Still Here, Sort Of

OK, So It's Been A Year and a Half

 Since my last post, about 18 ninths ago, I've had some heath issues that have kept me away from work, and the wonderful world of the criminal law, for about six months, total spread out over three hospitalizations. I haven't posted because I didn't have all that much to say on any of the topics that were bouncing around.

I'm going to try and get my thoughts on some of the latest Supreme Court cases in order, to share with you over the next few weeks. I welcome suggestions for possible topics of discussion.

Not Gone, Yet!

Great balls of fire! I must have died, or something it's been so long since I updated this weblog. Well, it was 'or something' all right. Between work (we lost our part-time assistant, meaning more work for the other attorney in that court, and more work for me to take up the appeals slack that attorney handled) and my teaching an intro to law course, and the family obligations, and a nasty, nasty infection that cost me a lot of time off, a couple of years have slipped away. I feel like a character in a Jimmy Buffett song - specifically "He Went to Paris" where "four of five years slipped away."

Not sure I'm really back - still recovering from being off sick, and came back to the Miller v Alabama decision which affects my office in a handful of cases over the last 30 years, or so. Population dynamics being what they are, the bulk of our juvenile murderers have been sentenced, more or less, on my watch. Well, probably something to write about down the road a bit.

More later.

Still Here, More Less

Well, I see I missed an anniversary -- the Year-Since-I-Last-Posted anniversary, that is. When I last graced these electrons, it was the middle of a bear of a winter here in Baja Great White North, and the work load at work was mind numbing. Things haven't changed all that much in the last 16 (!) months. Well, now it's miserably hot as opposed to miserably cold, but other than than, the beat goes on.

Work is still work. Criminals are still unhappy with their just deserts, a certain subset of appellate defenders still doesn't understand that zealous advocacy does not mean trying the mislead the courts about what happened at trial, either by omission or flagrant out of context quotation, the gray matter still seems to be sucked out of judges' brains when they climb into that black robe, and CSI is still science fiction.

That last is something I may write about if I get enough time to put my thoughts into some coherent order. There is at least one study by a trial court judge that seems to indicate that there is no such thing as the CSI effect, or, if there is, it gets lost in the noise of factors like skill of counsel, nature of the crime, characteristics of defendant/victim, and so on. But it didn't strike me as having a particularly rigorous methodology when I read it, admittedly, quite a while ago. And jurors say the darnedest things to the trial attorneys after the verdict.

Anyway, that's it for now.

John Lennon Was Wrong

Did He Really Say It? Probably.

John Lennon said, sometime about 27 years ago, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

He was wrong. Work is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans. And, boy, did work happen to me. It's been one, steady grind since before Thanksgiving. And the worst part of the whole megillah is that the things that are coming in are not very interesting. In fact, they are downright boring. I should spell that with a capital B.

Oh, yeah. The phrase is part of the lyrics of Beautiful Boy from Double Fantasy, Lennon's last album. The song is about his son, Sean.

I'M A WHAT?

One Of Those Silly "What Sort of {Fill In The Blank} Are You?" Quizzes That Actually Makes Sense, of A Sort. You scored as A college textbook. You're an authority on something, you just know it. Everyone else does, too, but that doesn't mean they like you. Since you think very highly of everything you say, you charge a pretty penny to entertain your listeners. Those forced to pay do so grudgingly and try to defray the costs of learning from you by selling portions of their access to your charms to others. As a result of this speedy dissemination of your knowledge, you constantly add to your repertoire--and then hike your price. Despite your usefullness, which is rarely in doubt, nobody likes you. They find you didactic, boring and irrelevant--but still necessary. A college textbook 61% A classic novel 61% A coloring book 57% A paperback romance novel 54% Poetry 32% An electronics user's manual 29% The back of a froot loops box 25% Your Literary Personality created with QuizFarm.com

What I find interesting is the fact that I tied for a Classic Novel and was barely ahead of a Coloring Book or a Paperback Romance Novel. Go figure.

If Anyone Cares, Here's The Classic Novel Blurb

You scored as A classic novel. Almost everyone showers praise upon you for your depth and enduring relevance. According to your acolytes, everything you say is timeless, erudite and meaingful. Of course, none of them actually listen to you. Nobody listens to you at all, but it's fashionable to claim you as a friend. Fond of obscure words, antiquated notions and libraries, you never have a problem finding someone to hang out with. The fact that they end up using you to balance their kitchen tables is an unfortunate side effect, but you're used to being used for others' benefit. Oh the burden of being Great. A college textbook 61% A classic novel 61% A coloring book 57% A paperback romance novel 54% Poetry 32% An electronics user's manual 29% The back of a froot loops box 25% Your Literary Personality created with QuizFarm.com I kind of agree with this one, too. Geez, no wonder no one reads this thing.

Be On The Cutting Edge!

What Cutting Edge, You Ask?

The cutting edge of electronic publication, that's what cutting edge. What, you ask, the Hell does this have to do with Law, Prosecution, all that stuff up in the header? Well, I actually can make the connection.

One of the hot "new" areas of law is Intellectual Property. New, you understand, in the sense that people outside the patent bar and the practice of entertainment law actually have heard of the subject. When I went to law school, 20-mumble years ago, there was one, three credit, intellectual property survey course at my law school at a large, Midwestern research university. Last year, one of our interns graduated from an other law school in the state, also at a big, Midwestern research university, with an actual endorsement on his degree that he had specialized in intellectual property law. Of the roughly 90 credit hours needed for his JD, almost a third of them were IP courses.

Electronic publishing, and its benefits and pitfalls and potential to make money, is still publishing and the question of copyright is a large part of the discussion. The purpose of Digital Rights Management, the digital millennium Copyright Act, and other, even more obnoxious legislation pushed by the MPAA, the RIAA and other trade organizations is to protect copyright. That is to say, money. They can dress it up any way they want, the bottom line is still the bottom line. Because this is law, and law that includes treaties and international trade agreements as well as statutory law in virtually every country on earth, lawyers are involved. Both civil and criminal penalties are involved in the law of copyright. So there -- That's the link.
And this is the electronic publication I want to talk to you about. Jim Baen's Universe. For those of you who have followed this blog from the early days, it will come as no surprise that Mister DA is a science fiction fan. I've talked about my DVD collecting habits in the past, particularly Stargate: SG-1 and others. Until very recently being an SF fan meant a science fiction reader almost exclusively. The movies and television just didn't provide all that much in the way of worthwhile SF for the enthusiast, adult or teenager, so if you wanted SF, you read books and/or comic books. I started reading the stuff so long ago, I still cringe, just a little bit, at the term Sci-Fi. But I'm getting used to it. Today, it's a very different world in SF fandom. There are media fans of the various SF video franchises who have never been exposed to written SF outside their particular niche. Star Wars fans may read a Star Wars novel, but may have never heard of Robert A. Heinlein or John W. Campbell or Isaac Asimov, let alone contemporary authors like Larry Niven or John Scalzi or Charlie Stross. But this is a digression. If you are not a reader of fiction, Jim Baen's Universe is not going to make you one. If you are a reader, and anything of a video SF fan, Jim Baen's Universe wants to make you a reader of quality science fiction and fantasy by offering an electronic magazine that showcases the best of the past the present and the future of written science fiction.

Jim Baen had very strong ideas on the proper place of copyright in the world. With Baen Books he was a (maybe the) pioneer in providing electronic versions of his authors' work for reasonable prices, in multiple formats, with no Digital Rights Management nonsense. Jim Baen's Universe works the same way as Baen Books - copious amounts of free stuff combined with multiple formats and ease of access once you've paid for something.

Go to this site http://www.baens-universe.com/ to see what I'm talking about. The third issue is out and there are a number of stories and articles available on the page, in full, for you to sample. The subscription rate is $30 for six issues. The first issues have been running about 200, 000 words, plus illustrations, so it's something of a bargain. You can also read the third installment of editor Eric Flint's analysis of why copyright is a necessary evil. The third installment discusses how long is long enough.

Enough from me. Go take a look. Let me know what you think.

Still Here

No, I haven't {DiedQuit ProsecutionExperienced My Own Personal Rapture}, yet!

Still working my fingers to the bone on appeals. Still having problems finding stuff to write about that won't blow my cover. Although the declining number of folks who check this page may make that a moot point.

I can make a recommendation, though. If you want a real picture of what it means to be a prosecutor specializing in child abuse prosecutions get your hands on Bronx DA by Serena Straus. Amazon Link here.

Ms. Straus is also a blogger. Blogspot Link here.