CRIMINAL LAW SECTION HONORS MICHAEL SATZ WITH 2026 GOLDIN MEMORIAL AWARD

During his 44-year tenure, former Broward State Attorney Michael J. Satz demonstrated an unwavering commitment “to the rule of law and pursuit of justice,” Fourth Circuit Judge Tatiana Salvador told a Criminal Law Section awards ceremony audience June 19.

“It is particularly fitting that we gather to honor Michael J. Satz, whose remarkable career has left an enduring mark on the administration of justice in Florida,” said Salvador, the Criminal Law Section chair.

By becoming the 2026 Selig I. Goldin Memorial Award recipient, Satz joined a long list of prominent lawyers, judges, and academics who received the section’s highest honor.

First elected in 1976, Satz was Florida’s longest-serving state attorney when he stepped down after prosecuting the 2018 Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooter. Friends and colleagues note that Satz has long championed victims’ rights, establishing a Victims Advocate Unit early in his tenure that eventually earned him a 2004 “President’s Award” by the Broward Victims’ Rights Coalition.

Over the years, community and professional service organizations showered Satz with awards and commendations.

He is a 2020 recipient of the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association’s “Eugene Whitworth Memorial Award,” and a 2015 recipient of the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the B’nai B’rith Justice Unit #5270 and the Broward Victim’s Rights Coalition.

In 2001, the Broward County Bar Association presented Satz with the “Lynn Futch Professionalism in Practice Award.”

The fact that voters returned Satz to office so consistently speaks for itself, said Charles “Chuck” Morton, one of only three people to serve as Satz’s chief deputy.

A 37-year prosecutor before retiring in 2013, Morton is a 2014 Selig I. Goldin Award recipient.

“When Mike asked me to become his chief assistant state attorney, I was humbled,” Morton said, adding that Satz encouraged him to speak his mind.

“He said, ‘Don’t be a yes man, if you disagree with what I say or what I’m doing, let me know.’”

Sometimes, the disagreements were “intense” but never personal or enduring, Morton said. An hour later, Satz would invite him to lunch, Morton said.

“He would say, ‘You know, Chuck, I thought about what you said, and you were right,’” Morton said. “We listened to one another.”

The award honors the memory of Selig I. Goldin, a respected Gainesville criminal defense attorney and former Criminal Law Section Executive Council member.

Before he died of cancer in 1980 at the age of 41, Goldin was widely admired for his dedication, zeal, and willingness to represent clients, regardless of their unpopularity or inability to pay.

Goldin Award recipients are chosen based on their demonstration of “trial excellence, strict adherence to ethics, and an unwavering devotion to the improvement of the criminal justice system and legal profession.”

Satz embodies all those traits, Salvador and Morton said.

Satz thanked both, other section leaders, and many friends and colleagues by name, before offering his trademark advice.

He recalled the time early in his career when he prosecuted a grocery store robbery suspect who injured multiple victims. After the trial, the defense attorney warned Satz that he presented too many witnesses and risked exposing inconsistencies in their testimony. At first stung, Satz said he realized the attorney was right, and called to ask for more advice.

“You can really learn from so many sources,” he said. “All you have to do is listen.”

Too many lawyers focus on formulating the next question, when they should be paying attention to the response, Satz said.

“Listen to the answer, because it may take you in a whole different direction,” he said. “I think it’s important in life, too.”