Florida is seeking death penalties against four suspects in the Billings family murders:

 

According to Florida State's attorney William 'Bill' Eddins, the death penalty will be sought against the following four (out of the original seven) suspects: Leonard Gonzalez, Jr., Wayne Thomas Caldiron, Donald Ray Stallworth, and Patrick Lee Thornton.

They were arrested and charged this summer with murdering Byrd and Melanie Billings, the Florida couple who adopted a number of special needs children, some of whom were reportedly inside the house when the couple was slain.

A Broward County, Florida jury delivered a verdict against tobacco company Philip Morris over the death of a woman who smoked two packs of cigarettes each day from the time she was 16 years-old until she died in her late 70's.

The jury rendered a damages verdict in favor of Barbanell for $5.34 million, but apportioned liability between defendant Philip Morris (36.5%) and the late Shirley Barbanell (67.5%).

It's official.  Mr. Clucky, the Miami Beach rooster, his guinea hen girlfriend Wallflower, and their poultry guardian Mark Buckley lost their appeal in Miami Beach's chicken eviction case.

Special Master Joe Kaplan issued a fowl, anti-poultry ruling (see below) against Buckley today, holding that:

Mr. Buckley's argument that his rooster and hen constituted an exception to the [City] Code because he considered them to be his "pets", to be without merit.

Is it over for these fine feathered friends? Is their legal jig up on the streets of Miami Beach? 

You would think that, after all the times that a prominent, successful man has seen his career undone through association with a stripper, eventually people would learn that success brings with it certain behavioral strictures.

But, human nature being what it is, the pattern keeps repeating itself again and again, and even an erudite man of the bench can get caught up in it.

Thomas E. Stringer was, until February of this year, a judge on Florida's 2nd District Court of Appeal in the Tampa Bay area.  He broke down barriers by becoming the first black graduate of his law school, Stetson University College of Law, and worked as a state attorney before becoming a circuit judge and then joining the Court of Appeal.

Then, last March, his legal career of thirty-plus years came crashing down.

The New York Times has an interesting article available that discusses both the dire financial straits that state courts have found themselves in recently and Florida's revenue-generating solution to the problem.  The state has a long-standing policy of tenaciously pursuing those who have outstanding court fees.  Now, facing budget shortfalls, the Florida courts have stepped up their efforts and jailed thousands of people for failing to pay fines and fees. 

According to the article, several other states have either already followed Florida's lead or have looked into starting their own aggressive collection programs. At least one, Rhode Island, has found that the returns from such a system would not justify the cost.