Count Your Pennies -- All Good Jews Do!

Sorry folks, long day and I'm out of here.

Before I leave, I want to thank South Carolina for just being South Carolina -- it makes being a Floridian seem not quite as bad:

After a Democratic state senator wrote in The State that DeMint didn't bring enough money back home, Bamberg County GOP Chairman Edwin Merwin and Orangeburg County GOP Chairman James Ulmer responded that he was just looking after the nation's pennies -- like a Jew would.

"There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves," Ulmer and Merwin wrote in a joint letter published by The Times and Democrat. "By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation's pennies and trying to preserve our country's wealth and our economy's viability to give all an opportunity to succeed."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/gopers-demint-like-a-jew_n_326295.html

This is one hundred percent true -- there is indeed such a saying.

In fact, I'm sure these two gentlemen know LOTS of sayings about the Jews, some of them probably involving a Jew, a Catholic, and a Pole together on a life raft, so why not just pick a choice one for inclusion in a published letter to the editor?

Sheesh, if that letter is representative, the Times and Democrat letters page has got to be worse than even that of the Miami Herald.

See what I mean?

Two Phrases That Do Not Belong Together -- "Lew Freeman" and "Taint Team"

Hi folks!

So the kids are home, but the judges and lawyers are not (I can tell from all those ECF filing notices), which means we all have to work today.

First off -- did anyone catch Shakira's performance on Saturday Night Live?

It was a bit of a mixed bag, in that I couldn't believe a member of her band was actually playing a Keytar (a fancy new version btw), and yet --criminally -- the Keytarist was not allowed to deliver a mindblowing, gesture-filled epic guitarlike solo! What the hail?

Still, baby steps, baby steps.

I've decided to take it easy on my friend Lew, as I hope he makes it through this FBI process ok.

But given Lew's history with certain sewage-related metaphors, I'm not certain we want to go there:

"If you're going to go into a lawyer's office, it's got to be vetted and approved by someone up the chain," says Troutman Sanders partner Roscoe Howard, Jr., a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who is not involved in the case. "It's in the U.S. attorney's manual and the big concern is not really the documents you're looking for, but those that you're not looking for and come across that are privileged."

After a judge approves a search warrant on a lawyer's office, Howard explains, a neutral "taint team" from Main Justice reviews the documents seized during the raid to ensure that they address only that which is covered by the search warrant.

So an honest-to-goodness, real life "taint team" has been assembled to review Lew's files?

Oy -- let me think of something pleasant for a minute......come on, come on.....

Got it -- the US has finally opened direct negotiations with MILF.

Longtime MILF fans no doubt will hail this development.

(Wow, that was pretty close there for a minute.)

It Makes No Difference

The Band (minus Robby, who went "all Hollywood") in Japan, 1983.

Rick Danko RIP.

I may be mistaken, but I believe that is the Florida Justice Institute's Randy Berg joining the boys on sax at approximately 5:19 in.

SFL Friday -- The Continued Return of George L. Metcalfe (But Also Tania deLuzuriaga!!)

Well kids, I'm heading out of here shortly and after a busy week a man's gotta windsurf where a man's gotta windsurf.

And, according to George L. Metcalfe's most recent letter in the The Florida Bar News, men may never windsurf in the company of other men:

In creation and throughout at least a 5,000-year history, God has kept children and homosexual adults separated. The practice of homosexuality is a biblical “abomination,” as stated in Leviticus 18:22, where God is directly quoted in the Torah, which is also the Old Testament. Moreover, Leviticus 18 closes at verses 29 and 30 stating:

“For whoever shall do any of these abominations, the persons that do them shall be cut off from among their people. So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs which were practiced before you, and never to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.”

Thus, it is clear that God, the giver of law, hates the practice of homosexuality and His law and His will are to keep children and those practicing homosexuality apart.

God was directly quoted?

That's annoying, because He almost always insist on going background whenever I try to get Him on record.

And hold on George, you mean Judge David Young is gay???

You learn something new every day I guess.

Well, as David points out, there's an FBA shindig at the Biltmore tonight, but the Lew Freeman thing has left me a little unsettled and I may blow it off and sit down with a good book, one or three Gibsons straight up, and bask in the warm glow of domestic bliss.

Besides, I'm gonna need to set aside some time this weekend, I finally found a McCain I like, and -- best of all -- I'm happy to report I have tracked down my future ex-girlfriend Tania deLuzuriaga, who has landed on her beautiful feet and is now a Senior Account Executive at Colette Phillips Communications.

We know Tania is good with texting so it's no surprise she has a highly entertaining Twitter page here.

Tania, I'd "follow" you anywhere.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Lew Freeman's Business Placed In Receivership

Wow, Jordana Mishory reports this shocker:

In a stunning collapse, South Florida attorney and receiver Lewis Freeman went to court today to put his firm out of business and liquidate amid a federal investigation trying to trace $3.6 million from accounts overseen by the firm.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Victoria Sigler signed the order to shut down Lewis B. Freeman & Partners and place the firm in receivership under the control of another veteran South Florida receiver, Kenneth A. Welt of Hollywood.

Freeman, a lawyer and forensic accountant, h has often been slected over the years by federal and state judges as a receiver or trustee whenever companies went bust or were plagued by fraud. He did not return a call for comment.

I actually feel bad about this.

It was obvious that the FBI raid effectively ended Lew's receivership practice, as you cannot appoint someone to be a receiver or even an expert who is currently under federal investigation.

And while the full import is unknown of placing his entire business under receivership at the same time the FBI is tracing the firm's expenditures, it's hard to see this as a positive development.

Our thoughts and good wishes go out to Lew and the many professionals we know and respect over at his shop.

Gather Round, Children!

And read Middle District of Georgia Judge Clay Land's sanctions order against Ms. Birther, California lawyer Orly Taitz (thanks for posting, Marco!).

I particularly like the way Judge Land handles the recusal motion, which is in part based on an affidavit asserting that Judge Land met personally with US Attorney General Eric Holder in a coffee shop across the street from the courthouse:

In support of this accusation, counsel submits the affidavit of Robert D. Douglas. Mr. Douglas states that on the day of the hearing in the Cook case, he saw in the “coffee shop” across the street from the federal courthouse someone whom he recognized as Eric Holder, the Attorney General. Mr. Douglas’s identification is based upon what he describes as the Attorney General’s “distinguishing features: his trim upper lip mustache, not large of stature and general olive complexion.”

It gets much, much better -- in fact, it's a must-read.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Orly, if you're listening, take this baby to the 11th Circuit.

(You may have to post a bond first).

Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney - Computer Search Warrants

Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney reports severe limits in  Computer Search Warrants and Searches - Another court has laid out detailed procedures for issuance and execution of search warrants for computers that contain files outside the scope of a search warrant. The court ruled that the Government cannot rely on the Fourth Amendment's plain-view doctrine in cases where the investigators rely on the intermingling of computerized records to justify a broad seizure and examination of electronically stored records. United States v.Comprehensive Drug Testing Inc., 9th Cir.(en banc), No. 05-10067 (8/26/09).

The court states, “The process of segregating electronic data that is seizable from that which is not must not become a vehicle for the government to gain access to data which it has no probable cause to collect.” The plain-view doctrine is an issue courts have been struggling with.

Detailed procedures for searches of computer electronic data:

1. The government must not rely on the plain view doctrine in digital evidence cases.

2. Search must be either done by specialized personnel with a procedure to prevent disclosure investigators of information that is not the target of the warrant.

3. The government's search method must be designed to uncover only the information for which it has probable cause.

When Computers Land in Court, We Can Help - Tell Me Your Story Toll Free  - 1-877-793-9290.

Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney on Computer Forensic Searches and Warrants

Source: http://pub.bna.com/cl/0510067a.pdf