Fields: Random Thoughts Of A Disordered Mind
BY SAM FIELDS
Guest Columnist
Not a week goes by that we don’t read a story about broken pipes in the Broward Courthouse. And maybe we do need to spend $400 million or so to replace the 1950’s structure.
But it did not have to be that way.
The county and country are filled with perfectly functioning building that are a hell of a lot older than the Broward Courthouse.
How do we explain this?
Two words. Regular Maintenance.
That bridge in Minnesota did not collapse because it was “too old. It collapsed because they did not regularly scrape the rust and repaint it.
We now need to spend hundreds of billions to replace national infrastructure.
Why? Because we chiseled on spending a fraction of that amount for regular maintenance.
The east building of Broward Courthouse is no different I hope they are not saving pennies on the twenty year old North Wing of the Judicial Complex.
If they are, we will be having this same discussion in 2030.
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I only hope that Obama nominates Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court and the Republicans attack in full force. Sotomayor is a federal appeals court judge and the daughter of Puerto Rican parents who grew up in the South Bronx.
Sotomayor
The only Hispanics left in the GOP will be Linda Chavez and Balart brothers.
Go Rush, Go Ann Coulter. Rip Sotomayor a new one.
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Can you drive a stick shift car? If you can you are part of shrinking minority, as this story indicates.
I once won a DUI case because that skill is becoming about as common as changing your own oil.
A client was involved in an accident on I-95.
The FHP was called. Two troopers showed up.
They testified she was obviously drunk and that they would never let a drunk drive a car. But because it was raining they instructed her to move her car off road and drive it under the bridge so they could conduct roadside testing.
On cross examination I asked the obvious question: “If she was so drunk why would you let her drive?
The answer? Neither trooper knew how to drive a stick shift.
You would think that basic training for all police, especially the Florida Highway Patrol, would include learning how to drive the kinds of vehicles they are likely to encounter on Florida’s roads?
You would be wrong.
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How ironic. On the same day the White male caucus–aka the GOP–held a makeover meeting in Arlington, Va., Jack Kemp died of cancer.
The self-described “bleeding heart conservative was about the only guy in the GOP willing to reach out to minorities on their terms listening to their issues.
Without Kemp the only so-called Republican outreach program is accepting minorities willing to worship “rich White men–their ideas and their interests.
It is worth repeating a Kemp observation. As a former NFL quarterback he had “showered with more Black men in one football season than the average Republican had met in a lifetime.
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The simple fact is there is nothing the Republicans can do to reclaim the majority.
“It’s the economy stupid.
If it recovers by 2010, Obama and the Dems will drive the GOP further into a smaller corner.
If things don’t seem better, the 2010 elections will show a GOP resurgence.
The best the GOP can do is position itself to maximize a failed economy.
May 4th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Maybe Sam is so concerned about the courthouse because he plans on moving there soon.
Rumors are everywhere in the courthouse. Judge Sam Fields.
True or False?
May 4th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Is THAT the reason Fields writes often in this “in” blog? To get the publicity?
May 4th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
I know Judge Sotomayer from many years ago (not in her capacity as a Judge). I hope that she is the nominee for US Supreme Court Judge.
It’s funny how a clearly conservative judge isn’t subject to the same objection as one thought to be a liberal. Unless her judicial writings shows something bias without support, she should receive the same consideration and approval as Roberts, Alito and Scalia.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:56 am
Dear Spirit of Dan Futch
How the heck did you figure out my Machiavellian plan? It has always been my goal to begin a career as a judge just before my 66th birthday. This blog has been a platform to lockup the atheist vote. I have been hoping no one noticed my hostility to religion. It only applies to Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. I’ve been quiet about Shinto and Taoism.
However, recent events have caused me to revise my strategy. Buddy has convinced my that I have a good shot at the Souter seat. My ascendancy to the Supremes would be their most important change since Diana Ross left.
May 5th, 2009 at 4:34 am
It is worth repeating a Kemp observation. As a former NFL quarterback he had “showered with more Black men in one football season than the average Republican had met in a lifetime.â€
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Wasn’t Jack forgetting chauffeurs and locker room attendants at the athletic club?
May 5th, 2009 at 5:37 am
Are you kidding Kaplan? What about Bork and Thomas? The liberals started this partisan vetting of judges with Bork and then Thomas. Payback is a bitch, isn’t it?
May 5th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Thomas was approved, despite justifible concerns. I remember something about another woman and a piece of hair.
Bork falls into the category of showing clear prior bias, and would have been a disaster. His travels afterwards proved that out. So the Senate got that one right.
Actually Renquist and other conservatives went through the process before those two relatively easily.
By the way, partisianship didn’t start a few years ago. It started from the founding of our country. Payback goes back to Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and particularly Hamilton.
May 6th, 2009 at 4:58 am
The question is not whether a jurist has a bias. If you are human you have personal beliefs. The question is can he or she rule from the bench with complete objectivity? Do they understand the role of the jurist is not to make law but interpret it? Judge Sotomayer is on tape admitting that law-making is what her Court of Appeals does. That is troubling no matter what side of the aisle you are on. As far as Justice Thomas, that circus was a disgrace. Accusations were made when he was nominated (what a coincidence)not the many years before when it allegedly occurred nor during the many years after while Anita Hill continued to work for him. Even if it were true I don’t understand what upsets the Left given their adament support of Bill Clinton. Oh I know, it was consensual so they say. Still I find it disturbing that the man in the highest office in the United States would use a nineteen year old intern for a humidore.
May 7th, 2009 at 4:10 am
I don’t know about what Judge Sotomayer may have said, but as a lawyer, no matter what a judge says, appellate courts and the US Supreme Court by deciding what a law or right is do make laws. Even by conservative judges.
The interpretations of laws have a profound effect on what the laws are. That makes a huge difference on how we handle cases and what are the rights of many. The question is does the ruling create something in the law that goes beyond the law itself? What was not intended by the law?
Some may argue there are cases where judges do go beyond the law in their intepretation. Others will argue it as necessary because how poorly some laws are written, requiring them to try to find the meaning of the legislature/congress in the law. Also they are the defenders of the Constitution, and that is a duty they all see that comes before all others.