Getting the short end of the stick... and pissed about it

Spent most of the morning so far sending emails to friends, getting caught up on one of my email accounts. Thats 2/4 (who said technology made life easier? I have four real email accounts, and three fake ones on myspace, facebook and friendster... how is a boy to keep up?)

Anyway, i got bored being a good friend, and decided to bum around the courthouse for a little bit. Sat in on what was supposed to be jury selection on a gun case, until the judge strong-armed a settlement. Now, I know settlements are good, but so are civil rights. This was a case where the mandatory minumum was 5 years (simple illegal posession of a gun... we can go into the absudity of that later) and the judge said pretty verbatim: "You settle this you get 5 years, you dont, well, I'll tell you right now that I think guns are ruining our cities, and I am disposed to give you the maximum." WAYYY out of line for her to hvae said that. So, the PD did what any good lawyer would do and convinced her client to take the 5 years... Essentially what the judge was doing was saying, "I recognize that you have a right to a jury trial, but Im going to make you pay to exercise it." Downright pisses me off.

Then I got a phone call that the motion I was supposed to argue on Wednesday was denied without argument. First of all, that sucks cause I was excited to argue it. Second of all, I was excited to WIN it! If I have worked on a clear cut winner thusfar, it was this case. The prosecution screwed up, and then the court screwed up by allowing them to get away with it. The rules were clear, and the case law was clear. So to be denied outright seems truly aggregious to me. RAAAAHR!

On the plus side, my new roommate emailed me, and she seems both awesome and excited about the move, so that cheered me right up.

But could we possibly get a fair shake just once for our clients? Geez!