Drug Laws

Rep. Maxine Waters is at it again with the introduction of H. R. 1466: Major Drug Trafficking Prosecution Act of 2009. The purpose of the bill is to re-direct federal resources to tracking and prosecuting the big fish of the drug trade while easing some of the pressure on low level drug offenders. Currently, federal sentencing guidelines focus on drug weight and constricts the court's discretion in sentencing. 21 U.S.C 960(b) mandates harsh mandatory minimums based on drug weight and ties the hands of the court. The law was intended to create fairness in sentencing by tying sentence length directly to the seriousness of the offense. The innovation of crack cocaine inverted the result. A low level drug runner would receive a higher sentence than someone with a comparable or greater amount of cocaine because cocaine in crack form is heavier than cocaine in powder form.

The argument against Rep. Waters’s position is that the law should be changed, but not in the manner she proposes. Instead of removing mandatory minimum sentences Congress should alter the law to impose mandatory minimums equally based on street value instead of weight. By focusing on street value the disproportionality problem would be solved and the disincentives to bring narcotics into the U.S. would remain in place.

A third approach championed by libertarians, the extreme left and others is to end the War on Drugs because it needlessly impinges personal freedom and, more importantly, it cannot be won. The money spent on drug interdiction and prosecution is better spent elsewhere.

Legal Writing from Law School to the Bar Exam

As discussions about writing final exams and drafting sample bar essays swirl around the library, it is time to emphasize the basics that you all know. Repeat after me: IRAC! IRAC! IRAC! It is impossible to emphasize this acronym enough. Every law school exam answer should state the issue, explain the rule governing the issue, analyze the facts pertinent to the issue and provide a conclusion. Organizing by using IRAC on an exam will help to ensure you cover all of the issues. Organizing by using IRAC on the Bar will help you get more points on each essay. (Remember, the bar essays are graded by tired attorneys. Don't make them work harder to see if you included the right information, because they are unlikely to take that extra time to try to understand your unique method of answering an essay.) A simple but very thorough explanation of IRAC can be found at this website. LawNerds will walk you through spotting the issue, outlining the rule, the analysis and the conclusion. What you will find on the internet is no substitute for the hard work of learning to think and write like a lawyer, but this site will help to clarify the basic framework required to answer law school exam questions and bar exam questions.

Child Online Protection Act and Free Speech

Last month the US Supreme Court refused to hear Mukasey v. ACLU, effectively ending the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). Had it ever been enforced, COPA would have required commercial distributors of material harmful to minors to prevent access to their web sites by said minors. “Material harmful to minors” was defined so loosely by the law that materials which would not even qualify as obscene under current obscenity law would had to have been screened from minors lest their impressionable little minds be warped by seeing Venus at the Mirror or The Three Graces. “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about this sort of encroachment on the first amendment now that a Democrat is in the White House” you might say. In the words of an unfortunately still alive and certainly not that great sports commentator, “Not so fast, my friend”.

First, COPA was signed into law in 1998 by Bill Clinton, so party affiliation is not necessarily a good predictor of free speech support. And second, there is a strong argument to be made that the most serious threats to free speech currently come from the left, not the right. The Fairness Doctrine would never be brought back by a Republican White House, but might (depending on who you ask) by a Democratic one. The college campus is not known as a hotbed of conservatism these days, but speech codes which restrict what students and faculty can say and where they can say it are commonplace at both private and public universities. And blasphemy laws are making a comeback in places such as the UK , Canada , and the UN. Sure, they call it a ban on the “defamation of religion” or Combating Defamation of Religions Resolution (UN), but these laws are essentially a return to the old time blasphemy laws. Don’t think so? Just as Dutch MP Geert Wilders who was recently barred from entrance into the UK based on a movie he helped produce or ask writer Mark Steyn who had to defend himself in front of the Canadian Human Rights Commission against charges of blasphemy human rights violations for excerpts from his book that were published in Maclean’s magazine.

And if the individual attacks on free speech from the left and the right weren’t bad enough, when the two sides team up they can be downright distressing. The McCain–Feingold Act was a bipartisan effort which severely restricts the central purpose of the first amendment, political speech. And who can forget those blasts from the past, the Parents Music Resource Group (which brought us those explicit language warning stickers on albums and was headed by known right-wing nut Tipper Gore) and the Meese Commission (making it more difficult to buy Playboy at gas stations and convenience stores since 1986).

Now, you may argue that some of these examples I have given are justifiable restrictions on free speech for a variety of reasons (you won’t convince me, but you can try). The point is, they are restrictions on free speech. And they aren’t coming from storm troopers in black uniforms, but from smiling faces on both the left and the right claiming these restrictions are for your own good. Or even worse, they are “for the children”.

By David Novak, JD

The Economy Bites

Now is not the best time to be on the job market, but it is a great time to be hiding in graduate school. The upside is that you can expand your skills and marketability instead of being lucky to be employed or finding yourself underemployed or unemployed. The downside is the increase in applicants makes each school that much harder to get into. Having successfully completed a JD or being in the process of doing so gives you an edge over the competition. What graduate degree you pair your JD with depends on what you want to do when you graduate. The choices are numerous, but a few readily spring to mind: MBA, MPP, and MPA. JFK has an MBA program and several other local universities have MPP and MPA programs (MPP and MPA degrees are very similar). For those of you who have not had your fill of law school, you can also get an LLM. Unlike, the other programs mentioned, an LLM is a one year program as opposed to a two year program.

An MBA does not carry the same cachet as it once did. In fact, many people blame our current economic crisis on the MBA crowd. Nonetheless, training in finance and business pairs well with training in the law. An MPP or an MPA also pairs well with a law degree. Making public policy can be challenging without a lawyer's understanding of how to interpret caselaw and knowledge of rule making procedures and much of the law is poorly understood without a grasp of the public policy reasons and implications of a judges' decisions. Both educational programs teach a little of the other. An MPA/MPP provides in depth training in policy analysis, administration and implementation which you will not get in law school. Dual JD/MPAs or MPPs typically go to work for government agencies, special interest organizations or politicians.

And for those of you who really enjoy spending time in the library, there is always library school. An MLS takes one year and an MLIS takes two years. Either way, it is an entree to a noble profession filled with very quiet people.

Acronyms
MBA = Master of Business Administration
MPP= Master of Public Policy
MPA= Master of Public Administration
LLM= Legum Magister or the feminine Legum Magistra
MLS= Master of Library Science
MLIS= Master of Library and Information Science

Reading is Fundamental

Reading is an important skill for a lawyer. Although every person in law school can read, some are better readers than others. Like any other skill, reading improves through practice. One way to practice is to read things you normally would not. In your daily practice you will come across well written opinions, letters, reports, etc. You will also encounter poorly written items. If you practice reading things you are unfamiliar with you will train yourself to be a more careful reader. For those who enjoy reading Mother Jones, try reading the National Review. The point of view and style of writing differ dramatically from MJ so you will not be able to guess where the sentence is going, but you will have to parse each word. Try reading articles from the list of periodicals below to flex your reading muscles.

Mother Jones
National Review
Christian Science Monitor
Wall Street Journal
San Francisco Chronicle
Economist
New York Times
The Onion

Not only will practice improve your reading skills, it will also improve your writing skills. In order to get through unfamiliar items you will necessarily learn new vocabulary words and be exposed to various writing styles. The process of reading about current events from different ends of the political spectrum will also hone your skills at recognizing different styles of argument and analysis.

Finals are almost over

It is time to take a break. If you find yourself remaining in the Bay Area for the holiday break you are in luck. The San Francisco Bay Area is the best place in the world for low cost fun. Simply meandering the city is fun enough. There are numerous no cost places to visit. Take, for instance, the Palace of Fine Arts. The structure was originally built for the Pan-Pacific Exposition in 1915. Only the center dome remains. The rest of the structure is in ruins. The Palace contains no fine art, but sits adjacent to a beautiful man made lagoon filled with swans, ducks, geese, frogs and turtles. The park area surrounding the lagoon is home to a large raccoon population. One could spend a brisk morning walking the grounds while gawking at the numerous wedding parties who come to pose for photographs.

If you prefer your Fine Art to showcase fine art you can visit the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Golden Gate Park. If you do not want to pay the ticket price of $10, you can always enjoy the Legion's stunning architecture and magnificent locale. The Legion is within a short hike to Land's End, the park not the parka purveyor. From there you could hike down to the beach or the Sutro Baths.

If you prefer to stay in the East Bay you will still have plenty to do and see for free. The East Bay Regional Park District offers activities ranging from hiking to horse back riding. You can even find a place to practice your archery skills among the trees.

Whether you stay in the Bay Area for your break or get out of town, it is important that you take a well deserved break. You will need to re-charge and decompress before you start the process all over again in 2009.

BLSA's Holiday Food Drive

The JFK Black Law Students Association has organized a food drive on behalf of the Emeryville Community Action Program. You can drop off any non-perishable food item at the Berkeley or Pleasant Hill Law Library from December 1st until December 15th. Don't just raid your own cupboard. Raid the cupboard of your friends, family and neighbors!