Reforming the Courts

Per Curiam Affirmed "PCA" Statistics

For the average Floridian never being involved in litigation is the ideal situation.

Unfortunately, many of us have been dragged into Court for one reason or the other, divorce, children's custody, car accident, even minor and serious criminal allegations, those who have been to Court hope to resolve the litigation as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Then we have the 13,312 cases sent to an appeal court for review of a trial court error.

We all think of an appeal's court as a place to have a full review of the facts and law, to have the appeals court issue an opinion of at least one paragraph, basic legal words citing to a case from the law books that is on a point as to why the appeal's court decided for, or against you, after all that is what an appeal's court should do - correct?

As a Florida resident you will be stunned to learn that of the 13,312 cases sent to the Florida District Court of Appeals in one year, just 8,320 (62.5 percent) had only the following words on the order dismissing the appeal, Click here:

"Per Curiam Affirmed"

That's it, no other words, no citing to legal case law that would be on a point for all the parties to review, Click here. A more recent example from the week of May 5, 2010, appeal orders-PCAs Click here.

Under Florida law any appeals court order that says only "Per Curiam Affirmed" cannot be appealed to the highest court of the State of Florida, "The Florida Supreme Court,". If your attorney does file an appeal from a "Per Curiam Affirmed" case, the Clerk of The Florida Supreme Court is instructed to deny the appeal on its face. No matter how egregious the trial court acted in the case, no matter if any eighth grader could see that the trial court violated your rights and did not follow the law, it will not matter because the appeal's court said "Per Curiam Affirmed,".

Most Judge's in Florida are ethical, honest hardworking jurists, but as the media tells us day after day, we have a few that are on a political, personal agenda who have managed to get into a position of power. If you cannot even get a paragraph written from an appeal court and cannot get review of the case in the highest court of the State, who do you turn for justice?

The Scott Rothstein case is a perfect example of how those who hold the gold make the rules. Here are a few links to media stories on the Scott Rothstein case and his billion-dollar ponzi scam, Click here, here, here and here run a Google search for countless news clips.

This convicted scam artist was appointed to the Judicial Nominating Commission, Fourth District Court of Appeal, by Governor Charlie Crist. The commission is charged with picking who will sit on the appeal court deciding your case.

It is common knowledge, in legal circles, that big law firms with the big bucks get the written opinions from the five separate Florida District Courts of Appeals, and that less known law firms or lawyers who do not have the big bucks, end up with the "Per Curiam Affirmed" decisions, basically ending the litigation with no explanation from the appeals court. The Committee on Per Curiam Affirmed Decisions published comments from Florida lawyers on PCA decision, Click here.

As Governor, Darrin will advocate that the Florida Supreme Court and the Judiciary enact a “cert pool,” a system similar to that used by the United States Supreme Court, allowing hope for a litigant involved in egregious, unjust litigation, that was ignored by the Florida District Courts of Appeal. Floridians should not fall into the judicial cracks.

Read the Federal Appeals Court opinion on the FBI sting called "Operation Court Broom," the FBI arrested numerous Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judges for taking kick backs from lawyers for court rulings in their favor. Click here.

In a State known for "who you know is more important than what you know," it should be mandatory, that each appeal receive at the bare minimum, one sentence citing to relevant case law, that should be on point, before the court rules for or against, on any appeal.

View the Florida District Court of Appeals "Staff" statistics, Click here, each Judge has two law clerks and a judicial assistant. This means that on a three-judge panel you have six law clerks to help write opinions for the court.

Reforming Our Government Click here