The End was May 13, 2006 ( Read more... )

I suppose it is time to update. My year has been great. Law school is fabulous. I shall leave the dreary academic details -- moot court, law review, Dean's List, Professor's Research Assistantship -- for another time. No, wait, how about I skip that and move on to better things ( Read more... )

The whirlwind of last week has calmed down. Last Monday, we sucessfully pled our defendant to life without parole for 25 years (instead of a trial with a death penalty option). It was decent and humane to save his life, yet hold him responsible for his act on society. In prison, he will have the opportunity to do the things he seems to have not ( Read more... )

A lot has happened in the past few days. My parents and my grades arrived together. My parents were fine, my grades initially were relatively good -- but I wanted to do better. I spent last weekend taking my parents around to The Breaks Interstate Park, Railroad Museums, and various places around Southwestern Virginia. My father got some fossilized ( Read more... )

Maryland is a state infamous for its political grandstanding on the issue of the death penalty. That came to a screeching halt early today when they executed Steven Oken. Oken had his final appeals denied by the Supreme Court on Wednesday and his death warrant expired last night. He is an unusual death row inmate because he is the minority of the ( Read more... )

So yesterday I was busy. I was too busy in fact to write about what I was doing. My morning started in another county at their detention center. We had to interview a 3rd party to the death penalty case for about an hour. Being in prison at 9am is not fun. I can't imagine how "unfun" it must be for the inmates. Then we saw an alleged sex offender. ( Read more... )

I was searching around and stumbled upon the blog of a law student, John Jenkins, in Oklahoma. Its a rather amusing, conservative read. Nice links. I have to admit I loved the title of the blog -- much like my own website. The subheading quote is also a keeper: "There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of ( Read more... )

It seems that I made myself ill last night -- with worry. Grades have yet to be released for Spring 2004. I am sweating the white envelope with my name on it in a big way. Rumor had it that those precious packages, known to end peoples' lives, were mailed out yesterday. The rumors were false ( Read more... )

It is yet another dreary day at the public defenders office. On the table today: 1) Continuance motions in death penalty cases and 2) Post release alternative sentencing for sex offenders - specifically how one would violate the conditions of their release. Yes, that should be a jolly good time ( Read more... )

Perhaps I should frame this journal. It is a collection of thoughts about the criminal justice system and law school. I have completed one year of law school. First semester I earned academic honors and awards -- which may be fleeting after second semester grades are returned to me. My school requires that all 1Ls participate in an externship ( Read more... )