JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Monday, May 08, 2017

YOUR TIME IS UP

Query: 
Having argued at appellate courts at all levels, why doesn't the Third District Court of Appeals have an electronic timer like other courts? 

Battle of the Coral Sea- 75 years ago this week
Last week the Australian Prime Minister visited the United States and met with POTUS 45. There were many comments about the 75th anniversary of the battle of the Coral Sea which occurred this week. The battle concluded on May 8 with the sinking of the US Carrier Lexington. 

The Battle of the Coral Sea was many things. It was the first major naval engagement of carriers. The first major naval engagement where opposing navies didn't actually see each other during the engagement. Coral Sea was fought strictly with carriers launching naval aviators and attack planes. The Battle of the Coral Sea was also the first major naval engagement between the United States and Japan, coming five months after the disaster at Pearl Harbor. 

The Battle of Coral Sea was many things, but it was NOT the turning point of the Pacific campaign in WWII, although many commentators have recently and mistakenly taken to calling it that.

The turning point in the war would come a month later on June 4 at the Battle of Midway, upon which we will expertly expound more at that time. 

The Battle of Coral Sea was for both sides- at best- a draw. The US struck first, sinking the Japanese light carrier Shoho. The next day the Japanese located and 
sunk the older and slow US carrier Lexington. The US then severely damaged the Japanese carrier Shokaku and in return the Japanese damaged the carrier Yorktown. Both sides then retreated, although the Japanese invasion of Port Moresby, which would have threatened Australia, was defeated. 

The long term strategic effects of the battle favored the United States.  Fleet Admiral Yamamoto was spoiling for a large scale naval battle so as to sink the remaining US carriers which escaped damage at Pearl Harbor.   To that end, Yamamoto created an invasion fleet for the US island Midway hoping to draw out what he believed would be the remaining two US carriers- Enterprise and Hornet. But the Yorktown limped back to Pearl and was turned around in three days (with damages that were thought to require a month of repairs). The Yorktown made a surprise and significant appearance at the Battle Of Midway and contributed to the resounding defeat of the Japanese Navy and loss of four carriers. 

Midway was the turning point in the Pacific War and to a small extent the outcome of the battle of the Coral Sea contributed to that outcome by disguising the presence of the Yorktown and also giving the US naval aviators and Navy the confidence that they could defeat a much more experienced and larger Japanese Navy. 

The battle of Midway was when time ran out on the Imperial Japanese Navy, and when their time ran out- like the litigators at the 3rd DCA- they didn't know it either. 

From Occupied America, Fight the Power!






17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess you have not really argued cases "at appellate courts at all levels," or you would know the there is no time clock in the highest court, the U.S. Supreme Court, which signals expiring time with a light bulb. The only clock in the room is an analog wall clock, placed so high that it is not visible to arguing counsel. Perhaps the 3rd DCA judges aspire to be just like Gorsuch and company.

Anonymous said...

ok rUMPOLE, lets mix it up shall we? I know from your writings on other blogs that you are a rank apologist for Adm Hub Kimmel who commanded the Pacific fleet until caught with his pants down at Pearl. Lets leave that for the moment and move on to Adm Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea and Midway. Both times he withdrew from contact when he had the Imperial Japanese Navy IJN on the ropes. At Coral Seal when he lost the Lexington he didn't send out search planes to find the main body. Nimitz and King had worries about him but then they lost Halsey for Midway so Fletcher had to command with Spruance. Again, after sinking FOUR IJN carriers he let Yamamoto retreat after losing the Yorktown even though the Hornet was basically untouched (you know about the flight to no-where on the day of battle right?). He could have sent the Hornet after the remnants of the main IJN fleet and finished them off. But no...he pulled back.

What say you Rumpole? Are you also a Fletcher apologist?

Anonymous said...

551

Apart from everything else you said, when you add what say you rumpole, you sound like an annoying former judge

Anonymous said...

Bad grammar in first question. Also, 2dca has no timer. Last I was there, 4dca didn't either. But that was years ago.

Anonymous said...

Good job by KFR. She complained that the higher paid ASAs weren't getting a raise, so no one got a raise.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole,

Please don't give the Third DCA ideas. The lack of a timer allows the OA to expand or contract as needed depending on the case.

Real Appellate Attorney

Rumpole said...

5:51 AM. I shall rise to the defense of Admiral FRANK Jack Fletcher and his superb command of the carriers at Coral Sea and Midway. First- the only thing standing between Japan and their fleet arriving off the coast of California was Nimitz's carriers- The Lex, The Yorktown, The Hornet and The Enterprise. The Japanese fleet after PH rampaged through the Pacific virtually unheeded. When the Port Moresby invasion went into motion Admiral Nimitz had two orders from the President- protect the carriers and protect Australia, and Nimitz was left to discern which was more important. Nimitz thus sent Admiral Fletcher into battle with these orders- inflict maximum damage on the enemy while protecting and preserving the fleet.

Knowing that his decisions were what stood between Japan and the invasion of the west coast of the United States, Fletcher went into battle. Clearly as you state, Coral Sea was his finding the sea legs of his fleet. The US Naval aviators were mostly untested, unlike the superbly trained Japanese pilots. After Coral Sea and the sinking of the Japanese carrier, Fletcher knew his boys could fight. Now Nimitz needed to pick his spot, and Midway was a brilliant choice for two reasons. AFter losing the Lex, Nimitz was down to three carriers and while the Yorktown got turned around in three days, her performance was still questionable. So it was basically two full strength carriers plus the Yorktown versus 4-6 Japanese carriers and their battle fleet. But Midway was an unsinkable carrier. It was land based carrier that couldn't be sunk, and those pilots who flew from Midway, while they weren't well trained in Naval attack tactics, they occupied the Japanese Navy which eventually allowed Commander Leslie Maxwell's dive bombers to break through and sink the first two Japanese carriers.
Second- Nimitz was reading Yamamoto's mail. We had broken the Japanese code and he knew their battle plan. What Nimitz couldn't know was this fascinating fact- when the Japanese war gamed the battle one commander playing Nimitz placed his carriers north east of Midway to ambush the Japanese fleet- the actual tactic Nimitz planned. But the damages in those simulations were so bad that Admiral Nagumo stopped the simulation saying there was no possibility the Americans would use their carriers that way. But Nimitz knew the Japanese were coming and he also was able to get the Yorktown into the battle.

Now on to Fletcher at Midway. Again, his orders from Nimitz were to destroy the Japanese fleet while preserving his fleet. Having sunk all the Japanese carriers, Fletcher withdrew to avoid a confrontation with the remaining Japanese battle ships. Also, Fletcher was going to lose the Yorktown AND his entire torpedo bomber force- amazingly brave men to whom this county owes an enormous debt- was wiped out. The fleet had less than ten operating torpedo bombers. All of the torpedo squadrons who dove without fighter cover that day were almost completely destroyed, but as we know, that eventually opened up the window for Maxwell's dive bombers who wiped the carriers out! Having destroyed the four carriers, Fletcher withdrew to fight another day and his decision was born out by this- from that day- exactly six months from the day of Pearl Harbour, the Japanese Navy would never again be on the offensive. And while the US had 11 carriers in the pipeline, the Japanese had none- they didn't have the industrial might to replace their carriers. So Fletcher knew the US had time on their side. His fleet could wait until more and more carriers arrived and then overwhelm Japan. So for all those reasons and more, Admiral Frank J Fletcher and Admiral Spruance (Halsey's replacement at Midway) are true american heroes and legendary admirals. The defense rests.

Anonymous said...

James Comey's time is up.

Anonymous said...

That would take me a day to write

Anonymous said...

It was really important for the U.S.A. to win World War II, otherwise Americans would end up driving German and Japanese cars...

Anonymous said...

The heroes in that war were the destroyers and the submarines.

Anonymous said...

The 3rd DCA actually wrote some opinions today. Judge Luck is proving to be a good influence.

Anonymous said...

Just woke up from a coma from the 1980s. Democrats still championing unions? The environment? The working man? Anti-nukes? Anti-death penalty?

Still strong on borders and protectionism for manufacturing? Still concerned with the environmental degradation of mass immigration and overpopulation?

The left is still the champion of free speech, right? College campuses vigorously defending all kinds of speech against sanction?

Anonymous said...

Great defense Rump. Love the post, as well as the back and forth.

BTDT

Anonymous said...

7:00 a.m., Americans prefer German and Japanese cars.

Anonymous said...

Judge Luck was horrible in circuit court and will be far better off at the DCA. He's a nice guy but, lacks street smarts and thinks the government is always right.

Anonymous said...

Breaking JN23? Heard of it? West coast was never in danger, Japan didn't have the resources.