300 more civil cases uncovered in Broward Co., FL court (secret docket)

[seafan]

300 more civil cases uncovered in Broward court

More cases have been hidden from the public in Broward Circuit Court, including the divorces of public officials and business people.

BY PATRICK DANNER AND DAN CHRISTENSEN
August 18, 2006

More than 300 civil cases filed between 1989 and 2001 in Broward Circuit Court were kept secret from the public, showing that the hiding of select lawsuits was a deep-rooted practice.
Dozens of the confidential divorces and lawsuits involve the powerful and influential, including politicians, judges, lawyers and law enforcement officers.

Those cases come on top of another 107 civil cases that were kept off the public docket between 2001 and 2006, reported by The Miami Herald in April. At the newspaper's request, the Broward clerk's office searched its records and located another 314 cases.
All the cases are now on the public docket, under new rules issued this summer by Chief Judge Dale Ross, but their contents remain sealed.
Secret cases are extremely rare -- just 421 since the clerk began electronically docketing cases in 1989. Last year alone, there were 44,775 civil and family court cases filed in Broward Circuit Court.

But the fact that many hidden cases involved local leaders disturbed advocates.

''It's depressing,'' said Paul K. McMasters, First Amendment ombudsman for the Freedom Forum foundation in Arlington, Va. ``It's secret justice for some and public justice for everyone else. The problem is secret justice is not really justice.''

snip

It's unclear why the cases were off the public docket. Broward Clerk of Courts Howard Forman has said it happens only when judges order it. Judge Ross said clerks might have misconstrued judicial orders. He did not return two calls seeking comment.
''The fact that we're finding more and more of these cases is alarming,'' said Adria Harper, director of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee.

snip

``It makes you question what's happening with the judicial system. Is there a lack of communication between judges and clerks? Are there judges who are arbitrarily just improperly sealing cases as political favor, or whatever? What's happening here?''
A review of the recently opened dockets showed judges typically acted to seal cases at the request of one or both parties. They often did so without issuing public notice or holding a hearing, as required by law.

snip

[babylonsister]

1. This just feeds my fear of what we're not hearing on a national level.

And Florida; is that the test state?

[1932]

2. Schiavo. She didn't get any privacy. The state of Florida wanted to make

her private life their business. But I guess if you're the politicians and the businessman who finance them, you get all the privacy you want, even if it's agains the law.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. Why does Florida hate America

and our values?

[seafan]

4. Includes divorce of former Broward Superv. of Elections Miriam Oliphant

The Miami Herald previously reported that divorces involving Circuit Judge Thomas M. Lynch IV; County Court Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren; ex-Broward Supervisor of Elections Miriam Oliphant and North Broward Hospital District Chairman Paul Sallarulo were kept confidential. Also hidden were lawsuits against a former presidential speechwriter, the South Broward Hospital District and Holy Cross Hospital.

snip

Other newly uncovered Broward cases include:

• A 2000 lawsuit against Fort Lauderdale's Mutual Benefits Corp by investor Rory R. Enright over an insurance policy. Four years later, the nation's largest viatical settlement company was shut down for allegedly running an elaborate Ponzi scheme that took in more than $1 billion from unsuspecting investors.

snip

• A 1998 case involving Jennifer Bush, whose mother was found guilty of deliberately making her child sick to attract attention for herself.

snip

• Broward County Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin's divorce from her first husband, Boca Raton lawyer Jeffrey Wasserman, in the early 1990s, when she was chairwoman of the Broward School Board.

• Broward Circuit Judge Ana Gardiner's divorce from lawyer William Gardiner III, filed six months after Gardiner took office in 1998. It vanished from the public record the next day.

• Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson's divorce, removed from the public docket in 1998 when he was an assistant U.S. attorney in Fort Lauderdale.

snip

• The 2000 divorce of Coral Springs-based home builder Itzhak Ezratti of G.L. Homes.

snip

There is much more to uncover here, IMHO.

[lonestarnot]

5. WTF! This is insane!

[lpbk2713]

6. The best justice money can buy.

Funny how it always works out that way.



It's not surprising how Limbaugh got off the hook so easily. His case was tried in a south Florida court.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Banana Republicans beget Banana Republics. Florida is a banana republic.

[Greyhound]

8. Florida has long served as refuge for criminals and other scoundrels

Fly-by-night "contractors", real estate scams, falsified death certificates, fraudulent ID's, snake-oil cures, telemarketing scams, you name it, Florida will let them get away scott-free.

We just don't do business with any business based in Florida (or Texas, similar crime haven)

[seafan]

9. Jeb has worked fiendishly to control the judiciary in Broward.

Do y'all remember recently the Broward pastor who publicly asserted that Islam is "a cult"? Yes, the Reverend O'Neal Dozier.

Interestingly, Dozier was appointed by Jeb Bush to the Broward Judicial Nominating Committee. Then, under tremendous pressure by the public on Jeb Bush, Reverend Dozier was removed from the committee because of these racist comments. Jeb has packed the Broward Judicial Nominating Committee with just this sort of lackey.


And, Jeb recently tried to muscle his way into having sole discretion for choosing 55 new judges in Florida, without voter input. Well, the Florida Supreme Court said NO.


Whenever one examines the level of corruption and undue influence in the Broward County Judicial System, one will find the ruthless, lurking and demoralizing hand of Jeb Bush.

Wonder just how all of these secret court cases now exposed will somehow involve his influence...



The Judiciary is our last bastion of hope to enforce checks and balances on *Co. We won't let *Co overrun it.

[young_at_heart]

10. How does this situation in Florida compare with other states?

It would be good know if Florida stands out from the rest of the country.

[seafan]

12. I can't speak for other states, but FL is a sneak preview of what will

take over our entire country if we do not clean out this familial corruption.

[Ragin_mad]

11. Why are divorces public record anyways ?

What about the people's right to privacy ?

[Ian David]

13. Be interesting to compare those names to the KnowThyNeighbor.org list

See how many of those ungly divorcees are "Pro-Family."