by Mark Stuckey

image by flickr user david__jones

This being Fourth of July week, there is one thing that you should know. The College of Law is closed on Thursday. What does this mean to the humble law student? This means that classes will be cancelled (woohoo!), and the Law Library will be closed (:(). So instead of coming to school and studying all day like a good law student you should take Thursday off, well at least as much as you can, and enjoy some of the fun things to do in and around Atlanta.

First, do you enjoy watching people exercise? Have you ever taken a break from studying, and gone down to the Rec Center to watch people on the elliptical while you enjoy a subpar, lukewarm, cup of coffee?  No? Well, you still might enjoy watching the Peachtree Road Race. The registration to run is over, but you can still go enjoy the festivities, or maybe volunteer! Find all the info you could ever want here.

Okay let’s face it, the founding fathers were some pretty cool dudes, and I mean, I’m grateful for the country’s lack of absolute Despotism and all, but Fourth of July is really about the fireworks. However, in the State of Georgia, some pyrotechnics are legal while others are not. So before you put on your own explosive display, to the amusement of you friends and chagrin of your neighbors, you might want to do a little research and make sure you’re on the up and up as far as the law is concerned. Check out the current Georgia law on the regulation of fireworks here. (Warning: West password required)

Now, if you’re like me and you’re on a budget, you can easily get your fireworks fix for free in multiple places throughout our ever sprawling metropolis. For a pretty comprehensive list of the sweet firework action in Atlanta check out this site. My favorite display is at Centennial Olympic Park. There’s nothing like the anticipation endured while waiting for fireworks to begin. Get all the details here. Pro tip: get there early to get a good seat and avoid undue hassle.

As much as Americans like fireworks, they love baseball even more. While I somehow missed the baseball train, quite possibly because I was on the wrong platform (9 ¾), most people seem to love it! Accordingly, I would be amiss not to tell you that the Braves are playing Marlins on Thursday. The game starts at 7:10 and tickets are still available.  For those strapped for cash or who rest their heads in Gwinnett County, the Gwinnett Braves are playing on Thursday as well. Both games will conclude with fireworks.

If you desire more obscure activities for the Holiday, and believe me you do, check out Creative Loafing. This caught my eye.

These suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg for the haps around town on the Fourth. Almost every neighborhood in Atlanta is doing something. So just get out there!

Finally, not to put a damper on the red, white and, blue hued love fest, but please be safe and plan accordingly. There are bigger consequences of drunk driving than not being able to sit for the Georgia Bar.

Photo by premasagar.

Just a little programming update: you can now leave comments on the blog! We know we’ve been talking to you for a while, and now you have the opportunity to talk back to us! We just ask that, before leaving a comment, you please review our comment policy.

Image by Flickr user pinprick

The law library recently installed a hot/cold water fountain near the Reference Desk. There has been much rejoicing about this. But besides now having ready access to tea, Earl Grey, hot whenever you want it, what other wonders can this fountain bring into your life?

Well, have you thought about all of the delicious gourmet filling lunches (and drinks) you can now make? Here are some options:

• Ramen
• Cup o Noodles
• Instant mac & cheese
• hot cider
• instant oatmeal and grits*
• hot chocolate
• instant coffee**

Bon appetit!

* No self-respecting Southerner eats those though, right?

** Seriously?

Photo by Flickr user Phil Roeder.

It’s mid-June, which means that things are starting to heat up in the Supreme Court. As you probably know, the Supreme Court has a history of releasing their most controversial/high-profile opinions at the end of the term, which is generally in late June. The Court has already moved to announcing opinions twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, and in the past week has handed down a few of this term’s blockbuster opinions, most notably Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics on Thursday and Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona today.

There are still 14 decisions outstanding, including decisions in high-profile cases such as:

• Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin
• Shelby County v. Holder
• Hollingsworth v. Perry
• United States v. Windsor
• Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl (recently the subject of an episode of the Radiolab podcast)

As with many aspects of the Supreme Court, the source to go to when you want to find out what’s going on is SCOTUSblog, which live blogs the opinion announcements every Monday and Thursday. If you don’t want to read the full opinion in each case, you can always check to see if the haiku version has been posted.

by Lindsey LaForge

Got the summer time blues? No fear, new movies are near! The library DVD collection is expanding soon and some great titles are due to come in! All the DVDs in the collection have some relation to the law, so you can always count watching them as study time. For those who can’t wait to find out what newbies are due in, here is a sneak peak at the ordered series and movies:

(All descriptions courtesy of imdb.com)

How I Met Your Mother (Series)

– Ted searches for the woman of his dreams in New York City with the help of his four best friends.

Battlestar Galactica (Series)

– When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protects a small civilian fleet – the last of humanity – as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony of Earth.

Downton Abby (Series)

– Beginning in the years leading up to World War I, the drama centers on the Crawley family and their servants.

The Closer (Series)

– Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson runs the Priority Homicide Division of the LAPD with an unorthodox style. Her innate ability to read people and obtain confessions helps her and her team solve the city’s toughest, most sensitive cases.

JAG (Series)

– The cases of Harmon Rabb, former Navy fighter pilot, and his fellow lawyers of the US Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s office.

Criminal Minds (Series)

– The cases of the BAU an elite group of profilers that analyze the nation’s most dangerous criminal minds in an effort to anticipate their next moves before they strike again.

Suits (Series)

– On the run from a drug deal gone bad, Mike Ross, a brilliant college-dropout, finds himself a job working with Harvey Specter, one of New York City’s best lawyers.

Silver Linings Playbook (Movie)

– After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

And in case you can’t wait till these new ones come in, check out what some of the new stuff we already have available!

Arrested Development (Series)

– Level-headed son Michael Bluth takes over family affairs after his father is imprisoned. But the rest of his spoiled, dysfunctional family are making his job unbearable.

Breaking Bad (Series)

– Informed he has terminal cancer, an underachieving chemistry genius turned high school teacher uses his expertise to secretly provide for his family by producing the world’s highest quality crystal meth.

The Walking Dead (Series)

– Police officer Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies.

Zero Dark Thirty (Movie)

– A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011.

Scandal (Series)

– A White House Communications Director leaves to start her own crisis management firm only to discover she hasn’t left the past behind.

The Hunger Games (Movie)

– Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to compete.

Lincoln (Movie)

– As the Civil War continues to rage, America’s president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves.

The Social Network (Movie)

– Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking website that would become known as Facebook, but is later sued by two brothers who claimed he stole their idea, and the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business.

Never Let Me Go (Movie)

– The story of three friends who are tragically born to lead short lives, and the love triangle that forms between them in their brief time together.

Argo (Movie)

– A dramatization of the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran.

The Good Wife (Series)

– Alicia has been a good wife to her husband, a former state attorney. After a very humiliating sex and corruption scandal, he is behind bars. She must now provide for her family and returns to work as a litigator in a law firm.

These are just a few of the awesome titles that are located behind the reference desk in the study-aid section. Be sure to come and check them out today! Also, if you are interested in a certain movie or series or have any questions be sure to talk to Pam Brannon at pbrannongsu.edu
Courtesy commons.wikimedia.org

by Ryan Browne

image by Flickr user coolinsights

When many people think of the biggest criminal in US history, many names may come to mind.  Some might think of David Berkowitz, known as the Son of Sam, who terrorized New York City during 1976-1977 in a series of random shootings.  Others may think of John Dillinger, the famous bank robber during the Great Depression whose crimes were one of the catalysts for the formation of the FBI.  Of course we can’t forget about Jesse James, who with the help of his gang terrorized the frontier of the 1800s by robbing stagecoaches, trains and banks.

But, what about the biggest criminal in US history, physically?  Well, some of the physically largest people in the country are athletes.  Nate Newton was a 6’ 3”, 335 pound offensive lineman with the early 1990s Dallas Cowboys.  He was arrested for drug possession twice when he was found with 213 and 175 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for drug trafficking.  Terry “Tank” Johnson was a 6’3”, 315 pound defensive tackle who played for the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals.  “Tank” was arrested on multiple occasions for gun charges, including while he was already on probation for a weapons charge.  Tank eventually served four months in Cook County jail for the probation violation and the second weapons charge.

However, the largest criminal in US history wasn’t a person at all.  It was an elephant.

In 1916, Sparks World Famous Shows was going to be part of the first county fair in Kingsport, Tennessee.  The star of their show was Mary, an Asian elephant. On September 12 of that year, while being led to get water in between shows, Red Eldridge roughly prodded Mary with a bull hook when Mary stopped walking.  In response, Mary picked Eldridge up by her trunk and threw him against a drink stand and then stomped him with her foot.

Mary was arrested and taken to the county jail where she was chained to a stake in the ground.  To calm public fears and outrage and out of a concern for public safety, Mary’s owner decided that she needed to be publicly put to death.  So on the morning of September 13, Mary was taken by train to Erwin, Tennessee where she was hanged in front of an onlooking public.

You can read more about the story of Mary here.

by Mark Stuckey

image by flickr user stevenmphoto

If you are like me, you are an over-worked, under-paid, stressed-out law student. This combo alone might be enough to drive even the most, dare I say, reasonable person crazy, but when you add the inescapable (believe me, I have tried) fact that I am living the life of a pauper to the jambalaya of my law school problems, it is enough to drive a man insane. To further exacerbate my issues, I love to shop. Boat shoes? I have 8 pairs. Ties? More than I care to count. You may ask, “How can you reconcile your overpowering desire to amass material possessions, and your equally robust preference to not live on the streets, avenues and boulevards of Atlanta?” Well my friend, I will tell you! For myself, and those similarly situated, I have found the solution to our woes, worries, and vexations in the form of thrift stores.

Thrift shops are perfect for law students on a budget. Where else can you get a camel hair jacket (circa 1986!), three dress shirts, and a monogrammed flask for sixteen big ones? I will admit that the shirts are all pink, and the initials on the flask were not my own, but c’mon, I know a deal when I see one. Apparently, I am not the only one; here is an entire subreddit of neat things found at thrift stores! The question is: what can you find?

Thrift shopping is not solely about the deals, but it is also about the thrill of the hunt. Much like the humpback in search of krill you have to be willing to sift through volumes of items to find something truly worthwhile. Some don’t have the patience or the will to thrift shop, and they will never know what I am talking about. You don’t have to be that guy (or girl)!

The main concern of a fledgling thrift shopper should be finding quality stores. Some stores are naturally better than others. Accordingly, you should do your research.  Here’s a pretty cool website that has a listing of a ton of stores in Atlanta. Go find your new favorite store!

A good staple for general items and clothing, and my personal favorite is Goodwill. You can find a Goodwill near you at this website. PRO TIP: Goodwill has a half off color of the week.

While I prefer to not be labeled a hipster, I must proudly proclaim that I was a thrift shopper well before it was cool. Macklemore has popularized thrift shopping with the youths with his catchy and aptly named melody, “Thrift Shop”.   I like to see thrift shopping glamorized… even if it means more competition for extraordinary finds.

You will never know what you cannot live without unless you look. So start searching!

There is a time-honored mystery cliché that if you pull on the correct book on a library shelf then a secret passage will present itself. As someone who works in a library I have always been fascinated by this idea. But unfortunately (having handled almost every book in this library at some point in time) I am sorry to report that there are no secret passages or secret rooms to be found in the Georgia State University Law Library- save for the door to nowhere located in Law Review. I am also sorry to share that despite my repeated suggestions to the architects, new building committee, and anyone else who will listen there will not be a secret passage in the new Law Library.

I am not giving up.

With an eye to persuade everyone that we could use a little mystery in the new law school building and particularly in the law library, I share the following lists of hidden doors, passages, and rooms:

Bookriot’s 10 Kick-ass Secret Passage Bookshelves

Huffington Post’s 10 Secret Rooms and Hidden Passageways

Buzzfeed’s 31 Beautiful Hidden Rooms And Secret Passages

Houzz’s list of secret rooms

And if all else fails, we can always build our own with a little help from B. Light Design

by Lindsey LaForge

image by Flickr user kylebaker

After the monotonous reading of dry opinion after dry opinion in your casebooks, most would think that judges have no sense of humor. Yet, this isn’t the case! Judges are human beings like you and me, after all. Take a look at some of the humorous ways judges have kept things a little more light hearted than the personal and subject-matter jurisdiction cases we all had to read as 1Ls.

Judges who like to rhyme:

United States v. Batson, GOLDBERG, Circuit Judge:
Some farmers from Gaines had a plan.
It amounted to quite a big scam.
But the payments for cotton
began to smell rotten.
Twas a mugging of poor Uncle Sam.
The ASCS and its crew
uncovered this fraudulent stew.
After quite a few hearings,
the end is now nearing-
It awaits our judicial review.
782 F.2d 1307, 1309 (5th Cir. 1986)

In re Love, A. JAY CRISTOL, Bankruptcy Judge:
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary
Over many quaint and curious files of chapter seven lore
While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door,
“Tis some debtor” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

Ah distinctly I recall, it was in the early fall
And the file still was small
The Code provided I could use it
If someone tried to substantially abuse it
No party asked that it be heard.
“Sua sponte” whispered a small black bird.

The bird himself, my only maven, strongly looked to be a raven.
Upon the words the bird had uttered
I gazed at all the files cluttered
“Sua sponte,” I recall, had no meaning; none at all.

And the cluttered files sprawl, drove a thought into my brain.
Eagerly I wished the morrow—vainly I had sought to borrow
From BAFJA, surcease of sorrow—
and an order quick and plain
That this case would not remain
as a source of further pain.
The procedure, it seemed plain.
As the case grew older, I perceived I must be bolder.
And must sua sponte act, to determine every fact,

If primarily consumer debts, are faced,
Perhaps this case is wrongly placed.
This is a thought that I must face, perhaps
I should dismiss this case.

I moved sua sponte to dismiss it
for I knew I would not miss it
The Code said I could, I knew it.
But not exactly how to do it, or perhaps some day I’d rue it.

I leaped up and struck my gavel.
For the mystery to unravel
Could I? Should I? Sua sponte, grant my motion to dismiss?

While it seemed the thing to do, suddenly I thought of this.
Looking, looking towards the future and to what there was to see
If my motion, it was granted and an appeal came to be,
Who would be the appellee?
Surely, it would not be me.

Who would file, but pray tell me,
a learned brief for the appellee
The District Judge would not do so
At least this much I do know.
Tell me raven, how to go.

As I with the ruling wrestled
In the statute I saw nestled
A presumption with a flavor clearly in the debtor’s favor.
No evidence had I taken
Sua sponte appeared foresaken.

Now my motion caused me terror
A dismissal would be error.
Upon consideration of § 707(b), in anguish, loud I cried
The court’s sua sponte motion to dismiss under § 707(b) is denied.
61 B.R. 558, 14 Bankr.Ct.Dec. 582, Bankr. L. Rep. P 71,201

Fisher v. Lowe, J.H. GILLIS, Judge:
We thought that we would never see
A suit to compensate a tree.
A suit whose claim in tort is prest
Upon a mangled tree’s behest;
A tree whose battered trunk was prest
Against a Chevy’s crumpled crest;
A tree that faces each new day
With bark and limb in disarray;
A tree that may forever bear
A lasting need for tender care.
Flora lovers though we three,
We must uphold the court’s decree.
Affirmed.
122 Mich. App. 418, 333 N.W.2d 67 (1983)

Judges say the silliest things:

Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc., KOZINSKI, Circuit Judge:
-If this were a sci-fi melodrama, it might be called Speech–Zilla meets Trademark Kong.
296 F.3d 894, 898 (9th Cir. 2002)

Avista Mgmt. v. Wausau Underwriters Ins. Co., GREGORY A. PRESNELL, Judge:
-Instead, the Court will fashion a new form of alternative dispute resolution, to wit: at 4:00 P.M. on Friday, June 30, 2006, counsel shall convene at a neutral site agreeable to both parties. If counsel cannot agree on a neutral site, they shall meet on the front steps of the Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse, 801 North Florida Ave., Tampa, Florida 33602. Each lawyer shall be entitled to be accompanied by one paralegal who shall act as an attendant and witness. At that time and location, counsel shall engage in one (1) game of “rock, paper, scissors.” The winner of this engagement shall be entitled to select the location for the 30(b)(6)deposition
2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38526 (M.D. Fla. 2006)

And apparently Chief Justice Roberts pretends to be a novel writer sometimes:

Pennsylvania v. Dunlap, Chief Justice ROBERTS, with whom Justice KENNEDY joins, dissenting:
North Philly, May 4, 2001. Officer Sean Devlin, Narcotics Strike Force, was working the morning shift. Undercover surveillance. The neighborhood? Tough as a three-dollar steak. Devlin knew. Five years on the beat, nine months with the Strike Force. He’d made fifteen, twenty drug busts in the neighborhood.

Devlin spotted him: a lone man on the corner. Another approached. Quick exchange of words. Cash handed over; small objects handed back. Each man then quickly on his own way. Devlin knew the guy wasn’t buying bus tokens. He radioed a description and Officer Stein picked up the buyer. Sure enough: three bags of crack in the guy’s pocket. Head downtown and book him. Just another day at the office.
555 U.S. 964, 129 S. Ct. 448, 172 L. Ed. 2d 321 (2008)

So next time enter a courtroom shaking with fear, remember those intimidating figures with the long black robes on are actually people too. Even the Supreme Ones.

Flicker photo by Moyan_Brenn

Law students often use summertime to take classes, study for the MPRE, or intern. While these are all fine and good, it’s also important to add in a little down time.  Here are a few suggestions on how to unwind over the next few months.

Read a book?

Reading is the last thing you want to do, right?  However, don’t you remember those days prior to law school when you actually enjoyed getting lost in a good book? If you need book suggestions, check out Pam Brannon’s blog post “Read (Something Other Than Casebooks)!”

Watch a movie

The summer is the best time to get back into movie watching. The crop of current showings and upcoming releases are worth a view.  Some of the most highly anticipate flicks this summer include:

• Iron Man 3 (May 3) – currently showing
• The Great Gatsby (May 10) – currently showing
• Star Trek Into Darkness (May 17) – currently showing
• The Hangover Part III (May 23) – currently showing
• Epic (May 24)
• Fast & Furious 6 (May 24)
• Now You See Me (May 31)
• After Earth (May 31)
• The Internship (June 7)
• Man of Steel (June 14)
• Despicable Me 2 (July 3)
• Lone Ranger (July 3)
• Grown Ups 2 (July 12)
• The Wolverine (July 26)

Atlanta Summer Festivals

If you want to have a good time without leaving the area, check out some of the summer festivals going on in Atlanta. Some of the big ones include the Atlanta Summer Beer Fest, Virginia Highland Summerfest, 4^th of July at Lenox Square, and the Decatur BBQ, Blues & Bluegrass Festival. For more information on local summer festivals, go to http://www.atlanta.net/festivals/festivalsSummer.aspx.

Beach

There is no better way to enjoy the summer than going to the beach. While Atlanta is not a coastal city, there are several beaches within driving distance. For information on nearby beaches, check out the AJC’s gallery entitled “Six beaches within driving distance of Atlanta.”

Baseball

The nation’s pastime takes center stage during the summer.  The Braves are currently leading the National League East Division and have several enticing home match-ups this summer, including the Mets, Giants, Pirates, Cardinals, and division rival Nationals. Access the Braves schedule at http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=atl#y=2013&m=5&calendar=DEFAULT. If you are on a budget, think about buying tickets through one of the Braves Special Offers: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/atl/ticketing/ticket_specials.jsp.

Soccer (a.k.a Football or Fútbol)

Whether you are a passionate fan or casual viewer, you are sure to get a kick out of the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Atlanta will host two quarterfinal games on July 20^th. Match-ups will depend on the results from the group stages, but fans could expect to see Mexico (“El Tri”) in at least one of the games. For tickets, go to http://www.ticketmaster.com/CONCACAF-Gold-Cup-Quarterfinals-tickets/artist/1836368?brand=none&tm_link=artist_rc_name1.