July 05, 2004
No News is Good News
I apologize for the lack of updates recently, but there wasn't a whole lot to report. There have been some interesting cases coming through the court lately. Unfortunately, I can't say too much about them. Federal courts are in a bit of chaos and confusion regarding how to respond to the Supreme Court's Blakely decision. The Court slipped this little bombshell in under the radar the same day Cheney came down (or didn't, depending on how you look at it), and in so doing cast severe doubt over the continued viability of the federal sentencing guidelines.
Many folks are cheering this development, but my response is a bit more measured. I'm not a big fan of the Guidelines, but I truly fear what might replace them. Anyone thinking the Guidelines will be jettisoned and replaced with unfettered judicial discretion is deluded. Instead, I see fixed term sentencing coming into play, with no discretion at all. In the alternative, Congress may drastically increase the length of sentence across the board, and allow judges to depart downward under certain circumstances. The end result of either option is likely to be longer sentences for all and even less corrolation between real conduct and real punishment. If Bush & Ashcroft keep their jobs it could be even worse. But, I digress. If you want the opinion of some other folks, check here, here, here, or here.
Other than that, things have been pretty uneventful. The 4th came and went with barely a whimper. I had no intention to battle the throngs of people down at the Mall, and the thunderstorms just sealed the deal. We were able to watch the show from our balcony and actually could see things pretty well. We barbecued, ate a lot, and watched The Sopranos. What's more American than that? On a sidenote, July 1 was Canada Day and the Canadian embassy across the park from the district court was in full celebration. There was bad music and a giant BBQ with hotdogs and hamburgers (traditional Canadian cuisine?). The whole event unnerved me. Not only is Canada right on our border, but they look just like us. We must all stay vigilant.
I've got my classes for next year pretty well sorted out and am still in the midst of selecting the firms with which I will seek interviews. I've got 10 or 15 I'm certain about and another 50 maybes. One thing I've noticed: the more "presitigious" the firm, the less inviting the culture, and the more miserable it sounds to work there. Oh well.
The only other thing on my plate right now is journal preferencing for the write-on competition. What should be a simple process has become a bit of a headache for me. I can't decide if I want to preference the Main Journal at all. I think I have a realistic chance of getting on it, but have little desire to do so. I'm sure there must be some good folks on the Journal, but the few I've met have been a bit, shall we say, off-putting. In contrast, the folks I know at some other journals seem a bit more down-to-earth and fun to work with. Journal is a two-year committment, and two years can be an awfully long-time if you hate what you're doing.
Main Journal certainly carries the prestige, but at what cost? And it's not like the other journals are "unprestigious"... Advice anyone? I'll probably end up preferencing Main and possibly regretting it for the next two years. But, if I don't preference it, I'll always wonder: what if? I'm growing increasingly tired of the hoops and the jumping through them...
Many folks are cheering this development, but my response is a bit more measured. I'm not a big fan of the Guidelines, but I truly fear what might replace them. Anyone thinking the Guidelines will be jettisoned and replaced with unfettered judicial discretion is deluded. Instead, I see fixed term sentencing coming into play, with no discretion at all. In the alternative, Congress may drastically increase the length of sentence across the board, and allow judges to depart downward under certain circumstances. The end result of either option is likely to be longer sentences for all and even less corrolation between real conduct and real punishment. If Bush & Ashcroft keep their jobs it could be even worse. But, I digress. If you want the opinion of some other folks, check here, here, here, or here.
Other than that, things have been pretty uneventful. The 4th came and went with barely a whimper. I had no intention to battle the throngs of people down at the Mall, and the thunderstorms just sealed the deal. We were able to watch the show from our balcony and actually could see things pretty well. We barbecued, ate a lot, and watched The Sopranos. What's more American than that? On a sidenote, July 1 was Canada Day and the Canadian embassy across the park from the district court was in full celebration. There was bad music and a giant BBQ with hotdogs and hamburgers (traditional Canadian cuisine?). The whole event unnerved me. Not only is Canada right on our border, but they look just like us. We must all stay vigilant.
I've got my classes for next year pretty well sorted out and am still in the midst of selecting the firms with which I will seek interviews. I've got 10 or 15 I'm certain about and another 50 maybes. One thing I've noticed: the more "presitigious" the firm, the less inviting the culture, and the more miserable it sounds to work there. Oh well.
The only other thing on my plate right now is journal preferencing for the write-on competition. What should be a simple process has become a bit of a headache for me. I can't decide if I want to preference the Main Journal at all. I think I have a realistic chance of getting on it, but have little desire to do so. I'm sure there must be some good folks on the Journal, but the few I've met have been a bit, shall we say, off-putting. In contrast, the folks I know at some other journals seem a bit more down-to-earth and fun to work with. Journal is a two-year committment, and two years can be an awfully long-time if you hate what you're doing.
Main Journal certainly carries the prestige, but at what cost? And it's not like the other journals are "unprestigious"... Advice anyone? I'll probably end up preferencing Main and possibly regretting it for the next two years. But, if I don't preference it, I'll always wonder: what if? I'm growing increasingly tired of the hoops and the jumping through them...
