New charges continue to mount against Joe Francis, who has allegedly been caught with unapproved meds in his cell and is now charged with three related felonies – including bribery of a public official when he allegedly offered a guard $500 for a bottle of water.

Hopelessly lost in the pillorying of Francis is the really interesting questions: the legal propriety of U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak’s conduct in using the threat of civil and criminal contempt as leverage to force Francis to settle a civil case, whether Smoak displayed improper bias against Francis, and whether Francis’s brazen conduct at the settlement negotiation actually rises to the level of a “threat” trumping the presumption of confidentiality – as discussed previously in this blog, below.

If the 11th Circuit ever clears this up, I’ll try to give an update here.

‘Til then!

B