IS MIKE SATZ SOFT ON CORRUPTION?
Jarvis Satz Lazarus (New Times)
HERALD:
"Broward State Attorney's Office: Corruption conviction a rarity":
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/235745.html
''They don't get to bat very much, and when they do they're very content to take a bloop single or a walk,'' said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University said of Satz's office. ``They're not an office that swings for the fences.''
Wasserstrom Guilty of Conflict of Interest:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/235743.html
"The most serious charge against Wasserstrom -- unlawful compensation -- was thrown out Monday for a lack of evidence."
Fred Grimm: "Sludge case had the smell of corruption":
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/fred_grimm/story/235730.html
"The investigation, indeed, had been limited by a series of improbable computer catastrophes that conveniently wiped out crucial e-mail exchanges about Schwing Bioset among the mayor, Wasserstrom, his law partner and his uncle -- a business associate who prosecutors said was no more than a patsy go-between for Wasserstrom and Bioset.
What are the odds? All those e-mails just disappeared. The stench was overpowering."
SENTINEL:
Jurors: "Most difficult" to Convict Wasserstrom:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbwasserstrom0913nbsep13,0,1992919.story
Facing 10 Years:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-913wasserfuture,0,4077509.story
Mike Mayo: "verdict historic day for Broward":
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbmayocol0913nbsep13,0,5248940.column
"It marked the first time a Broward elected official was convicted by a jury in Satz's 30 years.
And it was just the third time in Satz's three decades that a Broward elected official heard the word "guilty" in the county courthouse.
The previous two convictions — former County Commissioner Scott Cowan (2000) and former Pembroke Park commissioner Frank Badalamente (1991) — came without trials.
Cowan pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from his misuse of campaign funds. And Badalamente pleaded guilty to felony grand theft charges after taking $20,000 from his homeowners' association.
Given South Florida's tradition of corruption, cronyism and sleaze, you'd think a long-running State Attorney would have bagged enough politicians to fill a book, not a paragraph."
BROWARD NEW TIMES:
"Judge and Jury: Judge Lazarus takes justice into his own hands in the Keith Wasserstrom trial":
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2007-09-13/news/judge-and-jury/
Bob Norman's Daily Pulp Blog (Wasserstrom, Wasserstrom, Wasserstrom):
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/
New Times Archive "Satz" Search - Corruption Prosecution Articles:
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/search/results.php?eventSearch=1&locationSearch=1&exactPhrase=1&searchType=archives&keywords=satz&x=25&y=7
IS MIKE SATZ SOFT ON CORRUPTION?
this is a trick question, right?
Is that really Lazarus in the photo?
Can't the New Times afford a zoom lens?
i hope mancini reads mayo's column
Happy New Year Mike
Is this Broward County, by the way glad Larry got his going away party. Is he allowed to leave the county, oh yeah, Satz is still in charge,its the sheriff who doesn't matter anymore.
And Lazarus is a county court judge hearing a circuit case, right? Would you have expected him to rule any other way? Not if you've been around a while. Lazarus not know the law? Not very shocking to those in the know. Old time joker masquerading as a judge. Check out his background and it all becomes clear. Small time in a not so small town any more. I read a post a while back about him being a train wreck. Well ...
I thought Laz was the choice of a new generation of leadership that was going to change things around here?
He's just as incompetent as the prosecutors in the case. Wanted all his life to be important. What a way to prove it. Guess this tops off his lack luster career. Good one this time Joel. Add it to your list judicial blunders. You need to bone up on the law. Great way to start off in your new position.
And from an ordained rabbi to boot? Give me a break.
Man, this place is as ripe as it can be. Rotten in fact.
This Lazarus sounds like a real brain surgeon. Was the deal Tobin made including allowing him to try circuit cases or something? Doesn't sound qualified to me.
He was worse as a state attorney! A real legend in his own mind. Only in his own mind.
More pathetic than noteworthy
You would need a zoom lense. He really is that small!
LAZ THE SPAZ WAS HIS NAME
a real whoopy cushion of an intellectual if you know what I mean
The level of incompetence among the judiciary is unbelievable. How is it that anyone can believe that we have the brightest and the best acting as the guardians of our justice system? This is pathetic from the top to the bottom. There is no doubt that this bumbling ship of fools has been easy prey for corruption and tomfoolery. If you start out with bad judges you will not ultimately achieve pillars of judicial propriety. There really ought be a movement away from out current system which rewards political loyalty to one that rewards judicial temperament and careers worthy of being on the bench. If we must elect judges, then we should have a real policing of judges so that we get what we deserve. In my humble opinion, however, we should just do away with the popularity, name contest that are judicial elections. Judicial elections may have made sense when the counties were small and the number of lawyers was such that a person would stand for election after a distinguished career and everyone knew that the individual was worthy of the title Judge. And, a time when judges actually were known for their decisions and accountable to the populace. How many people in Broward County can say they know anything about any one of the Judges currently on the bench? Who knows how badly Judge Levenson treats a lawyer or how many millions of years Judge Holmes gives to a Probation Violator? You want a better bench, then stop letting any lawyer with an aspiration to throw on a black robe become a judge. The current crop of Judges should simply be resettled on some deserted island and allowed to star in a version of survivor, as it is obvious most are simply acting on the bench in the hope of getting their own TV show.
I agree with almost all of Mr. Borders ideas. Very insightful, obviously an attorney of some long years and experience.
Mr. Borders, you say we ought to reward careers and temperment instead of political loyalty. Well how can this be done? The appointment process has always been political. Even if it was bi-partisan and left to the legislature (instead of the governor) wouldn't it still be political? Is there a better way?
Given South Florida's tradition of corruption, cronyism and sleaze, you'd think a long-running State Attorney would have bagged enough politicians to fill a book, not a paragraph."
Given South Florida's tradition of corruption, cronyism and sleaze, you'd think a long-running State Attorney would have bagged enough politicians to fill a book, not a paragraph."
Given South Florida's tradition of corruption, cronyism and sleaze, you'd think a long-running State Attorney would have bagged enough politicians to fill a book, not a paragraph."
Given South Florida's tradition of corruption, cronyism and sleaze, you'd think a long-running State Attorney would have bagged enough politicians to fill a book, not a paragraph."
Given South Florida's tradition of corruption, cronyism and sleaze, you'd think a long-running State Attorney would have bagged enough politicians to fill a book, not a paragraph."
Given South Florida's tradition of corruption, cronyism and sleaze, you'd think a long-running State Attorney would have bagged enough politicians to fill a book, not a paragraph."
Given South Florida's tradition of corruption, cronyism and sleaze, you'd think a long-running State Attorney would have bagged enough politicians to fill a book, not a paragraph."
Given South Florida's tradition of corruption, cronyism and sleaze, you'd think a long-running State Attorney would have bagged enough politicians to fill a book, not a paragraph."
Given South Florida's tradition of corruption, cronyism and sleaze, you'd think a long-running State Attorney would have bagged enough politicians to fill a book, not a paragraph."
The above post pretty sums up Lazarus and the state of the judiciary in Broward. What we see concerning this kind of incompetence is just what is beginning to appear above the water line. Ross and friends were able for sixteen years to keep a lid on it. Better put: There's allot more that's remained hidden from view, and if the judges of Broward have their way, which they did untill recently at least, that's the way they want to keep it. What an embarrassment this county is to the rest of the state. It's all coming out though as we see more every day of the gross incompetence "That is Broward's Judiciary" and without the good old boy system working properly any more to keep it suppressed or spun with the proper centrifugal force to a media willing to look the other way, we're in for a good deal more to come. Fasten your seat belts as Broward's Judiciary becomes throughly unraveled.
Assuming from the moniker "South of the Border" you are a Miami lawyer? Are you saying Miami judges are somehow more professional or worthy than the Broward judges?
Why all this hatred for Joel? I think he is a fair and honest jurist. He knows the difference between a 2 bit prosecution and a serious violent offense, and he treats them accordingly.
As for the question "Is Satz soft on corruption", I would reiterate the above response "This is a trick question, right?"
You don't last 30 years targeting powerful criminals. You target the weak and the sick, and you leave the big boys alone.
Lazarus? A real bag of hot air. As stupid as they come.
Why prosecute corrupt public officials when you have judges apt more than likely to look the other way? What came first, the chicken or the idiot?
In Miami you don't have judges strutting around like they're celebrities, because if you don't do your job you get filed against and replaced with someone who can. Hope that answers your question.
"What are the odds? All those e-mails just disappeared. The stench was overpowering."
What are the odds the SAO didn't try too hard to nail this stuff down? Or maybe the SAO is stretched so thin prosecuting residue, duck killers, and jailhouse flagellation to make any real impact on the things the citizens really care about, the public trust?
Satz, Jenne, Ross, all friends, all had each other's backs. Then comes the feds (Jenne) and Tallahassee (Ross) since Satz is not an equal opportunity prosecutor, but a political opprtunist clinging to power so he doesn't have to face the inevitable, being completely alone and forgotten.
Satz may be a decent guy. He may still think he's doing a good job. Delusion effects the powerful even more than normal people, so who knows.
The real problem is that Broward is constantly being held back by the never ending torrent of humiliation of irresponsible leadership, cronyism, and corruption. Add to that violent crime is spiraling out of control because of misspent resources on an outdated and hateful ideology, and Satz thinks the public is being served?
Won't anyone stand up and run? Mancini, sure, but has he even filed? Are there no leaders in the legal community of Broward County?
Maybe the political realities are too overpowering to fault anyone. The power establishment will probably back Satz (even if it means they don't get their precious new courthouse), because "see no evil so long as you are rich or in office" Satz has their backs. But come on, doesn't Satz himself have any sense of obligation to the community? Does he really think he is the only one for the job or that no one else's ideas are valid? Is he so caught up in power for the sake of power that he would hurt the County he is supposed to protect by clinging to the job forever?
Human nature is what it is. It's just tragic that men in public office don't show us more often that men can rise above their own interest for the public good.
So, judge lazarus. Another case of at best incompetence, at worst corruption. A corrupt judge trying a corrupt defendant. So how is Broward going to change this? Well Charlie Crist is going to appoint Matt Destry his political hack and an incompetent And then he'll appoint Catherine Maus, another political hack (Hoffman and Maus, brother Joe is a political, judge bidwell is her cousin etc etc etc) and a mean-spirited one at that. Go to JNC. Let's see what Governor Crist is really all about.
"Little did anybody know it or show it, but Wednesday was an historic day. It marked the first time a Broward elected official was convicted by a jury in Satz's 30 years."
Satz gets kudos for this lucky break, while the rest of us got screwed for 30 years by the creatures that slipped between his fingers like fat jack the bag man of margate.
One lower-tier politician gets a conviction. Meanwhile the big fish are still ruling the pond. Restored faith in the system? Not really,just surprised when a glitch like this happens to the system. Business as usual today.
the main charges were tossed? Why? Well because the state was not prepared period and chickened out by not putting on entire case
Still don't know how the Hollywood Mayor whose son was involved w/Wasserman does'nt see the jail. Satz doesn't have the b@lls to address that
Is there a web site that tells how much Destry raised for Crist?