"gunner"

So earlier this week in my International Human Rights class, I realized with dread that I had become one of "those" people. You know, the annoying kid in class who always raises his hand and has all the answers. In law school they're called "gunners."

Here's how it played out. I think people were recovering from the weekend, because class participation was lower than usual. And the professor kept asking questions that no one would attempt to answer. So I kept raising my hand and answering them to keep the class moving along (I hate it when there's silence in the classroom). Probably the third time round, the professor saw my hand and said, "Someone else other than ______." That, my friends, is a sure sign that you're a gunner. Sigh. I hereby resolve to shut up more in class even if it makes us all look like we didn't do a lick of the reading.

why you can't always trust westlaw

"On appeal, a divided panel of the Court of Appeals affirmed, and on rehearing en banc the panel opinion was adopted, with six of the 4 en banc judges dissenting." M/S Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co., 407 U.S. 1 (1972).

Barring some serious suspension of the laws of mathematics, logic, and physics (albeit perhaps not quantum physics), I think Westlaw made a boo-boo. (Checking the PDF image from the actual Supreme Court Reporter, it did - it should be "six of the 14")

This is a good article on abortion, from the New York Times.

For all the rhetoric that both sides wield and inveigh against each other, the sad and broken reality is that every day, women are forced to make difficult choices, balancing what they believe with the pragmatic realities of their lives, trying to determine which road to walk down.

People who are "pro-life" and people who are "pro-choice" often lose sight of the humanity of the lives they are dealing with, both the mothers and the yet-to-be-born. Hardline positions often make for harsh consequences.

pro se

Please tell me this guy didn't act on his attorney's advice...

Also, try googling "failure." If you're curious to know why the website that's at the top of the page is there, two words: Google Bomb.

lessons learned from OCIP

1. Know the firms you're interviewing with.
2. Actually be interested in the firms you're interviewing with.
3. At UCLA Law, the cancellation policy for an interview is 48 hours prior, not including weekends. Don't go find out what it is on Sunday night when you want to cancel Monday interviews.
4. It helps if you're not socially awkward and actually like talking to people.
5. OCIP isn't everything, despite what you see in your first-year. Problem is, only BigLaw has the money to sponsor law school events, and only BigLaw can spare the people to come schmooze at law school events, hence when you're a 1L, all you think of when you think of a law firm, is BigLaw.
6. Who knew talking to someone for 20 minutes could be so tiring?
7. When in doubt, ask a 3L about the firm.
8. For fashion tips, see matthewb's blog.
9. Your grades get you in the door (usually), but it's all personality from there.
10. It's a crapshoot.

judgment?

In the face of Katrina, many questions are asked. One of them surely is, for the believing, "Why, God, why?"

Calamities were once seen as God's punishment for people's sins; the Bible is replete with examples of that - the plagues in Egypt, Sodom and Gomorrah, the subjugation of Israel, to name but a few. When Jesus came, he said that those who suffer in a tragedy are no more culpable than those who go unscathed:

¹Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

⁶Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. ⁷So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'

⁸" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' " (Luke 13:1-9)

Jesus compares the victims to the rest of their community: Galileans, all the others living in Jerusalem. By extension, Katrina's victims are no more guilty than their neighbors in New Orleans who survived, no more guilty than the rest of us who live in the United States.

But Jesus didn't say that the victims weren't guilty, and he didn't say that their communities weren't guilty. He only said that the victims were no more guilty than the others. He also went on to say that unless those who were unscathed repented, they too would die.

What do I think this means for us today?

1. It flies against our cultural belief in individual consequence for sin, but I think we need to re-think that notion. The Bible clearly states that God believes in collective consequence for sin, e.g. Pharoah's hardness of heart causing grief to all his people. The depravity of a group of men in Sodom caused the deaths of all the people in that town. The fall of Adam and Eve is itself the prime example of collective consequence for sin!
2. I think the suffering caused by Katrina was avoidable, but our sins and their consequences caught up with us. The fact that we as a nation are failing in our duty to the alien, the orphan, the widow, the poor, failing to live up to our clear God-given duty to care for them. The fact that we are failing to be good stewards of the resources that God has given us (the wealthiest nation on Earth doesn't have enough money to upgrade levees that everyone knew couldn't withstand a Category 4 hurricane?).
3. I think we need to pause and reflect. The displaced are reportedly indignant at being called "refugees," and prefer to be called "evacuees." To be a refugee is demeaning, is to be less than American, apparently. I think that attitude is demeaning to the rest of the world, especially to the thousands in Iraq right now who are refugees because of America's aggression, and not to mention the hundreds of thousands more throughout just the last century who have become refugees for one reason or another. Are we superior just because we're American, so much so that we can't be refugees?
   
4. Luke 13:6-9 offers some hope. The fig tree that bore no fruit was to be cut down, but it is spared for another year, while more care is paid to it in the hope that it will bear fruit in the year ahead. What fruit will we bear after Katrina?
   

and then there were seven...

Chief Justice Rehnquist passed away this evening in his home, surrounded by his children. Chief Justice of the United States of America till the end, just as he wanted. May he rest in peace.

Of course, the fight over his place on the bench will now begin in earnest. Hopefully both the right and left will show some respect for the deceased, and wait a while before flying into their furious fray.

Regardless, what everyone knew would happen has come to pass a lot sooner than we expected: Bush will fill two Supreme Court seats this fall, not just one.

Also on a side note, I think Katrina has dramatically illustrated the income inequality in our country and its effects on the poor. I think America has been forced to look into the mirror and see truths about itself that it often tries to push beneath the surface. The real question is, what do we do now?