old-timers in Riviera Beach, the start of any date out with your woman begins with sea turtle eggs. You poach them, sprinkle salt on their papery skin, and then eat the aphrodisiacs in one bite. Back when I first wrote about that nasty habit back in 2002, cop ... More >>

On UBS Tax Cheat, Lauderdale Judge Not as Forgiving as Miami Judge

Among the many recent misfortunes of Jeffrey Chernick, his tax fraud case landed in Fort Lauderdale U.S. District Court rather than in Miami. That put him at the mercy of Judge James I. Cohn, who on Friday sentenced Chernick to three months in prison, despite a similar defendant's having been spared ... More >>

Deal Forged in South Florida Will Peel Back Secrecy of Swiss Bank

Flickr: twicepix​More details are emerging about the agreement between the U.S. Justice Department and UBS, the Swiss bank accused of helping wealthy Americans evade taxes -- a case that's been bandied about in South Florida's U.S. District Court and which has attracted the two nation's top diplom ... More >>

Lauderdale Is End of the Line for Osama

Photobucket User: Colts111The only badge El-Atari was qualified to own.This Osama doesn't live in a cave (that we know of), but like his namesake, Osama El-Atari has vanished just before the long arm of the law could get him in its clutches . The son of Jordanian immigrants, El-Atari bought the Orig ... More >>

For Supreme Court, Two South Florida Judges Coulda Been Contenders

Photo courtesy Official White House PhotostreamSotomayor and ObamaDuring the 2000 presidential campaign, Gov. George W. Bush vowed that if elected, he would nominate a Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. It certainly didn't hurt his popularity in Florida's Latin American community, and that was a race c ... More >>

Jurors and Prosecutors Sink a Federal Case Against Internet Pharmacies

Broward Man at Center of National Scandal in Philippines

Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada would have been "pleased" by the murder of a journalist, an affidavit taken in Florida claims.This February, 47-year-old Cezar Mancao went to the Philippine consulate in Fort Lauderdale to give a sworn affidavit. When the contents of his testimony were l ... More >>

For Howard K. Stern, One Legal Odyssey Ends as Another Begins

Stern and SmithThis whole arrest-on-felony-drug-charges thing came along just when Howard K. Stern's legal life had finally calmed. The attorney ex-boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith filed a lawsuit in Fort Lauderdale's U.S. District Court in April 2007 against mega-millionaire attorney, John O'Quinn, a ... More >>

Corporate Cash Is Flying Outta Federal Court in Fort Lauderdale

By now, everybody knows about the $8 million Revenge of the Smoker's Widow. But Philip Morris wasn't the only international heavyweight to have a costly day at the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale. Today's New York Times leads with a story about the $780 million settlement struck between Swiss ... More >>

Jeanette Smith’s body was dumped in Florida’s Everglades and turned up details about the Mob

Political Pa-a-a-rty!

But what does it mean?

Jack Don't Know Jack

Why will the right-wing crusader likely lose his license? Swastikas are just the start.

Hassles in the Glades

Dolphins With Wings

One Way to Get to Heaven

Curse of the Dead

Anna Nicole's ghost could go home at last — if some trial hotshots get their way

Err America

A plane crash in Afghanistan has a Florida company defending its mercenary profits in court

Deutsch Marks

He's raised a lot of money in his bid for the Senate, but from whom?

Sludge and Slime

Violence, Internet porn, cocaine, ten-foot-high piles of muck. Just another day in America's Venice.

Indian War

A Hollywood man has spent the past decade trying to pry open the Seminoles' accounting books -- without much success

A Plea from the Past

Frank Lee Smith appealed for mercy. No one listened.

When Online Got Off Base

Or: How Mark Cuban would have--and could have?--saved the music biz

The Enforcer

John Garon may be a partial quadriplegic, but he wields federal civil-rights lawsuits with consummate skill

Custody Battle

Marvel Comics isn't going to give up Captain America without a fight

A Natural Alliance

Buck Island Ranch is home to the threatened caracara, and it's a laboratory where ranchers and conservationists are learning to work together

A Southern Belle in Black and White

The City of Belle Glade may be forced to annex the Okeechobee Center and put an end to alleged discrimination against its mostly black residents

Robert Lockwood's Hush Money

Broward's Clerk of Courts wants a million of your dollars to kill a racial bias suit before he faces questions under oath. Here's why.

Excessive Farce

The Palm Beach County school police force is charged with protecting schoolchildren, not endangering its female officers