gchernack

As a lawyer, I can say that you are, in general, correct. Bramman will have to argue that the trial court made specific legal (or factual) errors. As far as any legal errors (such as whether a referendum is required), this is reviewed "de novo" by the appellate court, meaning that the trial court's decision is irrelevant. Because the Florida Supreme Court has addressed the referendum issue, the appellate court would be bound by that ruling (unless it somehow determined that the Supreme Court decision did not apply here). On the other hand, any factual decisions made by the trial court (and I would think the public purpose decision would be deemed factual) are reviewed for an "abuse of discretion" or as "clearly errorneous." Appellate courts do not like to revisit factual determinations made by a trial court. Bramman's best chance to succeed would be to find some legal error that he believes Judge Cohen made; this appears unlikely. I hope that somewhat clears things up for non-lawyers.

As a Nationals season ticket holder, I can tell you that Nationals Park broke ground in May 2006 and was opened by late March 2008. And you don't have to worry about the winter preventing construction (although rain or, even worse, a hurricane could slow things down). As long as you break ground by early 2009, you should be ready for opening day 2011. With the economy the way it is, I would be more worried about obtaining the money. Good luck.

I'm sure Braman will appeal, but looking at this from afar, I don't see how this will slow things down. Most of the court's rulings seemed pretty clear; the referendum was the toughest call. Now that the FL Supreme Court has ruled, he would be silly to even raise it as a ground of appeal. Regardless, as others have pointed out, unless an appellate court issues an injunction (highly unlikely), the Marlins can move forward. The only real remaining issue, it seems, is contract approval, but, I imagine, after much political posturing, it will pass with the minimum number of votes needed.

As for the game on Monday night in DC, I was there. While there were not 20k in the stadium, there were probably about 15,000. Three things to understand: (1) it was freezing, (2) the NCAA finals was that evening, and (3), no disrespect, but the Marlins are probably the weakest out of town draw the Nats face. While DC is a city of transplants, there are virtually none from South Florida. Attendance should be better tonight and tomorrow (although I would doubt more than 25,000), but will definitely pick up as the season progresses. Summer in DC, with tourists and kids out of school will bring much better crowds. And if the Nats ever started winning like they did in 2005 . . . .

Greetings from DC, home of America's newest baseball stadium and where I attended opening night on Sunday (and what a night it was). First, let me note that construction on the park here did not begin until May 2006, and it was finished in time for Sunday night (albeit with a few small items left to finish). Second, I would not be surprised if there is enough of a rough plan to begin working this fall, particularly on excavation before final plans are in place. Of course, modifications can and will be made as construction progresses. At this point, I see no reason to worry about a 2011 opening day (although things can always happen). Good luck, hope you get your new digs by 2011, and I look forward to going to a game at Dolphin Stadium in 2 weeks.