Why Satz Suks — Part Two
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Browardbeat.com’s angry old man is up on his soapbox again.
John deGroot has submitted another rant against State Attorney Mike Satz.
John deGoot
After I posted deGroot’s last attack on Satz, I ran into the state attorney and his assistant Chuck Morton on their way to lunch. I was slightly embarrassed, but only slightly. I’m used to it after years of being confronted by angry politicians who appeared in my column.
I was asked about the post by Satz. This time I had a good excuse. It was written by deGroot, not me.
I actually like Satz. He may not be the best. Who is? I believe he is doing a tough job with limited resources. He continues to get re-elected.
If someone doesn’t believe he is doing a good job (JAAblog?), get a candidate and beat him at the polls. A race against Satz would provide a lot of fodder for Browardbeat.com.
I believe Browardbeat.com should be a place for opinions other than mine. This site should be a marketplace of ideas. (The phrase “marketplace of ideas” was one I heard my former Editor Earl Maucker use numerous times to describe the Sun-Sentinel’s editorial pages.)
So here are deGroot’s latest ideas about Satz:
BY JOHN DEGROOT
John-degroot.com
Guest Columnist
Hard to tell if Broward State Attorney Michael J. Satz is ignorant, arrogant, deceitful or a grotesque combination of all three as Prosecutor-For-Life in Florida’s second largest county.
You be judge.
Several months ago, Satz wrote the 17th District’s Chief Judge Victor Tobin congratulating himself for leading the state in jailing offenders and thus reducing major crime in Broward.
Using the flawed logic that would have got him tossed from a high school debate team, Satz annointed himself as South Florida’s best crime fighter by claiming:
- Broward has less major crime per 100,000 residents than Miami-Dade, or Palm Beach counties.
- Broward has 4,685 major crimes per 100,000 residents, Palm has 4,854 and Miami-Dade has 6,179.
As crime fighters go, Mike Satz Himself ranks right up there with Eliot Ness, Wyatt Earp and and Bat Masterson even though he’s painfully bald, neurotically insecure and a tad teeny-tiny (all of which screws any movie deal sans-Woody Allen).
The turd in Satz’s forensic punchbowl, of course, is his sophomoric premise that all pies are apple and all Florida counties are alike.
Okay. It’s certainly possible that Broward’s JD impaired State Attorney thinks demographics is like the pictures that help you assemble a backyard grill, or operate a toaster.
No matter.
Chief Judge Tobin apparently swallowed Satz’s crippled logic without so much as a judicial burp. Just as the bobbleheads on Broward’s Public Safety Coordinating Council swallowed it hook, line and bullshit when Satz’s minion Chuck Morton made the same flawed, self-serving case at a recent PSCC Cluster Fluff
Trouble is, using the same Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) statistics as Broward’s SAO, we find a radically different and dismal set of facts:
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Broward County has been slammed by a tsunami-sized wave of major crime* in the past five years.
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Since 2003, major crime in Broward has exploded six times faster than the county’s population with an 18 percent increase in major crime* versus a three percent increase in population.
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At the same time , major crime* in neighboring Miami-Dade and Palm Beach has actually declined.
But don’t take my word for here.
Just consider the following UCR numbers as reported by Florida’s Department of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation:
Percentage Change in Major Crime– 2003 2008*
- Florida 0.3%
- Broward 18.4%
- Miami Dade (9.4%)
- Palm Beach (13.5%)
*UCR (Part One) Major Crimes: Murder, rape, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
DeGroot is right about this one. Satz has got to go. Jaablog has been advocating this for years. Satz, Chuck Morton and many of the others should retire. A new face is needed. Read Jaablog for all the news of the courthouse
August 28th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
The only problem with UCR crime states and the apparent explosion in crime is it is a paper tiger created by that wonderful system of powertrac under the prior two sheriffs. You can see this obvious fact by going to the FDLE website and comparing crime rates through the power trac years right till the system was killed. Clearance rates of 50 to 80 present plummet to 20 percent and crime in some cases almost doubles in various BSO jurisdictions. In short crime is what it has always been with slight ups and downs as affected by the economy, the true controlling factor in crime.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
State Attorneys have nothing to do with crime rates. They simply prosecute the criminals. Want to reduce crime? Go to BSO and the police departments. You can’t pin crime rates on a local prosecutor, what’s wrong with you people?
Satz has a very high conviction rate as compared to other circuits, go check. That is how one measures the quality of a State Attorney, how many cases can they responsibly bring and win. And by that measure Mike Satz is undeniable winner. Everyone knows this.
What in the world are you people talking about? How can you project such hubris and entitlement to factual respect when you are so ignorant?
August 28th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I remember a certain someone having drunken orgies with whores together with Joe Gerwins back when nobody used to discuss such things in Fort Lauderdale. Wonder who that could have been, hmm.
August 29th, 2009 at 9:24 am
In response to “What?”
All I can say is, WHAT???!!!
Like in your comment, you note: “Satz has a very high conviction rate as compared to other circuits, go check. This is how one measures the quality of a State Attorney, how many cases can they responsibly bring and win.”
Okay.
So I “go check” the numbers as recorded by flcourt.org and found Satz’s percentages are worse than the Marlins’ bullpin.
Adding up all the criminal defendants set for trial before a circuit court judge I found:
State-wide: 35.3% of the trial defendants were dismissed or acquitted.
17th District: (Satz) 44.4% of the trial defendants were dismissed or acquitted.
11th District: (Miami) 34.0% of the trial defendants were dismissed or acquitted.
All of which boils down to yet another reason why Satz Sukz as one of Florida’s top court-clogging state attorneys.
August 29th, 2009 at 11:52 am
I’ve been practicing criminal law for 25 years. If deGroot (whoever that is) is suggesting that the differences between Miami Dade and Broward conviction rates suggest anything about the quality of state’s attorneys, then with respect it must be said that Mr. deGroot is not particularly qualified to drawing any such conclusion.
The quality of the Broward bench is much higher than in Miami Dade, any truly honest lawyer would readily admit that, as is the quality on average of criminal defense in Broward over Miami Dade. I would put the quality of police work at about the same level. I would also say that the average Broward bench is decidedly more liberal than the Miami Dade bench.
So you cannot go by those stats alone. My experience is that Mr. Satz’ office is staffed with fine lawyers who are very well supervised by a team of seasoned prosecutors. They are formidable opponents in court. I get to see them daily and hold them in higher regard professionally than those in Miami Dade County. I think most criminal attorneys would agree.
August 29th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Hey certin someone, are you talking about the same guy that used to snort cocaine like it was going out of style all over posh Fort Lauderdale? I think you may be talking about the same drunken old fool I know…wonder how Mike didn’t get around to prosecuting him?
August 29th, 2009 at 11:59 am
It was told to me last night that John deGroot is trying to get a certain somebody elected State Attorney in the hope of being hired by that person and returning to relevance.
And so this pogram that he is levying in the name of justice and the American way is merely the latest of his scum smears in a selfish attempt to make yet another nickel for himself.
The man is a piece of shit and always was.
August 29th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
It was well known that DeGroot was protected by his pals in the State Attorneys Office and some police departments when he was falling drunk. That’s the privilege of being a newspaper writer. When he was fired from the Sun-Sentinel, Jenne threw him a life line. He paid Jenne back by testifying against him. Butterworth tried to help and DeGroot kicked him in the mouth. Satz was always a friend of DeGroot and you can read how he treats him. It is better to be DeGroot’s enemy than his friend.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Buddy,
I am surprised that you continue to run his comments. You seemed to be offended at his anti-semitic ramblings. As you recall, Degroot wrote about Satz’s Jewish gabardine, a reference to Shylock in the Merchant of Venice. Below is the Wikipedia entry regarding the Merchant of Venice:
Influence on antisemitism:
Regardless of what Shakespeare’s own intentions may have been, the play has been made use of by antisemites throughout the play’s history. One must note that the end of the title in the 1619 edition “With the Extreme Cruelty of Shylock the Jew…” must aptly describe how Shylock was viewed by the English public. The Nazis used the usurious Shylock for their propaganda. Shortly after Kristallnacht in 1938, “The Merchant of Venice” was broadcast for propagandistic ends over the German airwaves. Productions of the play followed in Lübeck (1938), Berlin (1940), and elsewhere within the Nazi Territory.[13]
The depiction of Jews in English literature throughout the centuries bears the close imprint of Shylock. With slight variations much of English literature up until the 20th century depicts the Jew as “a monied, cruel, lecherous, avaricious outsider tolerated only because of his golden hoard”. [14]
Degroot then added his P.S. in the comments section:
“PS – I understand Inglourious Basterds is about Jews killing Nazi soliders instead of innocent Palestinian women and children — which should prove to be a blood-splattered cinamatic hoot.â€
Degroot also called someone a “ZIONAZIâ€. I am not sure if you understand how offensive these comments are to Jewish people. Calling a Jew any form of the word Nazi can only come from an anti-semite. The holocaust is not some abstract event to me. I lost almost all of my grandparents siblings and parents to Hitler. Buddy, I think this “marketplace of ideas†excuse for allowing him on your blog is BS. Do journalistic responsibilities and standards no longer apply on this blog? Would you give the KKK or skin heads your forum to criticize Jewish politicians if it made for good copy? The derogative descriptions like calling Mike Satz a ferret and bald and worse are degrading to you as well as Degroot.
Degroot attempted to defend his anti-semitic remarks by claiming Satz made him do it. Satz has never used his religion for political purposes. He has only had one token challenge since his first election in 1976. Mike’s longevity has been because he has run a clean effective office for many years. He continues to try the biggest cases himself. Do you know any other State Attorneys that do that?
Buddy, I fear Degroot’s ramblings on your blog allows people to question your judgment. Remember the expression about lying down with dogs. No responsible person wants Degroots fleas on them.
FROM BUDDY: As a Jew who lived in Broward part time when it was VERY anti-Semitic, I am very sensitive to charges of anti-Semitism. You can’t believe what I experienced as a kid from the racist pigs who ran the segregated school classrooms of Broward County. I was from NYC, had gone to the Ethical Culture School and had absolutely no experience with anti-Semitism. It is one of the reasons my parents sent me to prep school in the NE for a time.
BTW, I also experience a great deal of anti-Semitism in the early 70s from the higher ups at the Sun-Sentinel– no surprise since they also were dedicated haters of blacks. They commonly used the N-word in the newsroom and ignored almost any coverage of the black community, except crime news. One editor once came back from a luncheon at the then-new, still tiny community of Palm Aire: “Where did all these fucking Jews come from? You should see those Jews eat. They eat with their hands!” (They apparently didn’t know I was Jewish because my name is Nevins.) They are all dead now. I could name names, but I won’t except to say deGroot wasn’t one of them even when he was roaring drunk.
DeGroot assures me he is not anti-Semitic. That said, I will not knowingly post any of his comments I view as anti-Semitic again. I apologize if anyone was offended by his writings. His current post has nothing about Satz’s religion. And I took down the Zionatzi comment as soon as I saw it.
August 30th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Buddy,
I do appreciate your response. However, if you would asked your former bosses at the Sentinel if they were anti-semitic, they would have denied it as well. Degroots denials of anti-semitism and your editing out his anti-semitic comments do not erase what he is – an anti-semite.
August 31st, 2009 at 4:48 am
John DeGroot has some bug up his ass about Mike Satz, but he offers no proof of anything. A bunch of numbers strung together are a just bunch of numbers. I understand why Jaablog doesn’t like Satz. They are defense attorneys whose only goal is to free their clients and Satz’s prosecutors stand in their way. The fact remains that Mike Satz is one of the finest prosecutors in Florida.
August 31st, 2009 at 6:40 am
Mike Satz is only the king of coorruption. His war on the black man is a moral sin.
August 31st, 2009 at 8:19 am
Dear Corrupto,
If “war on the black man” means putting thugs and drug dealers in jail, Satz is the numero uno general. The beneficiary of this is largely the black community, which is victimized by the garbage Satz locks away.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:24 am
Thank goodness the long black robe is retired. This person sounds like he has racist tendencies. Or maybe he’s a self-hating African-American. He says the beneficiary is the black community? Have you asked anyone in a poor African-American community how they feel about the police or the courts recently?
September 27th, 2009 at 11:01 am
What about how his lead attorney on public corruption cases, Catherine Maus, was appointed by Charlotte Rodstrom to be on Lauderdale’s planning & Zoning Board? When the time comes (and it will for the Rodstroms) do you think Satz’s office will really go after them?