Fla. appeals court chastises judge over compassion in foreclosure cases

[Cass]

Source: Associated Press

7:21 P.M. — MIAMI — A judge who routinely granted extensions in foreclosure cases for compassionate reasons has been chastised by a state appeals court, which said her rulings amounted to an abuse of discretion.

The Third District Court of Appeal said “benevolence and compassion” were not legally sufficient grounds for Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr to allow a Miami couple an extra month to try and sell their home before a foreclosure sale.


The appeals judge’s called her decisions “an abuse of discretion in the most basic sense of that term.”


Schurr had granted the one-month extension in the case of Joseph and Blanca Doyle because, she explained in court, “I give extensions on these because I don’t want anybody to lose their house.” She went on: “Businesses are failing. People are losing money in the stock market. You know, unemployment is high. It’s just everybody knows that we are in a bad time right now and I hate to see anybody lose their home.”



Read more: http://www.news-press.com/article/20091008/NEWS01/91008064/1002/RSS01

[naaman fletcher]

1. unfortunetly the ruling is correct..

I applaud the judges who have denied the foreclosures to banks that can't prove they own the mortgages, or to banks who defrauded the borrowers, but this still much be a country of laws.

If any judge can just ignore the law, chaos will reign.

[Xipe Totec]

3. Only a jury can ignore the law

Jury nullification is still legal.

[Demoiselle]

4. She didn't ignore the law...she moved a deadline.

Judges grant delays in proceedings all the time.

[Robb]

5. Most states have codified foreclosure proceeding schedules

I would guess this is one of them. Moving those dates around is ignoring the law.

I hope this will amount to a slap on the wrist for her, however. Compassion from the bench is good to see -- better to see it applied in a legal manner, though.

[naaman fletcher]

7. but she is admitting that..

she did not due it for procedural reasons, but in order to subvert the law to her own passions.

[ooglymoogly]

6. Oh, you mean like our own AG

Not prosecuting for theft, murder and mayhem by the previous gangsters. Yes we live in a law abiding era where powerful gangsters are above the law and desperately hurting folks get no quarter. I say Judge Valerie Manno Schurr for supreme court and we all would be living in a better place for it. Oh yeah Judges always play by the rules fer sher especially Alito and his sidekicks in stopping the vote counting so * could steal the Presidency and destroy this country. Yes do let a draconian kind of logic prevail even if it only applies to the plebs.

[tomm2thumbs]

9. you mean like the Supreme Court ignoring the election in Florida that got us Bush?

but they pretended they were following the law and not ignoring it - so who do you believe

[naaman fletcher]

11. I'm not sure I get your point...

Because the Supreme Court ignored the Florida election results it is ok for every judge in the land to ignore the law? Is that your point?

[tomm2thumbs]

12. the opposite - the Supreme Court says they didn't ignore the law, in order to ignore the law

ie. people will say what they want to get their way.

To argue the judge 'abused their discretion' is to admit the judge HAS discretion. And to HAVE discretion is to USE discretion. Which the judge did.

I don't think 30 days is an 'abuse of discretion' - but they will cite that it is. So who is right. No one is right when everyone is right. There's an old lighting designer's mantra. 'When you light everything, you light nothing' - and claiming an 'abuse of discretion' proves to be subjective instead of lawful.

[ooglymoogly]

15. +1 nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. in Illinois, appellate court judges are elected, then,

retained by ballot.

Florida? Hmmmm.

[tomm2thumbs]

8. a month extension is common in legal proceedings of any kind - this is discretion (by definition)

abusing discretion would be to overturn a ruling, not merely allow 30 more days

definition: noun
1. the power or right to decide or act according to one's own judgment; freedom of judgment or choice
2. the quality of being discreet, esp. with reference to one's own actions or speech; prudence or d

[imdjh]

10. You guys need to see this place.

Google satellite map this and zoom in : "6055 SW 116 ST" MIAMI, FL

[Lance_Boyle]

13. What?!? No tennis court?

I bet they're the shame of the neighborhood.

[marshall]

14. She was chastised for granting extensions, not for her compassion

Hopefully they all have compassion, but that doesn't mean they have to skirt the law.