Julie Kay on South Florida Blogging

Julie Kay gives JAAB, Rumpole, and David Marcus the love (hey I got mentioned parenthetically):

The Broward blog is one of a handful of legal blogs that have started in South Florida in the past two years that have shone a spotlight on the justice system.

Justice Building Blog is anonymous and written by a Miami criminal defense attorney who calls himself "Rumpole of the Bailey."

South Florida Lawyers, started anonymously a month ago, covers civil law in the southern part of the state. The Southern District of Florida blog is run by David O. Markus, a prominent Miami criminal defense attorney and president of the Miami chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

While the Southern District of Florida and South Florida Lawyers blogs are intended to share discourse and aggregate newspaper stories, the JAA Blog and the Justice Building Blog are clearly intended to make waves.

"People underestimate the impact of the Justice Building Blog, but I believe that every state court judge, particularly criminal, reads it routinely as well as most of the practitioners," said Brian Tannebaum, a defense lawyer at Tannebaum Weiss in Miami.

"There are a lot of things that happen in the building that people didn't know about. I think it's had a huge impact on the way people operate in the criminal courthouse. I think blogs in general have had a huge impact on the way that our system operates," Tannebaum said. "They can spread rumors, they can relay information that people otherwise may not have known."

The downside to the blogs, say readers, is that anonymous responders post information about judges routinely not showing up for work, judges and lawyers having affairs with each other and other salacious rumors.

Moderating movement

The JAA Blog is not moderated and anyone can post any comment. The anonymous author of the Justice Building Blog recently began moderating the comments section and bans personal rumors and attacks from his blog.

"I think it would have a lot more credibility if you had to register your name. Right now, it's a tremendous catalyst for a lot of controversy that didn't exist before," Adler said.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Leonard Glick said he reads the Justice Building Blog "two to three times a day" and sometimes writes in.

"I think it's an interesting exchange of ideas," he said. "Some people spoil things by posting juvenile and hurtful things. But it's not totally a gossip mill. There are elements of important ideas."

In an e-mail response to questions, "Rumpole" took direct responsibility for two changes: helping to secure a daycare room for children at the Miami criminal courthouse for defendants to use, and causing judges to rethink their position of not allowing continuances at "soundings" or calendar calls held a week before trial.

It's unquestionable that JAAB and Rumpole have had an effect; David Marcus has been a valuable asset to the federal courthouse coverage, and the influence can been seen by talking to lawyers and judges around town.