Happy Post Time

My last few posts have been a downer, so here are some of my favorite pictures.










Becca in Oxford, 2005













Matt & Charlotte (his mom), Oaxaca 2006.









Romantical! 2006.














Tirzah & girls, early 2000's.











Before the Squisher!










After the Squisher.











Some sisters, 2009.

A Coming Corporatocracy

Hey America! Have you ever asked yourself what McDonalds & Visa want for your country? Do you feel their views aren't heard enough? Well, do I have a ruling for you! On Thursday, the Supreme Court of the United States, in a 5-4 decision, made a ruling on Citizens United v. FEC. This decision, is super-duper extraordinary in that corporations will now be awarded more constitutional rights! Specifically, the First Amendment right to spend a whole lot (as much as they want!) to promote or defeat a political candidate. Now, candidates friendly to Big Corporate Interests will be rewarded with cool things like Senate seats, governorships & the Presidency. How fantastic is that!

I know what you're wondering: how to I buy in? Well, its easy--just get in a position of influence with a corporation & commit yourself to representing interests like child labour, the abolishment of a minimum wage, and the eradication of environmental protections.

Campaign finance regulations in place for over 100 years used to restrict the ability of corporations to use funds from their general treasury for "electioneering" purposes. Of course, the reality is that our political institutions are already completely beholden to large corporate interests. Where do you think the bank bailout came from? Corporations used to be more restricted but even then, they found endless ways to circumvent current restrictions with lobbyists and media.

And it's all because some clerk in the 1880's wrote a faulty headnote (a short summary at the beginning of the case that summarizes the main facts and ruling). This headnote said that the justices had determined corporations were people based on the Fourteenth Amendment--you know, the one enacted to free the slaves? It turns out, the justices had decided the other way, but no matter, the headnote was used as law (note: headnotes are not law). In Citizens United, the majority was written as if corporations are disadvantaged people. It was written to ensure corporations have vast freedom of speech. Except, since corporations don't have mouths or vocal cords, their form of speech is money.

The Citizens United majority cavalierly tossed aside decades of judicial opinions upholding the constitutionality of campaign finance restrictions & reinforced the notion that corporations possess "personhood" and thus are entitled to Constitutional rights. I strongly believe that corporations are creatures of the state. Therefore, they should not enjoy the same rights as individuals.

Feeling hope-y & freedom-y yet?

Reflections of a Third Year Student

This week, I am hosting a mixer for 1st Year & 3rd Year law students. The idea behind the mixer is that new and more established law students can come together so that the newer students can learn about the coping mechanisms employed by 3rd Years. It was an idea hatched when I was in 1st Year & felt very adrift in the hyper-competitive atmosphere at school.

Yet, when I think about how I have adjusted to law school, I still feel very dissatisfied. Yes, I have learned how to outline my courses & study in a way that helps me retain the great swaths of information loaded upon me term after term. Yes, I have become involved in community & school projects to a much greater degree than I ever foresaw when entering law school (for instance, as I type this I am waiting for a reporter from a national law magazine to call me for an interview on the future of the law school). All these developments in my life are positive.

But there are many parts of my law school life in which I remain unhappy: 1) I am not an academic: my abilities tend to be more along the line of processing & relating information, communicating and "reading a room." When I am given page after page of legal theory to read, my brain starts to swim. And, unfortunately for me, this legal theory is largely what my term papers are focused (though, in fairness to me, I have been able to do well in my term papers by keeping my subject matter geared towards social justice issues).

2) I haven't mastered the ability to progressively work less as I advance through school. I work just as hard as I did in first year, although the work I direct my effort towards might have changed over the years. Many of my cohorts just don't have to work as hard anymore. It's a bummer that this is not the case for me.

3) I feel disconnected from the faculty. As someone who works closely with faculty and has felt close at different times to different faculty members, it's sad that I still feel so apart from them. Law professors are academics & their priority is to their research & publication. This is problematic for an institution committed to educating future young lawyers. I think the best teachers for most of us would be practitioners, not academics, because practitioners deal with the law in everyday practice while most of our professors have been academics for all or most of their careers. They have an abstract idea of what the law is &, as a future litigator, this is largely unhelpful to me.

So, while I am happy to share with 1st Years how I have coped with law school, the truth is there are still lots of areas in which I haven't found a way to cope. In a lot of ways, being a law student still sucks for me--even though I am only months away from graduation.

The View From My Window

No Inspiration

I have no desire to work this term. My classes feel alien & unrelatable. There are now professors I avoid in the hallways and the food is bad. Apathy, apathy, apathy.

Today, I am supposed to write an article for the Ubyssey (the larger school newspaper) on how to come together as a student govermen. I need to research body property rights for a paper & read for my Employment Law class tonight. But instead, I lament my lot. Need to snap out of this rut! Maybe I should sign up for the Sun Run or get a dog.

First Day Back At School--Not a Rounding Success

I had an exhausting first day back at school (and forgot my lunch on top of it all). I am just not ready to re-enter the fray & besides, Monster is sick. Sadness.