Scoplaw

1st Loss. Meh.

In defense of the defense, it was a possession case with two baby-faced and non-attitudinal officers testifying that the defendant spontaneous told them he had alleged contraband, then handed over said alleged contraband to the officers, which was subsequently inspected and which they managed to bring to court and get into evidence. 

So, there wasn’t a *lot* of traction there after the Fab Trial Partner and I had all of our (I-would-contend-very-colorable) motions shot down and everything came in. Still, we fought a pretty good fight, which kept the jury out for 3.5 hours, during which time they sent 3 questions back to the court. I think that’s something. 

The jury was gracious enough to discuss the case with us for about an hour and a half afterward, and though that conversation won’t benefit this particular client, I think it may help others in the future.

Things aren’t quite done with this case, and I’m still oscillating between low-level dejection and a mild but seething anger. 

In response to my reaction, I’ll be using my day off to embark on whatever uphill/downhill cycling I can do here – which unfortunately means bridges and parking decks. Given my catholic upbringing, I can’t decide if this is penitential or just thrill-seeking (given the high concentration of cars and road debris). 

(When I typed the last sentence I mistyped a phrase as “catholic upbrining” – and Catholicism is pretty briny when you get down to it.)

(Here endeth the random observations.) 

 

 

Also a Good Week (Corner Turned?)

Apparently 4/5^th suppression motions are rare anywhere (that was last week). Less rare, but still something that might be exhibited in small towns for the curious to see, are mJOAs (motions for Judgments of Acquittal). The basic concept is that once all the evidence is in, you can argue to the judge that the evidence the state has presented simply isn’t enough. If there’s anything arguable it goes to a jury. But if there’s (for example) a complete lack of evidence on some particular point, then you can win one. In our case, we won on both charges our client was facing.  That’s always a nice feeling.

 

The same evening I got to watch my mentor from the felony division juggle an emotionally difficult trial. I didn’t get to see her on cross, but the prosecution rather shamefacedly admitted (admitted!) in their close that their witness was “butchered.” My mentor’s close basically took whatever credibility the state's key witness had left, burnt it down, salted the earth, and built a parking lot over it. In terms of bringing-it-ness, this clearly exceeds the Cult show.  Not Guilty on all four counts her client was facing.

 

We’re not super-heroes or anything. Bad deals get taken. People plead out to all kinds of things under pressures larger than the isolated facts of their case. (Would you want to possibly win at trial if it means sitting 30 days in jail, losing your apartment and your job, or would you take 5 days and a misdemeanor on your record?)

 

However, good things do happen. And these couple of weeks have been more good than bad.

 

I also got to:

• Leave the office before 7pm on 3 days this week.
• Get some office stuff in place that means my four fellow PDs of my division and I can quit duplicating some aspects of our job.
• Have and finish (finally) a good conversation with one of my secret colleague-heroes. Well, probably not so secret. But anyway, I’d had a bunch of truncated conversations with this as-yet—unmonikered PD. A huge part of this job is the people who do it; hence the irony that I’ve been too busy to spend as much time as I’d like getting to know my fellows.
• Read part of a non-law book.
• Blow the cornet a bit (with mute as a neighbor courtesy).
• Wool-gather and ultimately decide I made (and am making) some right decisions.
• Discover that my old poet friend Crowe (from way back in the day) is blogging.
  

 

And the weather’s gorgeous. I’ve been sleeping under a light blanket with the windows open, yet walking to work in a T-shirt. Quite possibly my favorite temp/weather pattern.

 

So things are good.   

 

So good that I think it's time to start making a conscious effort to come out of my quasi-disengaged hermit mode.  Sure I'll still be working long hours, but I think it's time to knock down a few walls, cross a field or two, and say hello to the neighbors.  I think I'm starting to figure out just how emotionally banged up I was this past year.  And the fact that I finally feel comparatively relaxed enough to do this in the context of a demaning job representing the incarcerated and disenfranchised indigent from the government and it's vast powers should indicate just how under pressure I've been. 

At this moment I feel I owe (again) a vote of thanks to everyone who has been there for me these past few months, through the free fall of trial, finals, bar study, moving and the new job.  The obviously-blogable would include The Sensibly Hellish Former Law Student, Thinks Before She Speaks, The CAnarchist, TLF, H, The James Bond Watch, Youngest Brother, Riposte, my division mates, my late night work partners, the out-of-staters, and, of course, El Gato Perfecto.  And all the silent partners as well.  Thanks.

Calm

On another note, this has been a truly bizarre and interesting series between the Cleveland Indians and the Red Sox. Both teams had strong seasons, surprising performances (Pedroia, Carmona), less than monster seasons from their stars (Ramirez, Haffner), reanimated playing for every-penny-of-their-contract performances (Lowell, Lofton) and finished tied for the best record in baseball with 96 wins each. As of today, the ALCS stands at 3-2, Cleveland, with the possible-elimination game to be played tonight at Fenway. 

It’s simply been great baseball.

So far the Sox have eaten up two of the best starters in the American League, but despite putting 70 men on base, they only plated 27 of them. Meanwhile, the Indians have had 62 baserunners, with 26 crossing the plate. Each team has hit 7 home runs. (Thus far the most valuable player for the Indians has been Eric Gange.)

Tonight, it will be the very experienced Curt Schilling going against the much younger and harder-throwing Carmona, in the lion’s den of Fenway. Neither did very well the last time out when they faced each other in game 2 of the series – and all bets are off for tonight. Will Schilling’s legendary preparation, coupled with his poor outing in Cleveland during Game 2, result in his finding the key to the Indian’s line-up? Will the relatively inexperienced Carmona be able to focus in and throw the kind of game that made him one of the better pitchers in the league this year?

And, fellow members of Red Sox Nation, is this the only day of the year that Mr. Scoplaw is railing against his pre-commitment of not having a television about to distract him from the various shit he needs must get done in, quite possibly, not enough time? I can tell you it probably is.

**

Court stuff has gone well enough, viewed through the “do no harm to thy clients” lens. We left a lovely little trial on the launch pad the other day. It started poorly (well, only moderately poorly, really, but those who know me understand that unless I’ve had a year to work on a case, I’m going to consider it under-developed) but we quickly gained ground. Information was obtained, caselaw fell into place, we created a good record re: pre-trial issues, and the lovely ladies of my division got things rolling. One performed the best voir dire I’ve seen in 3 years –honestly, it was simply brilliant. It was a glorious few hours of everything being in overdrive – wolfing down a bagel as I listened to a witness in the hallway, while another PD (not from my division – so super-thanks are owed) followed a new lead and ran off to do some research.  I walked back into the courtroom to relay some new information (some points of which were going into my opening). The ladies and the client were actually selecting the jury, and I really felt, at that moment, our trial elements/arguments were not only fully crystallizing, but had been extended, and that we were going to have a good fight with a hell of a lot to say in front of what was sure to be a good jury. However, it was at that moment, just as I came down the very short length of the gallery and stood next to the defense table, that the State stood up and announced a nolle pros.  I think this is actually on the record - I turned to the prosecutor and asked, “Are you kidding me?”

Turns out there was a valid, non-gamesmanship reason, but man – what to do with all that racehorse-in-the-gate energy?  

**

Also in work-news, we get training up the wazoo. If anyone knows what a wazoo is, I’d appreciate a note on the subject. Anyway, we’re too busy to make it to every training class we have, but every single one I’ve been to has really given me something to think about (structurally) and something to use (practically). I’m trying to think if I’ve ever had this kind of experience before in terms of getting solid, applicable parallel-to-the-job training. I don’t think I have. 

**

Also, JK Rowling recently announced that her character Dumbledore is gay. 

Sigh. Much of "the Harry Potter thing" seems not to happen in the books, but in the extra-textual knowledge of the global fandom that surrounds the books.  Which is interesting to me.  There's this cultural phenomena of Potter-dom which is quite powerful, however, if you look at the text itself in a vacuum, it's a moderately bland read.  (Not horrible or anything, just not the best writing out there.)

I used to bitch about this to poetry-students.  It's great to have a sophisticated dialog about what you're doing (or trying to do, or what you wish you had done), but, additionally and much more importantly, you have to put "it" in the poem itself.  Which is hard, yes.  But that's the challenge.  Anyway, Rowling gets about 25% of a Kudo for this one.  Had she the balls to actually put Dumbledore's sexuality in the book itself, you know, where that global readership could have actually read it, that would have been 8 Kudos or so, on the Scoplawic scale. 

Such a missed opportunity.  Still, I agree with Seth, insofar as something is better than nothing, and clearly, this is a very good something.

**

Lastly, ladies and gents, I’m heading toward slug-land. Not enough exercise through my errand rides has shown itself in general energy level, leg-shape, and via a relatively poor fast-as-I-can ride out to South Beach – hence I’m making a resolution to do something about it. Someday. Soon. 

 

 

Not Quite "Night Court"

I think my most-recent favorite court moment was when I was talking to a box full of 30 guys who were waiting for us to convey pleas to them and/or set their cases for trial. 

There are four (sometimes 5) people from the public defender's in the courtroom and normally 30-50? brand new clients to meet per day.  When our clients are led in (before the judge takes the bench) we give them a little speech about who we are, what's going on, and tell them standard things that nearly all of them will need to know.

So (pretty tired from the day before) on this particular morning I closed the speech with, "Today I have everyone who has a last name between M and R.  If your last name starts with the number M, N, O, P, Q, or R, raise your hand." 

One guy chirps up, "Hey Mr. Defender, those are letters, and my last name starts with the letter M."  There are a few snickers, a few chuckles, and a pause, so I respond with, "Thanks - I can see you're an intelligent guy, so I'm talking to you first."  Laughs and groans from other guys who had raised their hands and would now be waiting.  One guy tosses this one out there - "I knew they were letters - can you talk to me next?"

**
Also, while I've been correctly identified as working for the public defender (technically I'm a CLI - certified legal intern, pending the FL bar's final stamp of approval) by people who have just started talking to me, I've not yet had anyone *ask* if I work for the PD. 

Instead, every week I have at least 3 people (usually civilians wandering into the courtroom) ask me if I'm working "for the state," or if I "am the prosecutor," or if I am a private attorney.  Last week a woman said - "Thank you for talking to me - are you a lawyer or are you a public defender?"

I'll either have to bring back the mustaches or let the sideburns go extra bushy.

Stunnah

I am going to log 24 hours wherein I do not spend some time working on a PD office/client related issue. This would be perhaps the third (at most) such period since I moved down here at the beginning of August.  Tomorrow (Sunday) will find me doing an 8-hr day. (I don’t mean to seem to bitch about my schedule, but it is what it is at the moment – and I do love the job, so it’s not as much of a burden as you might think.) 

Thusfar (15 days in), I have not been able to put into place everything I want to, in terms of affirmatively and aggressively dealing with my various courtrooms. But I’m making headway, developing the cases further and further out, reading and absorbing things that can help my clients, and, in general, learning.

The curve is steep, but I hit it running and that’s paid off thusfar.

I’d love to share the particulars with everybody, but things are still in the works, this is a public blog, and I’d like to keep what surprises I have as such – and the non-surprise stuff is simply business as usual.

**

So what is business as usual for me?

What I can tell you is that I handle misdemeanor crimes and that in my particular division, all my clients are incarcerated. This basically means my clients are too poor to post a bond, there are mental health issues, the client was out but violated the conditions of their release, or the client is being held on an unrelated and more serious matter. Each of these situations presents its own unique challenges. If my client gets out, they’re transferred to another division.   

My caseload is 100-120ish or so, but it varies week to week. In any given upcoming 2-3 weeks, I’ll have about 30ish cases ready to go to trial. Our trial dates are Mon and Wed – meaning that I usually have 5-9 cases that could go to trial on each of those days.  Trials are set about 3 weeks out, so that gives me some time to prepare them. Although many interviews of witnesses are done on the day of trial, in the courtroom hallway (setting the cases further back to take depos would result in the clients being held longer.)

Every day we also have a regular calendar (new clients) which we have to counsel and convey plea offers to.  (BTW a calendar is just a fancy way of saying (“both a list of the people who have to be in court and a period of time in which the court addresses whatever needs to be addressed regarding those people.) The new client cases usually plead out or are set for trial, depending on the offer and the client’s desires/wishes/priorities. Sometimes a case set for trial will get put back on the calendar for various reasons (the client is not always present) and we’ll have to deal with whatever the case is there for. I’ll get anywhere between 10-30 new clients on any given day.

Every day we also have the Mental Health calendar. That’s usually about 5 clients or so. I will save the Mental Health calendar for another blog post as the MHC nearly always damages my calm.

Right now there are 4 public defenders in that courtroom division. So the number of things the court handles is 4X greater than everything I’ve written above.

We start at 7-8 (depending) in the office, go to the courthouse, start working with the clients at 8-9 (depending), and finish anywhere between 1pm and 5pm.

Then we go back to the office, run all the files for the clients we dealt with that day, review our new client files for the next day, and of course, try to make headway on issues that are not a part of that daily cycle.

**

While I am currently weighted down by a head-cold, I’m hoping for a strong week, given that I have a quasi-marriage ceremony to fly to to next weekend. Well, it’s an actual spiritual marriage, but it will have no legal validity. My first cousin (eldest woman cousin, second eldest cousin after myself on my father’s side) is getting handfasted, as her southern state, unlike the very enlightened state of MA, does not recognize the love that she and her partner share – at least not to the extent that said state would care to encourage two stable and responsible adults to reinforce each other’s lives and care for one another in the most basic and essential of human pairings (outside of the parent-child bond).

It’s a situation that fills me with shame for our country, and I hope one day not to be remembered as one of the silent majority who simply didn’t stir themselves to address an injustice that didn’t directly affect them. And at this point in my life’s ambitions, that’s all I’m really looking to do from here on out.  It’d be a nice headstone.

**

I’m blogging all this from my balcony, it’s mid-80s in the shade and there’s that light but gently gusty ocean breeze coming across the city from the water. I’m shirtless and propped up on some pillows next to my herb garden, which is growing like gangbusters, except for the peppers, which don’t seem to like it here. I need to put aside some time to properly cook something tricky, but the hours have been making that difficult.  I’d also like to rig a small composter out here.

My balcony looks north, so it’s not sunblasted in the afternoon. I can see a good chunk of the city skyline and some amazing clouds. Like Seth, as a New Englander cum Mid-Atlanticer, I’m amazed at the sky in my new home. Florida has the most dramatic and beautiful sky I’ve ever seen anywhere, and given the relative flatness of the state, there’s so very much of it to look at. I haven’t done any serious stargazing yet, given the light pollution from the city, but the relative lack of haze seems promising.

I’d also like to rig my hammock out here, but per condo rules, that’s strictly verboten.

From the balcony I can see nearly all the major modes of transportation around here (at least symbolically).  I’m close to the 95/395 interchange, the metro rail/bus stop is literally a stone’s throw away (seriously, literally, and actually). Not that I’d ever throw anything at the orange shirted crowds below, mind you. (There’s some big football game starting soon at the orange bowl, which is about a 10 min walk from my place. Train lines will be jammed up for a bit. As I’ve said elsewhere I only follow baseball and thusfar my Red Sox have been strong and interesting yet curiously undramatic – perhaps it’s the 2004-afterglow, but I seem no longer to live and die with every pitch. Having finally captured a series title, allows me, as a fan, a certain kind of reserve (although keep in mind, that’s relative). So what if the Yanks beat us in the regular season series? We still have the lead. And if I recall correctly, it seems that the RS have had a *bit* more success than the Yanks in our new century.) To the west is a branch of the Miami River, and a bit further on the river itself, where boats and ships make their way along. Further west (and slightly north) I can see the tower of the Miami International Airport.

You might think all this would make things noisy, but for whatever reason, it’s just as quiet as my DC apartment. With the door shut to the balcony, I can’t even hear the metro train arriving unless I’m actively listening for it.

As I’ve written before, while my neighborhood is convenient to work/necessity shopping/Little Havana, it’s an unexciting neighborhood compared to Miami Beach, but frankly, I didn’t come here for the beautiful people with their minimal clothing, expensive cocktails and their tricked out cars. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. It’s just not important enough to have it around me all the time. It’s sort of this weird cultural exhibit that’s not exactly alienating, not exactly fun, but is always amusing. I feel like I kind of move through it (getting nice beer and gelato, observing tricked out cars and people wearing boa constrictors on their necks at bars) but am not actually a part of it.

**

Former-roomie The James Bond Watch (plus unmonikered girlfriend) is in town, and shit, is he a guy that I just miss having around. He interviewed with two rockstar Federal Judges down here, and I hope he gets a clerkship. (The JBW’s not unflashy exterior hides a plethora of surprising and useful talents which can deal with even the most nefarious of situations. Hence the moniker.)   

He also graciously allowed a test-run of the “Scoplaw would like to have people stay over but is concerned that his job/hours would make such something of a pain for said guests” concern. I’m happy to say that whatever structural impediments my car/building/garage/job imposes on people visiting, they’re all dealable in a very easy and non-stress producing way.

As part of the visit, we hit the town for dinner and drinks. No Irish drinking songs were sung, alas, but we did have dinner at a place that featured a life Hatian band, who were pretty good.

We also met up with two other Unmonikereds, a PD that I work with (I shall tentatively name her TLF) and a tall red-head Scandinavian Poli-Sci professor who is both irreverent and funny. (I’m quite tempted to develop a crush on the professor, but I think she has little use for my profession.)

TLF has been a local god-send to me. Not only is she great to hang out with, but she has such a wide range of social interests that she usually (by random chance) has something cool cooking during one of my 4-hour-free blocks on the weekends.  For example, last week the TLF took me to an anarchist birthday/houseparty. The crowd was a bit young for me, but I did get to jump on a trampoline and watch some mock superhero/WWF wrestling. It was sort of weird to be there – I could drop any of my perceptive “lenses” over the crowd; the younger Scoplaw seeing things in terms of poetry and politics and small societies: the current Scoplaw thinking at just how easy it would be for one cop to come in, bend a fact or two, and derail about 20 peoples lives. And mind you, nothing illegal was happening. Sigh.

**

In terms of odds and ends, I have finally developed a commuting system that does not leave me drenched in sweat.

I have a regular path in, on which I say hello to various regulars. My path out usually does not involve passing anyone on the sidewalks.

I have developed a good relationship with the Cuban barista in my building.  He starts my regular order when he sees me coming. 

No good biking stories – The JBW took up most of my free weekend time, so I may have to (shudder) use the building’s gym this week. I am actually dropping weight pretty quickly, due to the no lunch situation with the courthouse, but I’m approaching the point where I don’t want to go much lower and/or lose the legs.

I passed up an opportunity to see Bill Clinton this past Sunday – a court-house connection was doing fundraising stuff and encouraged me to attend. I had already promised some clients I would see them in the jail on Sunday, and thus couldn’t make it down for a handshake and photo. I’m sure Bill would understand, if he knew. Heh.

**

Well, I think that’s about it for the update. Sorry for the lack of blogging but I seem to be moving into a “blog one, more at length” rather than the “mini-blog-posting” style that I was trying to cultivate during August.

 

 

 

 

The Holiday that Keeps on Giving

Man, that was a long Tuesday.  Whatever work I'd normally have done on a regular Monday got shifted over, but not before building up interest. 

Between the longish calendar in the courtroom and the pile of weekend cases awaiting review for tomorrow, I put in an 8am-8:45pm day.  I did stop in the cafe on my way back to the office for a bagel.  And I looked up the Sox game when I was nearing the end.  So figure that's about .5hrs downtime.  What's left over is a damn full day.  There are also 5 cases set-for-trial cases in my (temporary?) portion of the files.  However, one of the team will be rolling back in tomorrow, so we'll not only be at full strength for the day, but we'll have someone who knows those cases very well. 

I'm working with three attractive, funny, and very talented female attorneys.  Yeah, yeah, I know - have pity on me. 

I do have to say that if this caseload stays steady, the best I can hope for is to learn via osmosis instead of going after things I need to get better at - and not all of that is law and process.  My vocal projection is still crappy.  Sigh. 

Why I love my Job

Possible jury trial tomorrow; I'd have 3 pieces to do on my own, and thus, am totally stoked.  Tea leaves say:  "little sleep in your immediate future Mr. Scoplaw." 

Wish me luck kids.

Catching Up

Well, I apologize for the lack of blogging.

I can happily report that this has been a crazy-productive week for me. I don't think I'm 100% caught up on sleep, but *so* many things have fallen into place. And just in time - I start in county court next week.

Mostly, I'm getting caught up on small nagging domestic things - hem the pants, fix the bike, get kitchen plates, deep clean the bathroom, buy vacuum that can deal with my place, get the air mattress, get the car tags changed over, update every address-holder, update all my bar exam info, buy the plane tickets for the wedding, so on so on so on. There's still a list, but it's full of less crucial stuff. I think I've done pretty well on going through the big moving list I had, and didn't surrender to the "fuck it, I'll just go with the easiest/first option" mentality. Which is good, because although I have a (small) discretionary income for the first time in, well, awhile, I don't have enough money not to search for good deals on things.

Due to the move, I currently have a weirdly complete sense of my stuff. I think I've touched almost every object that I own in the past two week or so, what with the unpacking and sorting and the mending and discarding.

I have far more pens than I though I had, once I consolidated them into one place. On the other hand, I'd find part of one thing or another, and wonder what has become of the odd associated bits. Many of these fragments come from my pre-law-school life (yes, I had one, and no, it wasn't 'college'). I know that a number of those missing items, records, objects, what have you. were deliberately discarded by me at one point or another. Some for good reasons (unburdening) and some for not so good reasons - or, at least, reasons that proved to be silly in retrospect. On the other hand, while the canvass is never really blank, it's easy to have too many anchors in your life - ties that prevent you from going forward. And, to complete the waffle, it's not that I like change for change's sake - it's that I (like many, I presume) have a dangerous tendency to rely on the comforts of memory (nostalgia, really) as embodied in physical things, and hence, can shy from acknowledging that, to many situations, there is simply no going back.

Identity is a many-splendored thing, and, let's face it, if you've led any kind of a life at all you can't hold all of it in your head at once. Sometimes it's truly wonderful to find some small things and think - "Shit, now that I see this, I actually remember this great time I had, talking to some naturalists in California." On the other hand, it's dangerous to be a "recent-something" - there's a kind of gravitational force to it. Recent law-student-dom is something I'm trying to shed, not hold on to. And my clients might even thank me for it one day, if they knew.

And speaking of moving forward, as far as the job goes, I've been observing, drinking in as much as I can, which is the whole goal for the initial orientation period I'm in. My mentor/training attorney has been simply fantastic. Perhaps we're just a good match but she's allowed me the freedom to get a lot of exposure to different aspects of the system without getting bogged down in minutiae. Of course, there is minutiae, and plenty of it, but I get to dip into what seems to be the most helpful things to know. One of the other high points in the month was an Acting-for-Lawyers workshop, that focused on voice and conveying passion. Pretty cool stuff really. I feel I've been lucky enough to be spending my time with people who (rightly) actually want you to do well - they hand you weapons and tips at every opportunity and encourage you to get better at what you do. It's sort of the opposite of law school.

During my time in the courthouse, I've watched quite a number of defense attorneys and prosecutors, and am constantly surprised at how differently people approach issues and handle situations. I'm still figuring out what/how I'll go about different things, but I know what I'd *like* to do, and I know, ultimately, that I will find my own level and style (for lack of a better word).

I've been thinking a lot about how "attorney demeanor" interacts with the strategic decisions attorneys make. This may be the legal equivalent of the sympathetic fallacy, but there really does seem to be a correlation between *what* an attorney goes about pursuing and *how* the thing is actually pursued. For example, I'm thinking of things like issues in a trial (as prioritized in a closing), approaches to deposing witnesses, basic client interaction/case investigation. I've seen quiet/loud attorneys, bulldogish/sociable attorneys, write-it-down/wing-it attorneys, hyper-attentive/seemingly-distracted attorneys, etc. And I've seen all of them capture things I'd never have thought of, and let pass by things I'd have pursued.

There's really an incredible range of viable approaches out there.

The most difficult part of this month has been remembering everyones names given that I bounce around a lot and often meet people in bunches of 5-10. I've spent most of my time in court (next most in depositions). In fact, during the past 3 weeks, I've spent probably about 5 hours in my office (soon to be former office). Tomorrow I'll take the duffel bag of stuff over to my new office, which is a block away from the main building.

In some ways I've been in stealth/isolation mode - at least one person thought I was a summer intern, not a new hire. I'm not sure what that says. Also, nearly every cop, when I'm sitting in on a deposition, asks if I'm a State Attorney. Weird. Perhaps I should have kept the handlebars after all (although they'd kill me in this heat).

All in all things seem well, and I'm excited for the move over to county court. I'm also excited that I can theoretically explore Miami (soon) and start to find those things that I love in every city. I need a good used bookstore.

It's also Labor Day. Who knew? I've been so busy it's crept up on me. There's been some labor in there, but mostly it's been a pleasure.

"What has it got in its pocketses?"

During a pause in court today, I realized I felt curiously light.  No bag, no file, no book, no pen. 

I reached into my jacket pocket and found a copy of the Constitution and a small bottle of Purell Instant Hand Sanitizer.

What more do you need really?