ECONOMICS ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

Jude Alexander Bokor, Dr. Michael Connolly, Justice John Curiel
On March 20th, Randall T. Fitzgerald,
President, Miami Law Federalist Society
organized a meeting to “debate, discuss
and decide” the issue of “Executive
Privilege and the Crisis of Corruption in
Latin America.” The event took place on
March 20th in the Alma Jennings Student
Lounge at the Miami Law School.
The panelists included:
Judge Alexander Bokor, Florida 3rd
District Court of Appeal,
Justice John Couriel, Florida Supreme
Court, and
Professor Michael Connolly Department of
Economics, MHBS
Couriel reviewed the case of Siemens which self-reported
bribery, previously legal from a German point of view, to
comply with the 1999 Convention on Anti-bribery. A
noted expert on Brazil, Couriel stated that the
Odebrecht case has improved the transparency of
government contracting in Latin America and the
Caribbean, suggesting greater accountability in the
future.
Connolly said that “The longevity in office of some
autocrats as in Cuba, required: firstly, an advanced
technology of political repression including the military
and ‘security forces’, and secondly, otherwise
considerable economic liberty - that serves as a safetyvalve
- tolerating a lively informal market conducted in
dollars and euros.”
The discussion and questions were lively:
Bokor noted that “In many cases, the
judicial system has been subordinated to
the executive, hindering the application
of ‘the rule of law’.” A packed supreme
court often suspended a constitution
limiting the terms served by the
incumbent executive.