B < PL

we're now at the point where we're starting to get an understanding of the way certain justices think and whether or not we agree with that thinking. one of my early favorites is Learned Hand, after all, the man came up with the calculus of risk theory (also called the calculus of negligence). What is it? It doesn't matter - just know that it was a pretty novel idea in it's day and a very bright man just made it up out of thin air, and courts have been applying it ever since. how's that for being learned?

death penalty?

random 2am musings:
so we began a discussion in criminal law on the death penalty. professor cottrol asked "what are some reasons for keeping the death penalty?" we got the usual answers such as "deterrence" and "retribution", but no one gave the argument that is prevalent in Texas: "it's sanctioned by the bible." which i think is a load of crap. most people forget that the death penalty is sanctioned in the OLD testament under the abrahmic and mosaic covenants. people conveniently forget that these covenants were superseded by the NEW covenant, so unless you're jewish (and most texans aren't) that's an invalid argument...another thing that's not realized is that capital punishment was necessary in the ancient world. the tribal society was necessary for survival. you depended on your neighbor in those days, and anything that your neighbor did that threatened the stability of the tribe also was a threat to your very life. therefore capital punishment was indeed an deterrence and a necessary one and even the most trivial (by today's standards) infractions were potentially dangerous to society. we've evolved since then.

gaslights

Just some random 1am musings (an attempt to avoid writing my office memo):

the gaslight anthem fucking rocks - the best band that i've heard this year. i bet even the Tech Poet would dig on some of this stuff (the "59 Sound" album, maybe not the old stuff).

Being a 1L is getting rough, this is not a healthy lifestyle whatsoever. In bed at 3am every morning. Up by 9 on most mornings. class, class, class. cases, cases, cases. beer. cases. memos. beer (i don't want to go out, but it beats sitting in the library pulling your hair out and cursing dead justices).cheap, processed food (no time to cook)...this can't be good. this can't go on for too much longer...can it?

moosic

i finally got around to updating the music on my play list (see right). the list includes, for the first time in a while, some country tracks. check 'em out. you won't be disappointed ... and the gaslight anthem has totally taken me by surprise - they'll be in DC at the end of October (during fall break!!!). ok, now back to writing my office memo...

game time

i hear lots of talk from fellow students (mostly 1Ls and 2Ls) how they don't care about grades because they want to work in the public sector, rather than a private firm. I say that's bullshit. if you don't want to work for a private firm and make an obscene amount of money that's fine. but don't mask mediocrity beneath the cloak of altruism. don't pretend like your disdain for the private sector is a reason not to reach for the stars.

i say that what ever path an attorney chooses to take we each owe it to our clients to fulfill our human capacities no matter how much difficulty and sacrifice is required. this is even more so in the public sector where the (supposed) motivation is to affect genuine change. i don't know about you, but if i have someone pinch hitting for me i want a major leaguer, not someone from the farm club.

so with that said...game on.

sound advice

A young boy wrote a letter to Associate Supreme Court Justice, Felix Frankfurter, in 1954 seeking advice for preparing for a career in law. Justice Frankfurter's response is below ... I hope that I've dispatched the duties owed to my chosen profession:

My dear Paul:


No one can be truly a competent lawyer unless he is a cultivated man. If I were you, I would forget all about any technical preparation for the law. The best way to prepare for the law is to come to the study of the law as a well-read person. Thus alone can one acquire the capacity to use the English language on paper and in speech and with the habits of clear thinking which only a truly liberal education can give. No less important for a lawyer is the cultivation of the imaginative faculties by reading poetry, seeing great paintings, … and listening to great music. Stock your mind with the deposit of much good reading, and widen and deepened your feelings by experiencing vicariously as much as possible the wonderful mysteries of the universe, and forget all about your future career.


Sincerely,


Felix Frankfurter.

a prayer for relief

sounds weird, i know, but a "prayer for relief" is the standard way to ask for a legal/equitable remedy in a complaint in most jurisdictions. just one of those archaic things from the early days of the common law that has been carried throughout the centuries, you'll find of lot of that in law school. it's a good thing that someone, somewhere decided to let some traditions die.

hmm. what's new in DC? not much just getting settled into a study groove that has been absent these first few weeks, so i'm definitely ready to sponge up some of these gritty details - and yes some of these cases can be quite graphic.

last night i had the good fortune to introduce my boss/mentor/friend/colleague from back home to 51st State, so that was pretty cool. tonight is the one bar review per month that i'll allow myself to go to, so it better be a good one (yes, i'll have my reading done for friday crim and contracts).

one cool thing about where i live is my grocery store, safeway; it's underneath the watergate hotel. see the big main building (curved)? the safeway is right under there - along with a cvs, liquor store, a chinese restaurant frequented by bob dole, and a few other shops and restaurants - all UNDER the watergate - it's insane!