Kendall Coffey on Judicial Selection Process

Kendall Coffey chairs the JNC for Florida's Southern District

The Dade County Bar Association is hosting a luncheon next week on the judicial selection process in Florida.  The luncheon will take place in Miami on September 20th at the Hyatt Regency.  There will be a panel of experts at the event to discuss the judicial selection process and how to become a member of the judicial nominating committee.

The panel will be lead by the Hon. Robert Scola fromt he U.S. District Court.  Kendall Coffey, who is currently the chair of the Southern District of Florida's Judicial Nomination Commission, will also be a panelist.  They will also be discussing how attorneys can apply to become a judge or U.S. attorney.

Most judges in Florida are selected by the nomination commission and then put on local ballots every six years afterwards.  Recent research shows that the public is currently confused about the judicial selection process and frequently skip the ballot, so it is important as well that bar association members are able to communicate the role of the public in judicial selection.

State supreme court judges are appointed by the governor and have a forced retirement age of 70 years old.  Supreme court, court of appeals, and circuit court judges serve two year terms.

Judicial Nomination Commissions are appointed by the governor.  Each commission has nine members and there are twenty six total for each level and district in the state.

Manny Marono Seeks Council at Coffey Burlington

  The mayor of Sweetwater, Florida, Manny Marono, has been charged with corruption charges, along with another mayor in South Florida and two lobbyists. Marono has secured council with Coffey Burlington, a Miami firm where Kendall Coffey is a partner.

   Upon his arrest, Coffey was interviewed by local news. Coffey told reporters, "There has been great progress in the city of Sweetwater, there will continue to be progress, and Manny Marono look forward to the opportunity to prove his innocence."

   Miami Lakes Mayor was also arrested in relation to a scheme to create fake government contracts that would provide kickbacks for the mayors and two area lobbyists, Richard Candia and Jorge Forte. Marono was removed as head of the League of Cities in Florida earlier this month shortly after the arrest.

   On Marono's behalf, Kendall Coffey and Armando Rosquete said recently in a statement that Marono and his family “are very appreciative of the support he has received from friends and so many in the community.”

August 15th Spinning the Law with Kendall Coffey

A new Spinning the Law Segment featuring Kendall Coffey on the Steve Malzberg Show was released this week.  Kendall Coffey appears on the show to answer questions about a recent New Mexico Supreme Court ruling and about Eric Holder's statements on drug crimes.


The state supreme court in New Mexico recently ruled that citizens who are native Spanish speakers still have a right to serve on a jury even if they do not have a strong grasp of English.  The case involved a convicted murderer's appeal based on the dismissal of a juror who did not have strong understanding the language.

Kendall Coffey notes that while it is a constitutional right, he was baffled and confused that the court would not see language barriers as grounds for dismissal.

"This is more than a head scratcher... this has got your jaw dropping and your eyes rolling.  The constitutional right to a fair trial, where everybody completely understands the proceedings at every level is vitally important. And you know... the one thing we agree with opposing counsel on is... if there is any indication that a juror does not truly understand and is comfortable with the English language, you can be assured that's the one thing that both sides agree on!  It just doesn't help the system of justice to have it." -Kendall Coffey on New Mexico court ruling.

Steve Malzberg then asked Coffey his opinion on Attorney General Eric Holder's remarks on Monday about how federal prosecutors will stop seeking mandatory sentences for drug offenses.  Some have said that instructing federal prosecutors to ignore the law is illegal in and of itself.  Kendall Coffey said that in general federal prosecutors generally have a lot of discretion in which cases to try.  He went on to say that the war on drugs has been too downplayed in recent years.

"Crime is down, and certainly back in the 90's and 80's, there has been an astronomical correlation between street crime and drugs.  So much so that they would test people when they picked up off the streets and remarkable percentage of people were positive for using drugs at the time of the crime... We have had success with in enforcement, and its a success that's been consistent.  I suppose you could say its harsh... but to have something that's effective, what really needs to come across, is there needs to be a serious punishment each time, every time."

Kendall Coffey went on to say he is probably in the majority of that opinion but stands by it.  Steve Malzberg agreed with Coffey, saying that people who knowingly break the law need to face consequences.