With judges presiding over real estate boom time cases of swindled property owners, Prohibition-era gambling crimes and the constitutionality of equal protection laws, the moral and social issues addressed within the 11th Judicial Circuit over the last 100 years in many ways tell the story not only of Miami, but the entire nation.
Miami-Dade's top corruption prosecutor says there is a "greater sense of accountability" today in the county's courts, where the circuit has been plagued with its share of scandals.
Thousands of attorneys and more than 500 judges have toiled in the 11th Judicial Circuit since its inception 100 years ago.
When Miami's legal industry was just getting started in the early 1900s, there was nothing high-powered about it. Just three local lawyers were members of the Florida Bar Association, the precursor to The Florida Bar.
The story of Miami's rise as a major center of commerce can be told through the prism of Shutts & Bowen.
For 57 years, Miami homicide detectives have been grasping at straws to find the person who kidnapped, raped and strangled 7-year-old Judith Ann Roberts and left her body in a mangrove thicket in Coconut Grove.
The Daily Business Review grew up with the 11th Judicial Circuit. The first display ad for a cafeteria near the downtown Miami courthouse in 1926 promised ham and eggs for 50 cents. Prices have changed, but the focus on legal news hasn't wavered.
Justice was generally swift in Miami's early days, and yet it also was often slow to arrive. In the 19th century, the scattered and extremely isolated residents of what is now the state's biggest city relied on circuit-riding judges who might - or might not - make it to Miami once a year.
As recently as 1965, a photograph of the 22 white men who made up the 11th Judicial Circuit offers a glimpse of the lack of diversity.
For decades, justice in Miami was far from colorblind. Separate but equal was the stated policy, but hatred and prejudice ruled.
The 28-story Dade County Courthouse was seen as a beacon when it opened in 1928 as the tallest building south of Baltimore.
The courthouse was a glorified shack when the 11th Judicial Circuit was created, but it became one of the busiest courts in the country. As it grew, Miami hosted many sensational trials.
Several South Florida attorneys helped celebrate the Miami-Dade Circuit Court centennial by turning back time for a re-enactment of the city's famous 1930 perjury trial of the notorious Al Capone.
Advertising | Products & Services | Announcements | Real Estate Marketplace | Directories | Events | Community Links
Contact Us | About Us | Subscribe | Privacy | Site Directory
