March 27, 2015 Via Fax (202-224-6020) & United States Mail The Honorable Charles E. Grassley Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Via E-mail ([email protected]) and United States Mail The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate 437 Russell Senate Building Washington, DC 20510 Re: Nomination of Mary Barzee Flores to the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Leahy: We are former Assistant State Attorneys and we write in support of the confirmation of Mary Barzee Flores to become a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida. Although since leaving the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office our professional paths have taken us in varied directions, we all fondly remember practicing before Judge Barzee. Our experiences before her have convinced us all that she has the intelligence, integrity, demeanor, judgment, and commitment to justice necessary to be an excellent addition to the federal bench. Judge Barzee graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law, and thereafter tried federal cases with the Federal Public Defender's Office in Miami. In 2002, she was elected without opposition to Florida's Eleventh Judicial Circuit Comi in Miami, Florida, re-elected to the court in 2008 and served until 2011. We practiced before Judge Barzee when she was assigned to the criminal division and were sony to see her retire from the state court bench to return to the practice of law. The Honorable Charles E. Grassley The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy March 27, 2015 Page 2 Judge Barzee was an exceptionally talented judge who treated everyone who appeared before her with respect. She was sensitive to the separation of powers issues that arise in criminal prosecutions, and had the experience and knowledge to preside fairly and justly over cases as diverse as crimes ofviolence, financial frauds and drug conspiracies. Judge Barzee is highly respected both by the lawyers who appeared before her as well as her former colleagues on the bench. In shmi, we know that Judge Barzee is a fair judge who is exceptionally qualified to serve on the federal district court bench. We therefore recommend, without reservation, the nomination of Judge Barzee to serve as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida. Respectfully submitted, Vanessa Abreau Mary T. Cagle Daniel K. Dudis Michael C. Grieco Anthony R. Heary S. Antonio Jimenez Jordan M. Lewin Marshall Dore Louis Michael B. McCrossen Hillah S. Mendez Barnaby L. Minn Timothy M. Moore Arnel V. Ortega Katie S. Phang John Priovolos Michele M. Roth cc: Senator Bill Nelson Senator Marco Rubio .