He touts endorsements from politicians such as Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, and former judges Israel Reyes and Joel Brown

Diaz de la Portilla, who has so far raised over $64,000, says he wanted to become a judge after developing a passion for mediation work in recent years. “I loved it, and being a judge, I can do it every day.”

His opponent, Diaz, 36, is no stranger to politics, either.

She has served as an assistant Miami city attorney since March 2007, overseeing negotiations on complex land deals. Diaz touts endorsements from Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, ex-Mayor Manny Diaz and two sitting commissioners, Francis Suarez and Wifredo “Willy” Gort.

Diaz has raised close to $46,000. She says she wants to serve as a juvenile judge. “So many kids in our community don’t have options,” she said. “I want to be the one that says, ‘I’m going to help you. We’re going to figure out a way to keep you off the streets.’”

Diaz was in the news recently after a Miami-Dade ethics investigation concluded she steered city jobs to her fiancé’s law firm through a third party, failing to disclose her ties.

An investigation concluded “the appearance of impropriety is strong” but that no rules were broken. She dismissed the complaint as “frivolous.”

Ethics investigators are also looking at Diaz for her receipt of two free VIP tickets from the Ultra music festival, a practice the city attorney’s office said broke no laws. Diaz says she went to “monitor” the event.

Diaz de la Portilla says the probes make him the “clear” choice: “Our community cannot afford to be embarrassed,” he said.

His opponent shot back, saying: “He’s a politician. He’ll continue to run the campaign as if we’re running for governor or the Senate. I’m not going to get into dirty politics.”

Diaz de la Portilla hasn’t been free of his own ethics probes. In 2011, the schools inspector general said he violated rules and procedures when his school board office sent a mailer to Republican voters, most of them in a district in which his brother was running for the Florida Senate.

Their judicial race is not the only one filled with drama.

Rodney Smith, 39, is fighting to keep his seat from challenger Christian Carrazana, a personal injury attorney.

Smith is a former Miami Beach assistant city attorney first appointed to the county bench in 2008 and later elevated to circuit. The Liberty City-raised lawyer touts broad support among many of the top lawyers and legal organizations in Miami-Dade, is praised for his involvement in the community, and has received overwhelming support in local bar association polls.

“It’s very important you have experience on the bench. You can’t trade experience for an experiment,” Smith said.

So far, Smith has raised over $114,000 in campaign contributions, while his opponent has only raised just over $14,000.

Carrazana, 41, has been a lawyer since 1999. Smith supporters say Carrazana, a Cuban American, targeted the well-respected black incumbent hoping to win on the appeal of a Spanish surname in this heavily Hispanic electorate.

“He’s hoping to slide by on his name,” said Smith’s campaign manager, attorney Larry Handfield. “It’s unfair to the citizens of Miami-Dade County.”

Carrazana denies playing ethnics politics. Instead, he says he is targeting Smith because he disagrees with Smith rulings over the years favoring insurance companies. Smith was once employed by campaign supporter United Automobile Insurance Company; the company’s executive operations manager also created a political action committee, Citizens for Judicial Fairness, to support the judge.

“I believe I am the best qualified candidate,” Carrazana said.

Replied Smith: “I don’t favor any side. If the law is on your side, the law is on your side.”

The campaign saw an early twist when Carrazana’s longtime firm, Panter, Panter & Sampedro, fired him in May because he filed to run against Smith, a story first reported by Miami’s Justice Building Blog.

“The partners also said that if I won the election, I would be blackballed by other members of the judiciary,” Carrazana said.

The firm had vowed to back Smith, and Carrazana’s decision prompted a “bunch of calls” from upset people in the legal community, said partner Brett Panter.

“It’s a very sad thing. I did not want to do it,” Panter said in an interview. “Our word and our bond is very important in this community. I gave Judge Smith my word.”

Carrazana also claims Handfield called him after he filed to run, promising him “the African-American vote” if he switched to an open seat. Handfield calls that an “absolute lie,” saying he called Carrazana well before the qualifying deadline and only promised his personal support.

Carrazana, who travels frequently to Nigeria, would also be the first judge who openly practices Ifa, the African Yoruba religion that hundreds of years ago branched out to Cuba to become an off-shoot faith known popularly as Santeria.

Political observers say targeting candidates with non-Hispanic surnames is a time-honored tactic in Miami-Dade.

In August 2012, then-County Court judge Fleur Lobree – a longtime attorney with the State Attorney’s legal bureau – lost her race to Michelle Alvarez Bakarat.

Since then, Lobree, 46, was appointed again, this time to the circuit bench. This year, she drew opposition from criminal defense attorney Mavel Ruiz.

“This county has a propensity to not support names they don’t recognize,” said Lobree’s campaign consultant, Bob Levy.

He said the campaign decided to hit the “name issue” head on with the creation of a jingle: “Vote for Fleur Lobree, she’s the judge for me!!!”

Ruiz says she did not target Lobree because of her last name. Instead, she believed that since Lobree has twice been appointed, someone else deserved a shot.

Ruiz, who works for the taxpayer-funded Regional Counsel office, says her trial experience will help her manage the day-to-day grind of court. “I’ve also dedicated my life to working with indigent people,” she said.

Assignment 2. translate the marked passage.

Окружные судьи заседают по делам в диапазоне от уголовной до ювенальной юрисдикции, а также разрешают сложные гражданские споры. В окружном суде предусмотрено два места для судей, рассматривающих гражданские дела с невысокой ценой иска и уголовные преступления, характеризуемые как средней степени тяжести.

В конкурсах на замещение вакантных должностей судей не участвуют 32 окружных судьи и семь муниципальных судей, которые сохраняют свои полномочия до тех пор, пока на их места нет иных претендентов.

Возможно наиболее громким соперничеством за пост судьи состоялось между бывшим членом попечительского совета школы Майами-Дейд Реньером Диаз де ла Портилла и помощницы прокурора города Вероники Диаз.

Сорокатрехлетний Диаз де ла Портилла из семьи известных политиков мог претендовать на должность судьи только после того, как сложил свои полномочия члена попечительского совета школы Майами-Дейд в 2012 году, кроме того у него за плечами двухлетний (2000-2002 годы) опыт работы депутатом от штата Флориды.

Он заручился поддержкой таких политиков как мэр Майами-Дейд Карлоса Хименеса, мэра Хайалиа Карлоса Хернандеса, также бывших судей Исраэля Рейеса и Джоэла Брауна.

Диаз де ла Портилла, имеющий годовой доход более 64 тыс. долларов, утверждает, что мысль стать судьей ему пришла после недавнего успешного опыта работы в качестве медиатора. «Мне очень понравилась эта деятельность, и, заняв должность судьи, я могу заниматься ею каждый день».

Assignment 3. Answer the questions.

1. What does the story deal with?

– The story deals with judicial elections in Miami as well as ethics politics.

2. What cases does circuit judges preside over?

– Circuit judges preside over cases ranging from felonies to juvenile and complex civil disputes. Two seats in county court, where judges preside over minor civil disputes and misdemeanor cases, are also in play.

3. What candidates are running for circuit judge in Miami?

– A former Miami-Dade School Board member Renier Diaz de la Portilla, Miami assistant city attorney Veronica Diaz, a personal injury attorney Christian Carrazana, a former Miami Beach assistant city attorney Rodney Smith.

4. What is court of Miami’s ethics policy for the candidates?

– Law above all. Law should be on the candidate’s side. Candidates should do good to the society and be competent and dedicated.

5. Are the candidates’ profile irreproachable enough?

– Not really. This competition resembles political campaign. Nevertheless, the race is public, transparent and goes through ethic investigation and the candidates have to face it. Diaz de la Portilla says the probes make him the “clear” choice: “Our community cannot afford to be embarrassed,” he said. His opponent shot back, saying: “He’s a politician. He’ll continue to run the campaign as if we’re running for governor or the Senate. I’m not going to get into dirty politics.”Diaz de la Portilla hasn’t been free of his own ethics probes. In 2011, the schools inspector general said he violated rules and procedures when his school board office sent a mailer to Republican voters, most of them in a district in which his brother was running for the Florida Senate.

6. Is the proceeding of electing a justice in Miami the same as in the Russian Federation?

– No, it isn’t. The proceeding of electing a judge in Russia is also kind of politics, but is not transparent.

ЗАДАНИЯ ДЛЯ ЗАЧЕТА

1.1 Чтение оригинального текста по широкой специальности магистранта объемом около 2000 печатных знаков (включая пробелы и знаки препинания).

1.2 Перевод выделенного фрагмента текста (объем 800-1000 печатных знаков).

1.3 Пересказать текст на русском/английском языке (выбор языка ответа на оценку не влияет).

Время на подготовку заданий 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 – 45 минут.

2. Устный перевод с листа на русский язык оригинального иностранного текста общенаучного содержания объемом около 1000 печатных знаков. Время на подготовку – 3–5 минут.

3. Беседа с экзаменатором на иностранном языке о биографии, своей учебе, работе, планах магистранта.