No movie review this time, but other odds and ends...

This weekend I went home to see my parents. Visiting my parents tends to be very bittersweet nowadays. I love coming home because we are a close family. As I have grown older, I have a new appreciation for all that they went through as “strangers in a strange land.” I have discussed this with my brother, and we both agree that as we are growing older, there is a renewed interest in our “roots” and our “people.” I always enjoy my visits with my parents for this reason. They are a constant reminder of what is possible with hard work, intelligence, and above all, perseverance. At the same time, I hate leaving them at the end of the day. In my previous visits, my unhappiness on my last day usually manifested itself in a temper tantrum (I know, just like a 3 year old, right), and I would end up ruining the last bits of time with my folks by starting an argument. This time was no different with regard to my unhappiness on the morning of my departure. Because I recognized my own problem, I tried very hard to keep my grumpiness down because my parents do not deserve it. They provided a wonderful time for me, and I look forward to the time when I can see them more frequently. I am lucky to have had such wonderful role models for my life. In the end, the only feelings I ended up with were those involving sadness. There were no arguments; there was only the unhappiness of them pulling away from the curb of the airport. Oh well. I hope to see them sooner rather than later.

The noose is starting to tighten. In short order, I have a very busy six weeks ahead of me. My Criminal Procedure class ends in 2 weeks and the final is 2 weeks from this Thursday (!). After that, I will be pushing full bore in studying for the Patent Bar. I am also moving this week, and I have to get geared up for the fall semester for law school. All in all, the summer has been anything but restful, but it has provided me with a modicum of a brief respite for the full bore pressure of law school.

So, what am I taking next semester? Copyrights and Trademarks, Antitrust, Evidence, Legal Writing III, and Business Organizations. I was only going to take 4 classes, but with my final year in school dedicated to job hunting and studying for the bar exam, I think it prudent for me to get as many classes out of the way this year so that I will not have to pile it on in the end. I think that my future courses will include Patents, Wills and Trusts, Federal Income Taxation and Policy, Trial Advocacy, Real Estate Taxation, Genetics and the Law, Professional Responsibility. and Secure Transactions. If anyone has any other suggestions for good courses for me to take, let me know. I still have some openings for the future!

Legal headline of the month: the Supreme Court ruled in Hudson v. Michigan that police officers do not even have to knock before they enter a home with a search warrant http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/04-1360.pdf . What does this mean? It means that our 4^th amendment rights protecting us against unlawful search and seizure have taken yet another big bite. The exclusionary rule states that any evidence that was gathered in a manner that is contrary to the 4^th amendment’s protections cannot be admitted into evidence at the trial of the D (we have seen this in the numerous police procedurals that are on the airwaves right now). Of course, by negating the so-called knock-and-announce rule, there is a concomitant weakening of the exclusionary rule. The times they are a-changing. We are moving from a country full of freedoms to one where our constitutional rights are being chipped away, yet no one seems to care. I was extremely gratified at the recent decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which held that enemy combatants (yeah, right!) cannot be held indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay without coming to trial. At least there is a semblance of the court trying to re-establish the balance that has been tipped away from the people and towards the executive branch of the government (Patriot Act anyone?).

I have also provided the link to the recent US Supreme Court decisions because I think it is important that everyone recognize the protections we citizens of the United States are afforded and how the Court interprets the laws passed by Congress and how the Court weighs in on possible constitutional arguments in some criminal cases. Taking Criminal Procedure this summer has really opened my eyes to the value of the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th amendments, but at the same time, those freedoms that we enjoy are not as broad as we would like to believe. Stay tuned!