“All in all, this was a really lively, fun season of “The Amazing Race,” the kind that strengthens my undying commitment to watch every second of every hour of every season of this show indefinitely, until cancellation shall we part.” ââ�¡â��

“The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush’s 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase. . . . The increases . . . are expected to generate nearly $2.2 billion over 10 years.” ââ�¡â��

I almost forgotââ�¬â��GW’s graduation ceremony is today! I was reminded of this when I went to update the daily image and found the photo of the commencement ticket I had put in the queue weeks ago.

Happy Graduation, GW law students! I hope you all have healthy and happy careers!¹ [tags]graduation[/tags]

1. Except for those of you who end up simply working to further enrich those who are already wealthy, in which case, I hope you end up being spectacular failures!↩

I fear that very soon will be another time in my history when the internets will no longer be easily accessible.¹ Therefore, I ask you, dear readers:

What music should I make sure I obtain in this last precious week during which I have a nice high-speed connection? What are you listening to these days? What is the one cd or track you think no one should have to live this life without? What do you recommend for a cross-country drive in the jangle wrangle cab of a rented moving truck? Share your suggestions, por favor, and I will be eternally grateful! [tags]music, recommendations[/tags]

1. I have had high-speed internet access for about four years straight. It’s so great, I can’t even imagine life without it. I bed I’d read more books.↩

Dive into an image only to find it is a mosaic of more images, each of which is its own mosaic which you can dive into again. Endlessly fascinating fun! �

“Currently, in order for a teacher to search a studentââ�¬â�¢s locker they need to have ââ�¬Å�reasonable suspicionââ�¬Â� that the student is in possession of illegal drugs. H.R. 5295 would change the standard needed for a search to ââ�¬Å�colorable suspicion,ââ�¬Â� a term that has been made up entirely for this bill. Essentially, a teacher would need nothing more than a hunch in order to search a studentââ�¬â�¢s locker or possessions.” [via] ââ�¡â��

Last week I had what will probably be my last appearance in court as a clinic student attorney. We were scheduled for a trial but our case was pretty weak (and got weaker the more I got into it) so our big hope was that the gov’t would not be ready and the judge would dismiss for lack of prosecution.¹ Unfortunately, the gov’t was ready so my client faced a choice: Go to trial with a weak case and hope the judge would see things his way, or plead to the information and hope the judge would be lenient in sentencing.²

The charge was PDP (possession of drug paraphernalia). The gov’t had an officer ready to testify that my client had made spontaneous statements along the lines of, a) “I am a drug user,” and b) “I am carrying a pipe.” And, of course, the officer was going to testify that my client consented to be searched. Plus, the gov’t had a “drug expert” ready to testify that the item seized was definitely a “stem” or crack pipe (this despite the fact that they had done no lab analysis to show it had any drug residue or anything). So it was going to come down to my client’s word against the word of a cop and a “drug expert.” Not so good.

In explaining this choice to my client I tried to make the trial option sound as good as I could. If we’d had another judge, I might have argued to him that he had nothing to lose by going to trial. However, this particular judge has a well-known reputation for rewarding defendants who plead guilty with much more lenient sentences than she gives to those who go to trial. I don’t think that’s fair, but I understand her desire to encourage “efficiency.” Whatever the case, I explained to my client that if we went to trial we had a small chance of winning, but more likely he’d be found guilty and then, odds were, he’d get at least a slightly harsher sentence than he would if he just admitted guilt.

So, not very surprisingly, the scheduled trial turned into a guilty plea. I cringed and had to bite my tongue as the prosecutor read her highly exaggerated version of what she would have proven had the case gone to trial. It’s hard not to want to interrupt to point out that all the prosecutor need say is that the government would have proven that my client was found in possession of drug paraphernalia and that all the rest was just bullshit to prejudice the judge against my client. Of course, unless the prosecutor just outright lies, objecting to the reading of the “information” will generally do you absolutely no good. So, instead, you just stand there and bite your tongue and wish you had just one more bit of evidence so that you could have gone to trial and proven that cocky prosecutor wrong.

After the plea itself, I gave a short (30-second) argument that my client was a great, upstanding guy who simply had no need for any of the services provided by supervised probation, and that, therefore, the most appropriate sentence would be a short period of unsupervised probation and/or a small fine. The gov’t countered w/great emphasis and drama that my client obviously had a serious drug problem and definitely needed regular drug testing and treatment; therefore he should get at least a year of supervised probation w/those conditions and any others the probation officer might deem appropriate.

So what did the judge do? She gave my client a $50 fine. That’s it. Done. My client and I were both thrilled!

Lessons learned: First, there are apparently times a guilty plea really is the best way to resolve a case. Second, if you hear from everyone who would know that a certain judge is known for this or that, pay attentionââ�¬â��those people probably know what they’re talking about. Finally, judicial discretion is greatââ�¬â��except when it’s not. [tags]clinic, pdp, guilty plea[/tags]

1. I know this varies by jurisdiction, but in D.C. it’s very common for judges to dismiss cases (misdemeanors especially) for lack of prosecution. I don’t have numbers, but I’d guess the number of misdemeanors that get “dwipped” is easily more than 20%.↩
2. This was an especially sad choice considering the fact that this trial was originally scheduled about a month ago but on that day my client was about an hour late to court. When he finally showed up the gov’t had to admit it wasn’t ready and we moved to dismiss. The judge said she would have dismissed if my client hadn’t been late, but she granted the gov’t a continuance to punish my client for being late. Yeah, that really sucked.↩

“He sells plans for, and builds, tiny homes in sizes ranging from an extremely small 50 square feet to a practically roomy 500 square feet. Buyers use them as homes, home extensions, business offices and vacation cabins.” ââ�¡â��

“The miniature openings into imagined fairy homes are unsponsored, unauthorized works of public art that have captured the imagination of the city.” ââ�¡â��

There’s a new photo sharing site called Tabblo so I tried a little experiment w/a few photos I took in the park. What do you think? Is this a good way to share photos? Is it superior to Flickr?