I'm writing this from my shiny new laptop. It's lovely (and fully paid for!). The new keyboard is very friendly to my sad little wrists. The new touchpad doesn't have that annoying scratch my old one has. The new clicker bar is taking some getting used to and the graphics on Spider Solitaire are a tad annoying, but those are my only complaints about the new computer.

My big frustration, though, is with my newly-purchased wireless router. It will not allow me to go wireless! I guess this router/computer combo does not understand that the whole "wireless" thing means that the internet connection is supposed to work even after I unplug the internet cord. I wish my home came with an IT person who could come find the problem and fix it. Hell, I wish my home came with a yard boy and a maid and a chef, too.

It's a good thing I have 3 more days of weekend to figure this out.

Now what?

It's over. Done. The massive project, the soul-crushing workload. Just like that. It has been the major focus of my work for the last two years. It has been a major stresser for the past six months. It has consumed my every waking moment (and seriously cut into my non-waking moments) for the past two months. And now it's over.

I'm having a hard time this morning wrapping my brain around the idea that I have NO work to do on this particular case. I should have something to do. How could there not be some idea to research on Westlaw or a case to read or a transcript to flip through or a motion to review? But there is not one thing left.

So today, I am at home, as I will be for the rest of the week. I think you can guess that someone (the little red-head stealing my remote at the top of this page) is pretty happy about this week's plans. I slept until 11, so this 5 day weekend is off to a great start! I'm sure I will walk downtown a lot over the next few days, for coffee, for shopping, for lunch, and just for the dog. I may finally get around to planting some new plants in front of my house. I might get some reading done or watch some of my dvds. On Thursday, I should get to pick up my new computer, so I can play with that. I'll go to a Royals game and a wedding over the weekend.

Then maybe by Monday, I'll be ready to go back to work and figure out how to be a lawyer without the daily grind of this case. I used to know how to do that, so I'm confident I can re-learn.

Confirmed: this process is fixed

Senator Jeff Sessions is going to "try" to give Sonia Sotomayor a fair hearing in her confirmation process. Well, that's big of him. That's your job, Senator. To give the president's nominees a fair hearing. To screen them, meet with them, ask them questions, hear their answers, all BEFORE you decide to reject the nominee. You wouldn't want to pre-judge the issue based on your own political biases (you know, that she's the nominee of a Democratic president while you're a Republican) instead of waiting to hear all the evidence and judge the case on its merits.

I have a sneaking suspicion, though, that Sen. Sessions (and probably a few others) aren't all that interested in hearing the real evidence of Judge Sotomayor's record. They just want to assert as loudly as possible that she is just another lawless, irresponsible, activist liberal judge who doesn't follow the Constitution, but follows her heart to come up with whatever result feels right to her in any given case. If they succeed in saying it enough, the evidence of her actual judicial record be damned, then they can automatically discredit any ruling of hers they might disagree with someday.

My Saturday to do list

So far today, I have gone down to the Farmer's Market, where I got some lovely blackberries and a basil plant. Maddie got to tag along, so she has had her exercise for the day.

Soon I will be headed to Home Depot to pick out some plants to put in my front yard. In a fit about 3 weeks ago, after the painting of my house was all done, I pulled out the nasty, ugly bushes that were my front landscaping. I hated those bushes. But I haven't had time to really think about what to put in their place. So today, I will look and perhaps even buy.

Then I might wander downtown to pick out a new pair of jeans to wear to the bachelorette party I am going to tonight.

Do you notice what is NOT on my to do list? That's right, boys and girls. Sarah will not be doing one lick of work on this fine Saturday. I will not think about my case. I will not look up one thing on Westlaw. I will not make any notes to myself. And I can do all my fun things without feeling the least bit guilty about not doing work. (For the past month or two, any spare time I spent doing something other than work was slightly spoiled by the nagging sense that I should be working.) The soul-crushing workload is no longer soul-crushing. It is, in fact, almost completely done. And what little remains for me to do on it can wait until Sunday.

So yay, Saturday!

Sarah's life in the last week

work work work work coffee work work work work work Kraft Mac & Cheese work work work nap work work throw orange squeaky ball work work work Wimbledon work work work work yell at poor dog for barking work work work more coffee work work work Taco Bell work work work feel bad about yelling at and not playing with poor dog work work work web surfing on possibility of coffee IV work work work cry work work work work cherry coke zero work work work splash of Jack added to cherry coke zero work work work give dog away for afternoon work workwork panic work work cry about giving dog away work workwork realize problem that was source of panic is not a problem work work work epiphany work work realize epiphany is a load of crap work work work

That pretty much sums it up.

One more week to go. Next Tuesday, around 5:00, it'll all be done. And I'm going to get rip-roaring drunk. Unless I fall asleep before I get to the bar. And then I'm taking 3 days off. I may have other piles of work to catch up on, but they can wait until the following Monday. Cleaning my kitchen cannot.

Securing the Blessings of Liberty

Preamble to the United States Constitution
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Fourth Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Fifth Amendment
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Sixth Amendment
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Eighth Amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." James Madison, Speech in the Virginia Convention, June 16, 1788

And, of course, the Declaration of Independence.

These are the words that stir me to action, have always stirred me. I was always a Constitutional era history junkie. In high school, I knew the Constitution almost by heart. I would have told you James Madison was my hero (with a nod to John Marshall and Thurgood Marshall). I took every constitutional law class I could in college, where I majored in political science, with an emphasis on American political theory.

I have always said the flag doesn't do much for me. It's just a piece of fabric. And I have to admit, I really hate the song "God Bless America". But if they displayed the Bill of Rights or read from the Declaration of Independence at every sporting event, I would happily rise and place my hand over my heart. Those words are the way to my patriotic heart.

So, what better job is there for a Constitution-lovin' fool than Public Defender? How else could I go to work every day with the purpose of defending the Constitution? I get to go to work every day and give effect to those glorious words and I get to protect those rights for which revolutionaries fought and died. I get to protect all citizens against abuses of government, like the imprisonment of government critics, entries by government into citizens' homes, the falsifying of affidavits to convict persons for political reasons, the denial of liberty without due process of law. I don't see myself as just a lawyer; I see myself as continuing the mission begun by those who fought the revolution and drafted the Bill of Rights. I do my best to keep the government honest against those gradual and silent encroachments James Madison warned us about.

I give you, then, a new way to look at the public defender. Not as a lazy lawyer, a public pretender, or someone who couldn't get a "real" law job. Look at this public defender as this: a true patriot.

Being mean is not a crime - it's just mean

It's only been 7 months since Lori Drew was convicted by a jury of 3 misdemeanor counts of accessing a computer without authorization. This is the Myspace hoax case from Missouri where a 13 year-old girl committed suicide after being virtually dumped by a boy she had met online. Of course, the "boy" turned out to be a middle-aged woman, mother of the girl's former friend, and the woman's assistant. Remember that the state prosecutors in Missouri looked into the case but determined that even though they heartily disapproved of what Drew had done, her behavior did not actually violate any criminal statute.

So federal prosecutors swooped in and charged her with these cyber crimes that were written to criminalize various types of computer hacking. But the feds argued that because Drew made up a fake profile on Myspace, thereby violating the Myspace terms of service, she had illegally accessed the Myspace servers. It was a reckless, dangerous prosecution aimed only at punishing this one woman but that could potentially have had wide-spread consequences. The plain truth is that most of us probably violate the terms of service of many of the websites we visit, often without really realizing it. That conduct is not what the statutes Lori Drew was charged under were designed to criminalize.

Many people who followed the case believed all along that the judge always knew the prosecution could not result in conviction but was reluctant to have to bear the brunt of public anger if he let this cyber-bully off. So when the defense filed motions to dismiss, he hemmed and hawed. He let it go to a jury verdict. Then, when the verdicts finally came down last November, he took the defense motions for dismissal and judgment notwithstanding the verdict under advisement. It is totally within a judge's authority to set aside a jury's guilty verdict and enter his/her own judgment of acquittal. It seemed clear that Judge Wu knew he really did have to do this, but he just didn't want to.

Well, he finally set aside those convictions today. At least tentatively. (Seriously, Judge Wu, make a firm decision and stick with it! Stop pussy-footing around.)

This is the right thing to do. Judge Wu is absolutely correct to interpret the statute to exclude violating a website's terms of service. Lori Drew's conduct, while reprehensible and mean, was simply not criminal. The girl's parents can sue her in civil court. That was always the only court that ever should have had anything to do with this case.

So I applaud Judge Wu's decision. Tentatively. I'll save my full applause until he puts his decision in writing.