Many Muslims have been receiving a letter by email, supposedly written by Senator Obama, entitled “Letter From Barack Obama on his Muslim Heritage.” In the letter, the writer speaks to the meaning and significance of his Muslim name, his interaction with and respect for Muslims, and a promise to interact with Muslims “from a position of familiarity and respect [at a time when] that is something sorely needed.” The general tone is one of comforting reassurance, a kind of “I don’t hate Muslims, I actually respect them, and I’d like to work with them as friends.”

Muslims were understandably excited upon receiving this letter; it caused quite a stir. Finally, someone who and respects us and understand what we’re going through! Maybe he will be the kind of President we can trust with our lives, liberties, and mutual honor. Maybe this time, we won’t feel betrayed, like strangers in our own homes. Go Obama!

Except, Obama didn’t write this letter. Umar Lee did.

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Ayesha made me do it.

so here goes: Book Meme:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the 5th Sentence.
4. Post the next 3 sentences.
5. Tag 5 people.

I’m nerdy. This is from my Criminal Law Casebook. I was in the library when I started this meme.

Pg. 123 is from Chapter 3: Modern Role of Criminal Statutes from the U.S. v. Foster [133 F.3d 704] dissenting opinion by Circuit Judge Trott. Here goes:

“Is he no longer carrying it if he then moves to the front of the truck or returns to the passenger compartment? All of this makes for fun in the Socratic classroom, but it does not work on the streets of America, which is what Congress had in mind when it drafted this legislation. While we have been debating this case en banc, the Supreme Court has granted certiorari in [United States] v. Muscarello[, 106 F.3d 636 (5th Cir. 1997)].”

Law student. Can’t help it.

Tagging: (I was tagged by Ayesha)

Danielle
Yasmin
Samra
Salma M.
Sophia

I have a friend, a lovely fairy-like girl who is always a good source for inspiration and philosophy. She told me that when she was younger, she always used to write in pencil so she could erase if she made mistakes. But now, she always wrote in pen because she thought about her words before she wrote them down. Where was the meaning and beauty in words, she said, if you wrote them down without realizing their weight and importance?

Lawyers spend a lot of time with words. Reading them, writing them, speaking them, arguing about their meanings depending on historical use or placement relative to the nearest comma, streaming them into a logic syllogism to win an argument. I’ve never spent so much time debating about what one word means than during law school, especially through statutory interpretation in Criminal Law and Constitutional Law. Words become our life from the first day we step into the study of law. Everything becomes about how we read a statute, how we interpret each word. We must master the art of rhetoric, but also know when one concise statement will win the case. We must learn to be careful with words when speaking with clients, because legal jargon can add pain upon pain to the hardest problems of their lives.

I think lawyers could benefit from my friend’s thoughts. As we become masters of language, we must learn to channel this thunderous power into a controllable thing, something digestable – but always something that carries all of the power and emotion of the entire storm.

I found a poem scribbled on the corner of some notes from a lecture long forgotten. I don’t remember when I wrote it, but the meaning is stronger for me now than ever before.

I think I’m tiring of the words
They all resonate and repeat
And the best ones are now sounding hallow
Bringing back memories of the
Same ineffectual things
But isn’t this ironic?
Am I just mimicking sounds?
I want something powerful and heart wrenching, soul-stirring
Images and feelings that leave no room for words

Law professors don’t only teach you the law. They’re also incredibly amusing. Here are some of my favorite class memories from my first semester.

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So i was packing my book, notes, flashcards, etc. today to take to school for my 9 am Torts exam. I didn’t want to bring too much weight, so I left my computer on my desk so I wouldn’t have to lug it around. “I won’t need this today,” I thought.

I got to school and was sitting there, looking at my notes. I thought “wow, this is a lot of info. I’m glad I can take this exam typing on my computer instead of writing it out by hand.”

wait for it…
wait for it…

10 seconds later….

“Holy. crap. I. left. my. computer. at. home.”

I love UNC ITS. They give me loaner computers. Because I’ve lost. my. mind.

Sleeping it off.

Law school is the most mentally, emotionally, and physically draining academic activity I have ever attempted.

Right now, I’m at about “pit of despair” level. I’m thinking “How did I ever get to law school? They must have made a mistake. I’m not smart enough to do this.” I’ve started planning in advance for what to do when I learn that I’ve gotten all D’s on my exams and that I won’t be getting a job this summer…or ever again…for the rest of my life. I mean, I’ve certainly enjoyed learning “THE LAW” all semester, but seriously, one final exam as 100% of my grade? That’s it? Just one chance to show you what I think I know? And I have to try to get a summer job on *this* semester’s grades? Seriously? I quit.

Okay, okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating. All I can say is, some of these alternate options have occurred to me recently.
– Drop out and open a restaurant
– Buy a ship and become a pirate
– Curl up into a ball in front of the TV and consume multiple bags of Cheetos
– Throw my Torts casebook through the window and go to sleep

Okay, okay. I’ll stop complaining. Grades aren’t *that* important…..though they may be what does or does not get me legal employment….I have many other things in my life to keep me happy, Alhamdulillah. Life is about more than what grades I get on my exams during law school, right?

For all my friends who are looking towards law as a future career, call me when you get to “pit of despair” level. I’ll try to help you through it. Believe me, I’ve been there. I think this is where I’ll live until 5:30 pm on December 14. [P.S. - anyone who has been here already, words of advice are very welcome. let me know that there is light at the end of the legal tunnel].

Ugh…..back to studying. and counting the days.

Everyone else seems to understand things better. Everyone else seems to have more time, or at least better time management. Everyone else seems to have things so under control. Am I the only one who doesn’t get it?

(I have these thoughts at least once a day. But you probably don’t, because you probably get it.)

It amazes me when people say to me, in casual conversation, that I seem to have things figured out because I always make such insightful comments in class, or because I just seem calm. They’ll say it in a tone of awe, respect, or sometimes jealousy. Truth? I just happened to read and understand that particular case or I just happened to listen to enough of class that day to say something mildly intelligent. I really don’t understand what’s going on any more than you do. Especially Torts.

Why do we think that everyone else is better off than we are? Is it that we’re so self-centered that no one else’s problems occur to us? On the other hand, why do we pretend that we understand things better than we really do? Self-preservation? Trying not to embarrass ourselves, trying to keep up with our friends who present an image of comprehension? (Is that real…in which case I’m more scared…or is it as fake as mine…in which case I feel closer to them). It’s like we’re birds, puffing up our chests as far out as they’ll go. Really, none of us understand our world all that well. (None of us really know what is going on in Torts or Property). We’re all pretty frail, like birds, and it takes us time to become secure. It doesn’t come immediately. We all know this.

All well and good now, right? Easy to say, easy to believe now. But when I’ve got that stupid casebook in front me and I’ve read the same stupid case twice and looked it up on WestLaw and I’m still not really sure what’s going on and I still have 10 other cases to read, I forget this.

On a deeper level, though….how often do we really take interest in each other? When we ask a friend, even someone as close as a parent or a spouse, “how are you?”…how often do we mean…”Really, how are you? Are you happy? Are you satisfied with where you are right now? Does the world seem as daunting to you as it does to me?” But this level of depth might interfere with our self-centered self-preservation. We might actually have to feel uncomfortable for a second because we’ve breached that barrier. It’s just easier to ask quickly, answer quickly, and move on to something else. Like studying for Property.

We’re absent. We are absent from ourselves and from each other. I’m not sure which one starts the process, but it is a vicious cycle either way. It’s easier sometimes to not think, to be procedural, to follow rules and get through your day. If I’m lucky, I get a few moments before I sleep to just let it all sink in as I sink into my pillow….to let my body relax, to breathe. Wake up in a few hours and start all over.

They warned us about this at orientation.

Well. Just know that you’re not the only one. And I guess I’m not either.

Phew.

Clerk uses ax to fight off armed robber


Not letting her slight frame deter her, Sahin wielded an ax against a masked man who tried to rob her at gunpoint on Saturday, swinging with gusto at the would-be robber before he fled empty-handed.

“I said, “Get out, get out!” recalled Sahin, who was back at work at the register Tuesday. “I didn’t want to hit him. I just wanted him to get out of here.”

The diminutive clerk — somewhere shy of 5 feet tall and just 90 pounds — was behind the counter at her family’s business, Southaven Convenience on Montauk Highway in Brookhaven, about 8 p.m. when the man, his face covered with a bandanna, walked in, stuck a gun in her face, and demanded cash.

A store surveillance video, released Tuesday by Suffolk police, shows Sahin, wearing a long dress and a headscarf, stalling the intruder for several seconds, pecking at the cash register and searching with one hand for a panic button.

Suddenly, she grabs a 2 1/2-foot ax from under the counter, cocks it over her narrow shoulder, and takes a half dozen chops at the man, even reaching over the counter at her 6-foot target. The frightened intruder steps back and aims his gun again. But apparently confused by the onslaught, he then runs out the door with Sahin in pursuit to the parking lot.

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A case from my Torts casebook….just….read it. I highlight some of the more interesting parts. With all the Shakespeare references and alliterative phrases, you’d think I was getting a degree in English rather than Law. I wish all cases were like this one; it would make them easier to read.

(Written by Justice Carlin)

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