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Political Theater At Its Worst
While trying to move as little as possible as I recover from the marathon, I've been listening to almost non-stop radio coverage of the nomination of Samuel A. Alito to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. I don't know if I've ever heard such a farce. On the left pundits are saying “There's going to be a huge fight; he's a right wing wacko.” On the right, pundits are saying “I don't think there's going to be much opposition; once people get to know him they'll see he's a great guy and they will support him.” I don't believe either side is saying what they think is true. Instead, both sides are taking extreme positions in an effort to shape public opinion. I guess this is how politics works these days: You never hear real opinions and rarely hear many facts; instead, you hear spin. This isn't new; it's just rare that you see it so clearly.
That said, the spin is revealing in itself. The left is arguing from the facts of Alito's long record that he's an extreme Right nominee, while the Right is arguing from nothing more than “he's a really good guy” that he should be unobjectionable. If you had the choice, would you pick a judge based on a concrete record, or would you pick based on whether you thought he was a good guy?
Oh, the Right is also arguing that Alito is “just like Roberts” because Roberts supposedly set such a high standard and everyone loved him. Of course, Alito might turn out to be just like Roberts in terms of how the two would rule in any given case, but we can't know that because we still don't really know how Roberts is going to rule. Roberts turned out to be unobjectionable because he had such a thin record; that's not the case with Alito.
What is certain is that Alito will add nothing to the diversity of the court in terms of background, gender, race, ethnicity, philosophy, experience, etc.
Happy Halloween, everybody. Are you scared enough yet?
Posted 04:08 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | law general
Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body
Ahh. It's over. I “ran” a marathon. The 2005 Marine Corps Marathon was yesterday and I finished 26.2 miles in 5 hours, 15 minutes, and 48 seconds (5:15:48). The top man finished in 2:22 and the top woman finished in 2:47 so I was pretty *cough* close.
I was really hoping for a 5-hour-or-less time, but, well, when you train slower, it's kind of hard to run faster. I hurt today (I'm hobbling around like an old man) but you know what? It was a blast! Yesterday was really a great day and I thank everyone who helped make it happen—all the incredibly generous contributors to my fundraising effort (which will continue until January, if you'd still like to help!), and especially my girlfriend, her sister, and my family, all of whom have been very supportive in every possible way. L. gets the most special thanks for being there through the whole thing, following my split times through her cell phone, racing all over the course to cheer me on, and then being there at the end w/a smile and open arms which was really all I needed to cap off such an amazing experience. Thank you L, and thank you all!
I learned several things running my first marathon. First, even though I hadn't planned on it, it's fun to have a camera with you. I took several photos, some of which I've turned into an MCM Photo Set on Flickr. However, I wish I had taken more photos—especially since I wasn't ever going to set any speed records, I should have taken more time to savor the whole thing a bit more. That said, there were points yesterday where my right arm and shoulder hurt so much I thought I was going to have to quit the race. I've never felt that before and I wonder if it was from reaching around to grab my camera off my hip and raising it to take pics while running and walking. It sounds like these are small things, but every little movement can add up over 26.2 miles.
The other things I learned is that you shouldn't start too fast! My AIDS Marathon coaches told us this repeatedly, but I foolishly didn't listen. I feel badly because I started out as the ringleader in the first few miles pushing the group I was with to keep a 5-hour pace. One of the five of our group went on to finish in 4:58, another in 5:01, and another in 5:12, so the starting out fast didn't hurt them too much. However, I certainly started feeling it and had to slow down, as did my running partner; at about mile 17 (in the middle of the Haynes Point Psychout) we hit a big wall. We got a bit of a second wind after slowing down for a few miles, but we never really returned to our earlier pace. So the lesson is to try to start slower, and maintain a steadier pace. Of course, I wonder if maybe we had just pushed through that wall and tried to keep going, would we have gotten our second wind, anyway? Or would we have pushed ourselves to the point of breakdown and been unable to finish? We'll never know. That's what makes a marathon so tough; it's a mind and balance game, trying to judge what kind of pain you can push though, and what kind of pain is really going to bring you crashing to a halt.
Anyway, for the record, here's what we did: We started at a 4:1 run/walk ratio—running four minutes, walking one. At the 10-mile mark we turned it up to a 5:1 ratio, and at mile 18 or 19 we turned back to the 4:1. For the last 2.2 miles (from the 24 mile mark) I ran through all walk breaks—very slowly, obviously. Here are our mile splits:
1—12:46
2—13:10
3—11:53
4—12:23
5—11:28
6—11:22
7—11:36
8—11:19
9— (missed it)
10—21:53 (/2=10:57)
11—10:50
12—11:02
13—11:19
14—11:15
15—11:56
16—11:39
17—11:58 (we crashed)
18—16:08
19—12:06
20—(missed it)
21—25:37 (/2=12:49)
22—14:00 (we walked an entire 4-minute run period during this mile)
23—12:12
24—13:45 (we again walked an entire 4-minute run period during this mile)
25—11:10
26—13:01
Best mile: 10:50
Avg time: 13:09 (that's about a minute off b/c of the two splits I missed; the real average was 12:02, according to the official results).
I sadly placed 13,403rd out of 19,112 marathon runners—not even middle of the pack. (There were supposed to be 30,000 runners, but the results site says only 19k were “marathon runners.” I have no idea where the rest of them were.) I was the 8,711th man to finish out of 11,294 male marathon runners, and number 1,406 out of 1,714 in my age group. Yeah, that's sad.
Posted 10:14 AM | Comments (13) | TrackBack | marathon
ChampionChip Help!
Dear knowledgeable runner readers:
I picked up my race packet today at the pre-race “Expo” and when I got home I read in the “official program” on page 27 the following:
Every runner's race packet includes a ChampionChip. You must activate it at the chip scan booth located in the Packet Pick-up area during the Runners' Expo.
Um, what? No one mentioned this when I picked up my packet and I didn't see a “scan booth” anywhere. The website doesn't mention “activation.” Can anyone tell me anything about this? Do I need to return to the Expo tomorrow to get this thing activated, or what?
UPDATE: Everyone said I needed to go back. So I did, the chip is scanned, and I think I'm set.
Watching Cindy Sheehan Get Arrested
Cindy Sheehan was arrested last night in front of the White House as a result of a protest against the War in Iraq. I was in class when the protest started, but since the White House is only about 4 blocks from GW, I biked over after class managed to catch the cops giving their “final warning” to the protesters. Click here for a short movie of the warning, as well as two law students (myself and a classmate who biked over w/me) sounding silly as we speculate about what actual law these people were supposedly breaking. Apparently you need a permit to lay down on the sidewalk, but don't tell the homeless of this city!
We hung around and watched a bit but since we were forced to stand across the street, it was hard to see much. The police zip-tied the protesters hands and forced them to sit up, then they slowly took them, one-by-one, to the two trucks they had there to haul them away. One strange thing I noticed was that someone seemed to be taking a picture of each protester just before he/she was placed in the truck. The photographer didn't appear to be wearing a uniform, so was that a press person, or a lawyer, or a cop? Not a major fact, but it just seemed odd.
Sheehan says she's going to repeat this protest for four days. I'll take a vote: Should I go join her?
In my “PI Lawyering” class last week we talked about whether getting arrested for civil disobedience could be a problem for being admitted to the bar or getting a job. I argued that it wasn't a crime of moral turpitude so it shouldn't affect bar admittance too badly, and that if an employer didn't like something like that, I didn't want the job. Obviously such a position would dramatically narrow the range of jobs available, but I think the bar admittance thing is really the bigger question. Does anyone know anything about this? Do arrests for civil disobedience create problems for bar membership?
Posted 10:06 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack | 3L general politics
Miers Withdraws Herself
NPR is reporting that Harriet Miers withdrew herself from the nomination process for the Supreme Court. I can't find anything online yet, but it should be up in a few minutes.
UPDATE 9:11 a.m.: Ok, the news is confirmed here.
UPDATE 10:45 a.m.: “Harriet Miers” has blackened “her” blog in morning over “her” withdrawal.
More important, check out the posts over at TG's Political Wire on this today. Check out this progression of stories:
- Reports that the White House was planning to deflect attention away from the indictments that are almost certainly coming from Plamegate.
- Reports that the Miers nomination is seriously going to decrease contributions to the Republican party.
- A quote arguing that the Christian right has taken over the Republican party. (Note that Christian conservatives were leading the fight against Miers.)
- And finally, Miers withdraws.
Note that even Miers' letter of withdrawal shows how inappropriate she was for the Supreme Court:
Even as a nominee for the Supreme Court she still speaks of the White House as something she's a part of. And they were trying to tell us she'd be able to separate herself from that on the bench. Right.
I heard someone argue recently that the Yubbledewers never intended Miers to be confirmed; rather, they nominated her knowing she'd fail but knowing also that no one could live up to the standard set by John Roberts. Therefore, the strategy was to put up someone really bad, so that whoever they put up next will seem that much better and people will care less that the next nominee just isn't up to the Roberts level. I disagree that Roberts set such a high bar, although it's funny how much better Roberts looks compared to Miers. Perhaps that was the strategy: Nominate someone totally not qualified just to etch more deeply the impression that Roberts really is qualified.
Ok, I'll stop w/the baseless speculation. This news speaks for itself in enough ways you won't need my rants to put it into context. Although I will say one more cynical thing: Brace yourself because if you thought Miers was bad I'm betting you ain't seen nuthin' yet.
Posted 09:02 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | general politics law general
Don't Argue With Judges and Other Pending Dooms
Besides marathon prep (which is really all psychological at this point), and thinking a little about NaNoWriMo starting next week, it seems a bit like there's not much going on around here, but that's not exactly true. For one thing, I totally failed in my attempt to write and argue a motion to suppress last week. Thankfully it was a class exercise so no one is going to jail because of my incompetence. Two lessons from that experience:
First, I tend to do better when I think I'm going to lose; I think this is because I am more humble and earnest and attuned to what the judge is saying and how he/she is reacting to what I'm saying. This time I thought I had a slam dunk legal argument and when the judge disagreed, I had nothin'. I was dead. It was ugly.
Second, never argue with the judge. Duh. This is so basic it's humiliating to have to admit I apparently needed to hear it yet again, but there you go. When my slamdunk legal argument fell on deaf ears and I had nothin,' I tried to support my position with argument that was, well, not sufficiently deferential to the, uh, rank and great wisdom of the judge. And, of course, I hadn't prepared very well for that argument b/c I thought the law was so much on my side that I wouldn't need much support for it. That left me just sort of repeating the same things with more and more exasperation, hoping that if I said them firmly and confidently enough, and repeated them enough times, the judge would be persuaded. It didn't work and apparently just made the judge mad. In all, a very bad performance on my part. I hope my real arguments to suppress coming up next week go a little better. I assume I'm going to lose those, so maybe I'll win. ;-)
Besides that, I'm all registered for the MPRE taking place very very soon on Nov. 4, and wow, that's exciting! I haven't lifted a finger in preparation, so I'm thinking the next couple of weeks could kind of suck.
Can anyone tell me what happens if you fail the MPRE? Are there consequences (besides wasting the $55 registration), or can you just take it again the next time?
Posted 09:51 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack | 3L
The World Is Your Bathroom
I forgot to mention yesterday that one of the bits of advice I've heard about running the marathon is that you should never ever ever waste time waiting in a portapotty line. Real runners don't do this, apparently. Instead, they try to find a more or less discrete bush or something and just go. Women are advised to carry with them a large black garbage bag; punch a hole in the bottom and pull it over your head like a poncho, then just squat beneath it and do your business. That's the advice, but I have no idea how many people follow it. I just hope I won't have to pee during the race. On our “practice marathon” a couple of weeks ago this wasn't a problem, but I have seen from our group runs what a time suck bathroom stops can be so I definitely want to avoid or minimize them.
Posted 11:30 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack | marathon
Marathon: One Week Away
It's nearly impossible to believe that the marathon is only one week away! We had our last group training run today and my running group has just about settled on our plans for where to meet before the start of the race and how we hope to pace ourselves to finish. I'm shooting for 5 hours or less, which you may recognize as a pretty slow marathon, but, well, finishing slowly is better than not finishing at all.
I've said it before but I'll say it again: It's hard to believe we've all made it this far. The 8-mile run we did today in 1.5 hours felt like a warmup. That doesn't mean 26 miles is going to be easy next week, but I really do think we're all going to make it and that's what counts.
I've also said this before but it merits repeating: Thank you thank you! to the many people who have given so generously to my marathon fundraising drive. I'm now only a few hundred dollars away from the $1700 I committed to donate, so if you've been thinking about throwing a fiver or a ten-spot or more into the mix but just haven't gotten around to it, it's definitely not too late—you can easily donate right now! And, as always, if you have more time than money, please just [nevermind. This has been edited to comply with commercial restrictions].
At the risk of getting ahead of myself, I'm thinking it would be a big waste to have gotten all trained up for a marathon only to quit running as soon as it's over. So I'm thinking, how about running the Wyoming Marathon on Memorial Day? It's just an idea at this point, but I think it would be a pretty nice way to celebrate graduation from law school, don't you?
Oh, and if you're planning to run the MCM this coming weekend (or any other marathon in the future), you might find some utility in the Marathon Pace Wristband Creator.
Defender's Dilemma: Is it ever better for your client to be in jail?
My first ever client was arrested for the third time last week—thanks to me. I'm really starting to wonder if I'm really helping this guy at all.
Long story short: When he was first arrested on a minor misdemeanor, I was assigned to his case and I argued for his release on his own recognizance while we prepared for trial. He was released with conditions to stay away from a designated area of the city. The next day, he was arrested in that stay-away area and held for 5 days, after which I again went to court and argued for his release on his own recognizance. He was released and we set a date for a status hearing in both cases for about two weeks later. Two weeks later, he failed to appear in court and the judge issued a warrant for his arrest. Thus, last week he was picked up on that warrant and hauled back into jail; luckily, he didn't get any new charges, but the failure to appear is the most serious charge of the three—it carries a minimum of 90 days in jail if he's convicted and as far as I can tell we don't have much of a defense for that. Bringing the story up to date, we went to court last week and argued for his release once more. To my own (and my supervisor's) suprise, the judge let him go on his own recognizance to await trial. We set a trial date for about three weeks out.
After our appearance, I set an appointment with my client to meet the following day to talk about what we were going to do and to impress upon him once again the importance of staying in touch with me and making his court dates. The next day, he didn't show. This is basically what has happened the last two times he was released: I set an appointment, he misses it, and then I don't hear from him again until the next time he's arrested. He's homeless and will not tell me where I can find him on the street (even though I know many homeless people tend to hang in relatively small areas with which they are familiar). I have looked for him in the neighborhoods where he's been arrested but I have never been able to locate him on my own.
Hence, my dilemma: Am I doing this guy any favors by continuing to get him out of jail? Of course, he never wants to be in jail, so he's always happy to be released. However, he's now facing about six times the potential jail time he could have even been eligible for if we would have just pleaded guilty on day one, and honestly, I kind of feel responsible for that. I mean, I've been doing what he wants—getting him out of jail. However, in doing so, I've helped make his situation much, much worse.
So what do you think? And this is a question especially for the public defender types out there: Is it ever better for your client to remain in jail? And does this sound like one of those times? If my client fails to appear for trial in a couple of weeks, I probably won't be able to argue him out of jail a fourth time; I think that will be the end of the line for him. But should I have argued for his release the second time? The third? Is there a limit here, or should you always do what your client wants you to do in this type of situation?
Posted 01:13 PM | Comments (18) | TrackBack | 3L crimlaw
New Blogs
Recently added to the blogroll:
- The Considerations: A group blawg by three law students at the University of Nebraska (I think).
- Full Metal Attorney: Another law student at the University of Nebraska who's into metal songs and recently posted an incredibly lengthy dissection of Roe v. Wade which concludes with FMA's opinion that the decision on abortion should be left to the states. I wonder if Half-Cocked knows about his fellow school bloggers...
- Dept. of Nance: A northeast Ohio high school English teacher who describes herself as “a fervent blue stater trapped in this red state.” Here's a helpful little primer on common phrases that people mangle. I'm with her, and especially on 4, which bugs me to no end! But what's the deal with 5? What's the difference between “could not” and “couldn't”? Don't they mean the same thing?
- Peekaboo: A blog by a 30 something newly-minted lawyer that I should have linked long ago and just never did for some reason. Great design!
p.s.: New questions over at Blawg Wisdom! Please help out if you can!
Posted 09:11 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack | blogrolldiving
Wah!
I rode my bike home in the rain last night and this morning I feel like I have a cold. Yes, I'm whining, dammit.
Posted 08:50 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack | 3L
Apple Grows Like Crazy, Stock Plummets
What the hell? Apple announced its quarterly earnings yesterday and it was basically all great news—huge numbers of iPod sales, something like growth of 125% over last year, and finally Apple has more than 5% market share for computer sales! So what happens? Apple Stock Plunges 10 Percent:
Oh, and today Apple announced a video iPod, a new iMac w/built-in iSight video camera and remote control, but that cool stuff will probably sell like crazy and make the stock price fall even more.
Apple, the company that can never win.
Oh, and you know, I understand the many ways that Apple totally blows as a corporate behemoth that controls all its proprietary goodies to the detriment of the public good, but I'm thinking that's really got nothing to do w/why Wall Street constantly beats up on the company.
Posted 10:28 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | mac geek
Applying for Fellowships
Hey, if you're a 3L and you haven't applied for any fellowships yet, you're screwed.
Just kidding. According to my Public Interest Lawyering prof and guest speakers, there are lots of fellowships that you can still apply for if you get on the ball. For the most complete list of opportunities, go to your career office and ask for a copy of the Harvard publication called Serving the Public: A Job Search Guide. Apart from that, here are some general tips for planning and conducting a legal fellowship or public interest job search. If you're a 2L, you need to read these and get started now. (Do what I say, not what I do.)
Different kinds of fellowships:
- Those that are like a job at a law firm — require a cover letter and resume. These are often freestanding fellowships that someone offers in honor of someone who has passed away. Often last 1-2 years.
- More extensive applications: Teaching fellowships at GULC and other schools, state bar fellowships, etc. Applications require a series of questions, cover letter, resume.
- EJW, Skadden-type: Much more labor-intensive application. Requires detailed description of a new project you plan to do. Usually you have a partnership w/a “sponsor” organization and you're not just going to be a staff attorney; you're going to do something new to add to that organization's work. EJW applicant pool this year was over 300. That number hasn't really gone up much in many years, probably not b/c there aren't enough people who want to do this, but b/c the application process is difficult and requires a lot of work up front to hook up w/an organization, etc.
General advice:
- You must start thinking, planning, and working on these things well in advance. NOW.
- If you're thinking about public interest, you really can't afford not to apply for fellowships as opposed to staff positions. Apply to every one that interests you and that you have time to apply to.
- The beauty of fellowships is that they're short-term so you can try different things to see if you like them.
- Do your research! Some fellowships are seeking very specific candidates and you might be one of the few people who fit the bill.
Make a timeline of deadlines and due dates for yourself—for asking for letters of recommendation, when you apply, etc. - Volunteer! Get internships in law shchool! Start your first year so you can get to know lots of people and organizations. Build relationships with organizations so you'll have an organization to work w/for the design-it-yourself fellowships (like EJW).
- PSLawNet is great, but do not rely solely on them! They are not always right and their information is not always complete. If you're interested in something, call and verify deadlines and requirements.
- Don't get desperate and just apply for anything you're remotely interested in or qualified for. The people reading your applications will smell that and it won't be good for you.
- Do not “cold apply” to a fellowship of any kind because no one else does. Talk to people who have been there, do your research, know what they're looking for. You've got to do the work. Who you know can also be very big. There are “secret rules” for how to complete each application and what it's supposed to include; you have to know these secrets or your app is going to get rejected on the first glance.
- If you've got a 3.1 GPA it does not belong on your resume.
- The one-page resume is for law firms. Fuggedaboudit for fellowships if you've got lots to include. They want to know who you are; demonstrate your committment.
Before beginning of 3rd year (or even better, by mid 2L), limit your job/fellowship search by looking at:
- Geography—be honest w/yourself about where you're willing to live. What about SO? Family?
- Subject matter—what area of law you want to work in?
- What you want to do—policy, litigation (do you want to be a slave to the judge?), direct service, community outreach?
- Who are you? Know yourself. What is your dream and what are you willing to do to make that happen? Are you a risk-taker, or do you want to play it safer? Do you like expensive martinis or cheap beer? Do you want to start your own new thing, or work for someone else?
- Unique aspects of fellowship/job. Prestige? Prisoners. Undocumented immigrants? Who you know? Think about random variables that might make one fellowship or job better than another for you.
Posted 12:08 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack | 3L advice
Buy A House, Pay Off Your Student Loans?
So you're in law school (or any school) and you have a mountain of debt. What to do? According to a couple of lawyers who recently visited my Public Interest Lawyering class, you should buy a house, live there a couple of years, sell it and double your money, pay off your loans, and then do it again but use the proceeds from the second home for something else.
How is this possible? The answer seems to be NACA.com, which gives you a home loan for no money down, no closing costs, 1% under prime. You can finance the purchase plus rehab. And it really works. You have to live in the home for two years, and I think it only applies to homes on the “urban frontier” because the program is designed to “stabilize” (is that another word for “gentrify”?) depressed neighborhoods. But hey, if that sounds ok to you, you might want to think about it. This is only going to work in urban areas w/hot housing markets—like DC. But in places w/less crazy housing markets you might do well to find a HUD home; get it cheap, fix it up, live there a couple of years, sell and make a bundle. Why not? We all need a place to live...
Posted 09:59 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack | 3L
Blawg Wisdom Updates
Blawg Wisdom has been seeing more traffic and activity lately, possibly thanks to Blawg Review #22, or maybe it's just that time of year. Anyway, please check out the recent updates on international job hunting, averaging multiple LSAT scores, lawyer fashion, and alternatives to BarBri.
Welcome to the MT 3.2 Imbroglio!
It's done. I think. This blog and several others running on the same install are now running on Movable Type 3.2. I used these instructions to complete the upgrade; they were supposed to make the process safer somehow, but I really don't understand how. Whatever, it seemed to work and that's really what counts. This will mean next to nothing to you, but hey, I just wanted to share.
Even neatoer, I finally got the bits box to operate properly so that I can just post some quick links w/out making any “regular” post to the blog. And thanks to Andrew Raff, I also now know how to control the number of entries that appear on this page. (So basically I resolved the two problems I complained of here.) Again, this will mean little to you, except that it makes me a happier blogger, and that's got to be good for you somehow, in a really super-attenuated way. Maybe.
One other change you may or may not notice is that the blogroll is a little different (on the left). I used to have several different categories of links that were coming from del.icio.us rss feeds via the MT-RSS plugin. However, that plugin is apparently no longer being supported or isn't compatible with 3.2 or I just couldn't make it work (I don't remember; I didn't try very hard), so instead the blogroll is being generated by the Blogroll plugin, which I really like and highly recommend. It allows you to create categories of links, annotate them, and display them in all sorts of ways. I'm still going through the links to try to get them all in appropriate categories, so bear with me as I work through that. What's kind of sad is the number of blogs that are dead, gone, or just on really long breaks. I keep finding them and it's a bit depressing. It can also be confusing. For example, what the heck has been going on at Inter Alia recently? It sounds like there's a big blogging scandal at SW Law but I haven't been able to figure out how it all started or what it all means. Has anyone been following that?
Anyway, welcome to MT 3.2. Enjoy! And if you see funky things that you think were unintentional, please let me know.
Posted 03:02 PM | TrackBack | meta-blogging
GW Law Profs Blogging Like MadMEN
I noted the other day that GW's SBA seems to be getting its online house in order, but I would be remiss if I did not also note the veritable explosion of GW professors entering (or already in) the blawgosphere. As far as I know, blogging GW professors include:
- Paul Butler at blackprof.com
- Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy
- Spencer Overton at blackprof.com
- Daniel Solove at Concurring Opinions and Balkinization
And speaking of blogging professors, why are so many of them male? Or to put it another way, why are so few female?
Ok, I am so wrong about GW's 4 blogging profs being even a little impressive. According to The Conglomerate, the U of Wisconsin Law School has about 16 faculty blogs, at least two of which are by women—Ann Althouse and Nina Camic. And, of course, Christine Hurt is another female professor blogging at The Conglomerate, so maybe there's more balance out there than I realize. Her institution, Marquette U. Law School, also has at least six faculty blogs, so again, GW's four is looking more anemic all the time.
Still, even if GW is not on the top of schools in terms of numbers of blogging profs, these four are four more than existed (or at least four more than I knew about) when I started school two years ago, so I consider this great progress. Blog on, GW profs, blog on!
Posted 10:47 AM | law school meta-blogging
Republicans on the Run
Have you noticed what's going on these days? Yubbledew's approval ratings continue to plummet (with key supporters drifting), and there are so many different scandals and investigations and indictments and criminal proceedings involving Republicans at the moment that I can't even keep up with it all. Some people have suggested this is just the kind of stuff that happens in a second term, and it's true that during the Clinton years we saw plenty of scandals, indictments, and investigations. But that only throws what's happening now into sharper relief b/c during the latter half of the Clinton years the Republicans took control of Congress and therefore had a much better position from which to launch investigations. What's most incredible about all of this is that the Republicans control every branch of government, yet they still can't stop the investigations and indictments. Oh, and now Republicans are at war with each other over the Miers nomination.
No wonder Yubbledew is once again pulling out the “be very afraid” schtick to beat us with, as Arianna Huffington notes:
That is, until the details of exactly which “serious” plots the president was referring to came out. . . . In other words, it was a Top 10 list more suited to Letterman than a major presidential speech. . . . If this is the best the White House has, then I’m really scared. . . . When asked why the White House would include so many alleged, vague, and seemingly half-baked schemes in a triumphant list of thwarted terrorist plots, yet another federal counter-terrorism official said: “Everyone is allowed to count in their own way.” Especially if they are President of the United States. And have an approval rating of 37%.
The “be very afraid” routine may have gotten Bush elected, but it's looking pretty pathetic today. Can we have the 2006 mid-term elections now, please?
Posted 09:52 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | general politics
GW SBA Online
After three years as a GW student, I just discovered that the GW Law Student Bar Association (SBA—the student government) has a website. From there I see that there's something called the GW Law Lounge. I have no idea what this is, but it's vaguely fascinating to learn that there's this much online activity related to GW that I never knew about. And here I thought I had my finger on the pulse of....what? Nothing. What am I talking about? I've got my finger on the pulse of my coffee cup, dammit! I know where it is at all times because it's a WWFD mug—the big one, ok?
Posted 08:23 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack | 3L
Montana Public Defender Act
Since Montana is one of the states where I'd like to get a job (sssh! Don't tell my girlfriend!), I've been reading up a bit on Montana's recently revamped public defender system. As NLADA notes, the state passed the Montana Public Defender Act last June. It supposedly attempts to implement the ABA's 10 Principles of a Public Defense System (PDF). The Act was a response to a lawsuit brought by the ACLU charging that Montana's previous system of indigent defense was insufficient. According to the ACLU, the system was badly in need of reform (but at least it wasn't as bad as its neighbor, ND, where the public defender system is being run by a prosecutor).
From a quick read of the Montana Act, it looks like the legislation takes public defender responsibilities from the county level and moves them to the state level by creating a State Public Defender Office headed by a Chief Public Defender. The Chief will hire one Deputy Public Defender for each of 11 “regions” in the state. I'm not sure how regions are delineated. Those Deputies will then hire and manage public defenders for their regions, and/or contract w/private attorneys to furnish indigent defense. The whole thing will be governed by a Public Defender Commission whose 11 members will be appointed by the governor.
All of this sounds fine and dandy, but what I want to know is: 1) Does this mean they'll be hiring and employing more or fewer public defenders? and 2) How, where, and when should I apply for such a job? The Commission was supposed to have been appointed by July 1, 2005. Did it happen? The state was advertising for a Chief Public Defender, so that's a good sign, and it seems a safe bet that any public defender jobs will be advertised on the state jobs site, as well. But who knows? I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled, but if any one out there has any more info or tips, the comments are always open!
Of course, there are also forces at work encouraging me to go to someplace like Michigan or Illinois. It looks like Cook County might be a good bet in the Land of Lincoln, but what about MI? Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor) would be nice, but it doesn't appear to be hiring at the moment. Not that most openings advertised right now would really be relevant anyway b/c if a public defender's office is advertising a job now, that's a pretty good sign it wants an attorney now—not a year from now after I pass the bar. *sigh*
Posted 04:56 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | Montana crimlaw
Are You Ready to Write?
It's almost that time again—my favoritest time of year! November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, for short, and it's now less than a month away! The good and crazy folks who run this quixotic “event” have opened up the forums for 2005 and you can sign up now. They also have a new podcast (here's the feed for subscribing), so they're obviously all cutting edge and crazy. The next month will be tough for silly, deluded NaNo novelists as we try to think up some novel ideas w/out getting too anxious and eager to begin.
But maybe I should be thinking about getting a job rather than about the novel I can't wait to write in November—you think? Nah, me neither.
Posted 09:04 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | NaNoWriMo
Get Your Foundation Laid People
Remember that Hearsay Exceptions movie that Energy Spatula gifted us with a few months ago? Well, if you enjoyed that, then check out the new Evidence Song, also courtesy of Energy Spatula. Yes, she had a really talented evidence class!
So again I'm thinking that this should be a whole series. There must be lots of musical talent running around law schools these days—why not set more legal lessons to music? I'll set up lawschoolrocks.com if you people will bring the noise. Maybe we could get Andrew Raff to rock something up for us. His band certainly rocks (I especially recommend Teenage Symphony—I love that song), so why not?
Posted 08:00 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | ai music law school
Argh, Maties! Bloody Spammers Be Improvin'!
Spam spam spam!
How I loathe spam.
All day all night,
try as I might,
I just can't stop the damn spam!
So have you seen the new comment spam technique? The spammer signs the comment w/an average sounding name (rather than the usual random numbers and digits gibberish) and uses a legitimate blog URL for the “return” url field. The links in the body of the comment are also legit—they go to what appear to be legitimate and innocent blogs. And that's it. But the text of the comment doesn't make logical sense. It starts w/the usual stuff like “I really like your site” or whatever, but then it will just have a couple of these links and some nonsense text. Fine. It looks like spam, but fairly harmless spam. So why would this be worth a spammer's time if it doesn't even point to any spam-like URLs?
The spam URLs are hidden! I don't know how they do it, but the comment itself does not show that there are additional spam links buried in it somehow. However, when you run it through Blacklist, the spam URLs show up to be blacklisted. How do they do that?
I need to upgrade this MT install to MT 3.2! For those who have upgraded, are you finding your spam woes have decreased?
Posted 08:48 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack | meta-blogging
International Job Search?
Wisdom Request: If you know anything using a U.S. JD to work in another country, particularly England, please leave whatever advice information you can at Blawg Wisdom. Thanks!
Everything Hurts
No posts here yesterday b/c I ran 24 miles and was just too beat to really do much else w/my day. Yes, the marathon training continues, but it's nearly over now; yesterday was our last big run. It was supposed to be 26 miles but I was again the “designated driver”—the person who stays back w/anyone who is hurt or can't make it for some reason. We made it fine to the 24 mile point, but then an injury forced someone to walk the last two miles and I stayed w/her. So we covered the 26 mile distance, but walked the last two miles. All of that took about 6.5 hours! Imagine running (and walking) for 6 hours straight. It's tough, but I bet it's not as tough as you think. Still, I feel like I've been worked over by a prize fighter or something—like I've been punched in every muscle of my body. I've been quietly hoping I could do a 5-hour marathon (which many marathoners would still consider pretty slow), but judging by how tough our 6-hour pace was yesterday, 5-hours might be too much to ask of this bag of bones.
But regardless of my final time, there's little doubt now that I'll actually finish the marathon. What's less certain is whether I'll be able to raise all of the required donations!
The marathon is now a month away and I want to thank everyone who has given so generously to my fundraising effort, all of which benefits the Whitman-Walker Clinic here in D.C. If you haven't had a chance to give yet, never fear! I'm still plenty far from my required fundraising goal, so anything you can give would still be most appreciated. Donate today! It will take about two minutes and it will go to a terrific cause!
And, as always, if you have more time than money (or would just rather not pull out the credit card), please [nevermind. This has been edited to comply with commercial restrictions]. And as always, thanks!
Posted 11:24 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | marathon
