BACK-ALLEY LETHAL INJECTION

I may be a little late in picking up on this one, but here it is: Because of a lethal injection ban there has been a rise in back-alley lethal injections. The Onion reported on this back in October. I agree with most people, who feel that lethal injection should be safe, legal and rare.

RAGS TO REASONABLE

I've alway thought that inertia applied to more than just arbitrary bodies. This guy finishes up college, packs a gym bag, $25, and sets out to see if it is still possible to work you way up from the street to a reasonable lifestyle. Turns out, when you set goals for yourself, and progress in the right direction, it actually works. ABC had a story on him. He also wrote a book about the deal:

"Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream" (Adam Shepard)

LASIK EYE SURGERY

I have been thinking about getting LASIK for some time. The only thing that has been preventing me from getting it done is the cost, and the inconvenience of actually having to leave my home and go to the doctor's office. Well, thanks to modern technology that's not a problem. Introducing LASIK@Home.

In reality, the only reason I haven't done it has more to do with the guarantee of better than 20/20 vision. If it's going to cost several thousand dollars, I'd like be at 20/15 (or 20/12.5). Apparently that has much to do with method of making the initial corneal flap cut. In the battle between blade and laser, the fricken laser wins.

READING - WHEN I HAVE TIME

I try to add a little variety to my reading. Because reading cases all the time gets a little old. Lately I've been working on The Nine, it is interesting to know more about the guys who make make so much of reading material for law school.

"The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court" (Jeffrey Toobin)

ON BEER

When I saw this page, randomly on Wikipedia, I wondered how many law schools there were in the Czech Republic.

THE HUCKSTER

Last week Hillary came to town and spoke at St. Mary's, and this week we're getting Mike Huckabee. Its exciting to have people come and speak, but the big downside is the way it messes up traffic, and tends to happen when I have class. I don't think I'd vote for either, or go to visit with Mike (unless they were giving out free beer or something -- probably the wrong crowd for that), but it is not every day a candidate for president comes to your law school.

WORDS TO LIVE BY

Dance like it hurts. Love like you need money. Work like people are watching.

-Scott Adams

WHERE'S GEORGE?

There was a dollar in our rodeo change that was marked www.wheresgeorge.com. I didn't get a chance to see where it had been before I found out what wheresgeorge.com is. So, out of curiosity I registered and marked a few bills to see where they end up.

I've always heard it is a crime to deface currency, but then again I hear a lot of crap. Since I can, I checked it out on LexisNexis. According to 18 USCS § 333 writing on a dollar is okay. You're only in trouble if you do the kind of damage that would make the bill unfit for circulation.

The text of the statute:

Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or units or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

The related case law involves a guy who split the bill in two parts (face and reverse) in an attempt to defraud.

It seems writing is okay, provided you don't intend to defraud.

GET YOUR MULTI-COLORED HI-LIGHTERS READY

Because it's time for A Coloring Book for Lawyers [pdf]. I laugh very hard when I look at it.

THANKS SO MUCH, HILLDOG

Hillary came to visit yesterday, and so did her Secret Service party friends. Parking was awful, if you didn't get to campus before 3 'o clock. For someone who claims to care so much about education she sure made it hard to get access to that education yesterday.

GREETINGS

To my classmates.

PROPERTY STUFF

While you may consider the natural objects of bounty and affection your heirs, they are not (not yet that is). You do not get heirs until you start pushing up daisies.

Some will ideas can be found here.

PROPERTY

I just realized that we're about four weeks into the semester and I haven't really said anything about my Property class. As far as professors go she is very laid back. In fact, if someone is not prepared for class they may pass. (I'm not a big fan of that - I prefer to see the humiliation penalty.)

As far as case analysis goes, we don't really get too deep into the individual case. We do, however, look at what outcome influence the court was trying for. For example, in one case the court found that a tradition among whale hunters was sufficient in securing ownership of property. (They used a harpoon with a unique symbol to mark their whale when it washed ashore.) The courts decision promoted whaling.

So far so good. The biggest time consumer right now is the appellate brief.