The Florida Supreme Court Monday [June 17] granted a request for an expedited review in a case seeking to shed light on how lawmakers redrew legislative districts for the 2012 election. The League of Women Voters, among other groups, seeks to question lawmakers and their staff about the process. But the 1st District Court of Appeal decided 2 to 1 in May that legislators and staff enjoy a long-standing privilege that shields them from having to testify about legislative business. In Monday’s order, the Supreme Court directed the Legislature’s attorneys to respond to the brief submitted by the League by June 21. (Read Full Article Here)

The editorial states that the legislation that Scott signed into law Friday [June 14] to speed up executions puts him on track to be the most active executioner in modern Florida history, in a state that has had more exonerations off Death Row than any other in the country, and that the new law addresses a nonexistent problem. The Florida Supreme Court ordered a comprehensive review of the state’s post-conviction death penalty process that is under way. The editorial considers that “it would have been far more responsible to wait for those conclusions than to recklessly speed up the process with so little concern about executing the wrong person.” (Read Full Article Here)

A profile of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Angelica Zayas, whose bicultural sensibility —influenced by her Cuban upbringing — proved valuable when she entered the legal profession. Among the cases she has handled is a high-profile child abuse accusation against two Cuban exiles. In 2011, Gov. Rick Scott appointed her to the bench. She’s been in the juvenile division since.  (Read Full Article Here)

Clay County Circuit Judge John Skinner has agreed to step down from a death penalty sentencing after the State Attorney’s Office accused him of being biased in favor of the defendant, Leo Louis Kaczmar, guilty of stabbing a woman more than 50 times before setting a fire to conceal the crime in December 2008. Assistant State Attorney James Colaw made a motion last week to remove Skinner from the case, accusing Skinner of telling him he’d already decided to give Kaczmar life in prison and wouldn’t be sentencing him to death. Skinner made those comments before a sentencing hearing, the motion said, and it is improper for a judge to express an opinion at that point. Chief Judge Donald Moran will assign another judge to the case. The only two sentencing options available for Kaczmar are Death Row or life without the possibility of parole. (Read Full Article Here)

When she was 17, Veronica Limia was charged as an adult for burglary and grand larceny in Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Ron Alvarez’s courtroom. But with the help of many, including Alvarez, she has turned her life around. Limia graduated from law school at Florida International University in December 2011 and later passed the Florida Bar exam. She has had to wait until now for a panel to finish a character-fitness investigation before she could be sworn in. “This is the end of a process, the beginning of a new career for a young lady who has been on the road to redemption for many years,” Alvarez said Monday [June 17] at her swearing in ceremony. (Read Full Article Here)

Team Zimmerman is trying to silence the voice recognition experts. And they trotted out their own voice recognition expert Tuesday to do that. (Read Full Article Here)

Pro bono attorneys representing low-income clients have received letters of appreciation from the Supreme Court of Florida and a lapel pin, thanks to efforts sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar and implemented in collaboration with the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association and legal aid organizations in each judicial circuit. In the letter, Chief Justice Ricky Polston encourages pro bono attorneys to invite colleagues and associates to become involved in pro bono service to those less fortunate. (Read Full Article Here)

Manatee County’s historic 100-year-old courthouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will be transformed by new landscaping and other renovations. A new police memorial, a new veterans monument, and distinguished citizen footprints set in concrete will be installed. Work on the $698,964 project will start in mid-July and is expected to be completed in 60 to 90 days. Money for the project came from a variety of sources such as fees paid by attorneys filing foreclosure suits, funds left over from the construction of the judicial center and grants. (Read Full Article Here)

Media coverage of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman took center stage in the trial of the Florida … (Read Full Article Here)

Forty potential jurors in George Zimmerman’s murder trial were asked Tuesday to return for further questioning, clearing the first round of interviews for a case that involves issues of race, equal justice and gun control.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys whittled down the pool from hundreds of prospects on the seventh day of jury selection. The attorneys had been questioning jurors about their exposure to media coverage of Zimmerman’s fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in February 2012. Starting Wednesday, they will be able to ask those invited to the next round more detailed questions about how they feel about the case. (Read Full Article Here)