Ohio Supreme Court Justice Calls for End of Death Penalty

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer has called for the Legislature to consider removing the death penalty from the laws on the books and for the Governor to commute all death sentences to life in prison. He cited that the punishment was not being used appropriately.

http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20110119/NEWS01/101190301/1002/State-justice-calls-for-end-of-death-penalty

Ohio Sup. Ct.: You Owe Too Much Money to Be a Lawyer

As a follow-up to an earlier post about the staggering debt most law students graduate with and the slim prospects of finding a job practicing law, I am now posting a link to an article about the Ohio Supreme Court's take on a practitioner-wannabe's debt load. Jonathan Griffin attended The Ohio State University School of Law, and he applied to take the Ohio bar. After learning that Mr. Griffin's debt load was $170,000, with the vast majority of it being school loans, the Ohio Supreme Court denied him the right to take the bar exam, citing that he did have adequate plans to pay for that debt. Mr. Griffin had been working in the public defender's office making $12/hour, and, if he passed the bar, he planned to work there as an attorney. Not good enough for the Supreme Court. According to the American Bar Association, the average law student carries a debt of $91,506 from attending a private law school and $59,324 from attending a public law school. Of course, most students will also have undergraduate loans looming as well. If the Ohio Supreme Court believes that working at the public defender's office won't be sufficient to pay down these loans to their liking, then perhaps there needs to be a change to increase the pay at the public defender's office or only let the rich go to law school. Refusing to let someone who wants to serve the public take the bar exam because of educational loans (i.e. because of an attempt to follow the American dream and better himself) is wrong, pure and simple.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/ohio-supreme-court-denies-law-license-law-grad/story?id=12632984&page=1

Justices Being Funny

Ryan Malphurs, PhD, just published his article analyzing the role and prevalence of humor at the US Supreme Court. See http://commlawreview.org/Archives/CLRv10i2/The%20Function%20of%20Laughter%20at%20the%20U.S.%20Supreme%20Court%20CLR%20v10i2.pdf

Of course, there's the usual academic discourse required for all such articles, but I highly recommend skimming it for the quirky references and jokes made by the justices. As he tagged and analyzed the transcripts, it became apparent that Justice Scalia is the one making the vast majority of the jokes. As evidenced by one of my previous posts, I don't really care for Scalia's biting nature, but I will admit that some of his lines are pretty funny. One of the funniest bits was the repeated mistake by several attorneys in several cases of calling Justice Souter "Justice Ginsberg." One is a man, and one is a woman! Ha! Apparently Justice Souter was very gracious in all of the incidents of mistaken identity and gender. It's nice to know that even the justices can appreciate the humor in mistakes.

Governor Bredesen's Pardons

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110112/NEWS03/101120364/1009/NEWS02/Bredesen+commutes+death+sentence++pardons+22

Before leaving the office of Governor, Phil Bredesen issued his list of pardons. Of most significance is Edward Harbison, who was on death row for beating a woman to death when he burglarized her home. Governor Bredesen felt that the crime did not "r[i]se to the level of a death penalty crime." Harbison will be serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

the truth about being a young attorney

I have to say that I'm getting pretty jaded about being a young attorney. I loved clerking for two years, and I had dreams that I would become a prosecutor. The economy struck, and I took time off from working while my mom died of cancer. Since then, I've worked at a law firm where I was perpetually cheated in my earnings, and I've worked for free for four months with the failed promise of funding. The more attorneys I meet, the less I respect the profession. Don't get me wrong -- I still love reading and studying the law, but the luster of practicing is getting duller and duller.

Here's a story about other people's struggles with being a young attorney: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&emc=eta1

Solidarity in Tucson

As someone who met the state of Arizona and the city of Tucson for the first time this past weekend, I am pleased to see how the city has responded to this awful tragedy. I am pleased to see that the community continues pushing for peace, that it does not seek to avenge, that it seeks to cover those hurting and heal them, and that it has reacted out of love. It is never good to observe something like what happened. Such an action tears at the fabric of society and at the fabric of the souls of those involved. Those involved will never be the same as they were before. However, there is a chance that they will love stronger and stand firmer for peace. With today's announcement that the city has begun forming a band of "angels" to protect the mourners from the picketers claiming the shooting was God's will, I am encouraged about the prospect of love and peace winning all.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/11/arizona.funeral.westboro/index.html?hpt=T1

a snowy day in nashville for our author

I thought I'd post a picture of ella the dog playing in the snow. Nashville received a couple of inches of snow last night, and we took advantage of it this morning.

Congratulations to Justices Maureen O'Connor and Yvette McGee Brown!

Ohio's Supreme Court making strides --- Justice Maureen O'Connor was sworn in yesterday as Ohio's first female chief justice. This is wonderful news. Once Justice Yvette McGee Brown is sworn in today, the high court will consist of four women and three men. McGee Brown will be the court's first African-American female justice. Congratulations to Ohio for stepping outside of the white, male box.

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/01/08/copy/oconnor-takes-over-court.html?adsec=politics&sid=101