July 05, 2005
The Nonexistent Sleep Schedule, Women Marrying Prisoners, See You Later Sandra Day, Peter Jennings, and a Preview of What's to Come
On Sunday, I didn’t get my day going until the sun was close to setting. I woke up around 3 or 4, made myself lunch, and then went back to sleep until about 8 p.m. Lately, I’ve been going to bed between 5:00 and 7:00 a.m., which has made for a horrific schedule. People laugh when I tell them that I struggle to get to the 1:30 p.m. bar review class, but to say I find it difficult to get there at that time is a gigantic understatement. Boy, this is a really interesting paragraph. You must be really happy that you chose to read this particular blog entry. If you want a good one, click here.
When I was working out the other night, I turned one of the televisions to MSNBC (I might be one of ten people who actually watches MSNBC) and started watching a report about Evan Ramsey. I didn’t have any idea who Evan Ramsey was, but apparently when he was 16, he walked into his Alaskan high school, pulled out a shotgun, and murdered two people. Fortunately, Ramsey will be spending the rest of his life in an Alaskan prison. From my vantage point, if you’ve got a life sentence hanging over your head, your stock in the dating world would plummet dramatically. That makes sense, yes? Well, that’s certainly not the case for Mr. Ramsey! To the contrary, some random young lady from one of the Southern states started writing to Ramsey after his arrest and what do you know, the two fell in love. If that fact doesn’t cause your heart to skip a beat, consider this. This girl moved from the South to Alaska in order to be near her boyfriend, who, if you mentally drifted away for a second, will be spending THE REST OF HIS LIFE in prison. Question: ARE THINGS REALLY THAT BAD OUT THERE? I don’t care if you’ve got five arms, weigh 750 pounds, have a complexion that is worse than a high school version of Tommy Lee Jones, and have a personality that makes Robert Blake look like Mother Theresa! You can’t tell me that the BEST you can do is find love with some thug who is spending the rest of his life in prison. Every time I hear about something like this, I just am dumbfounded. You would think this stuff is really rare, but even Ted Bundy received letters from adoring women while he was on death row. (Bundy actually proposed DURING his trial while he was conducting the direct examination of his girlfriend. She decided to marry him even though he had that one minor character flaw that resulted in his raping, torturing, and murdering dozens of young women. If nothing else, at least Bundy's girlfriend knew him outside of prison. This lunatic who moved to Alaska to be near the high school shooter had zero contact with the guy until he was in prison. I'm all for unconditional love, but if I'm her parents, I think you've got to cut her off at that point.) Whether we like it or not, there are scores of women who seem to pursue relationships with men who are going to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Although we probably don’t need to execute these women (though that might be a good start), we definitely need to make it illegal for them to procreate. Thus, I propose adding the following to the Model Penal Code and call for its adoption by every state legislature in the nation:
If you are a woman and voluntarily pursue a relationship with a man who is spending the rest of his life in prison, you must report to the nearest public hospital for an immediate tubal ligation and also will be subject to a maximum of 5 years in prison and a $5 fine.
Such a law might run into Due Process and Equal Protection problems, but I think the state could advance an interest that was compelling enough to render the law constitutional, especially now that Sandra Day O’Connor is no longer on the Supreme Court.
Speaking of Justice O’Connor, what happens to the four individuals whom she hired to serve as law clerks for the upcoming term? Are they just screwed? If I were one of those four people, a happy person I would NOT be at the moment.
Apparently Peter Jennings’ health continues to deteriorate. I still have his most recent on-air performance saved on my TIVO. I really hope he makes it back on the air at some point. He’s a fantastic journalist. Lung cancer sucks. Don’t smoke.
One of my all-time favorite teachers died from cancer while I was in high school. He was a smoker for almost his entire life. Fr. Al was a Jesuit priest with a mouth that would have made even some sailors wince. Later in the week I'll post an entry that will describe what happened in class one day when one of the students told Fr. Al that the student was an atheist. Needless to say, the F-word was invoked!
Comments
Regarding sleep, or lack thereof, via toothpastefordinner.com http://toothpastefordinner.com/070605/sleep.gif
Posted by: Kristen at July 6, 2005 12:16 AM
I guarantee you that Justice O'Connor's clerks are not screwed. The qualifications that got them those appointments in the first place will continue to serve them quite well.
Posted by: buddha at July 6, 2005 12:05 PM
I know they're not screwed in the sense that they will have nowhere to run, but WILL the newly confirmed justice take them? In my book, he or she should, but my book is missing a few pages.
Posted by: Fool at July 6, 2005 12:38 PM
Whoa. I had never considered prisoners as a potential dating pool. But now that I think about it, isn't the Florida Department of Corrections offender search database just like another version of match.com?
Posted by: The Attractive Nuisance at July 6, 2005 08:50 PM
Most likely, the new Justice will not take Justice O'Connor's clerks. If the new Justice is being elevated from a lower court -- for example, Judge Luttig -- I imagine he or she will bring his or her recently hired clerks with him. Another option is to hire former SCOTUS clerks, as the new Justice's first term on the high court may benefit from their experience.
If the new Justice is not currently on the bench, the benefit of experience is even more significant. However, such a Justice, not having hired clerks, may take one or two of O'Connor's clerks as a show of respect.
If it's really a concern of yours (and I can tell you're losing sleep over it), follow the gossip at Underneath Their Robes.
Posted by: buddha at July 7, 2005 04:16 AM
oops... sorry for all them blank lines. it's late.
Posted by: buddha at July 7, 2005 04:17 AM
Damn you, for the blank lines, Buddha. It angers me that someone who hosts my site for free would leave a little empty space. I'm going to go to sleep because I'm so damn angry right now!
Posted by: Fool at July 7, 2005 04:26 AM
