moving on

so i officially ended working for the judge on friday. im not really that sad about leaving. i enjoyed the people i was working with, but the work wasnt that exciting. anyways, i really cant say enough about judge hatter. he really is an outstanding individual. in an earlier post i talked about the externship and talked more about the judge, so i really dont want be repeating myself, since i have SO many readers and if i was redundant i might lose some.

but i did just want to mention that one of the things i especially enjoyed was being able to watch the judge when he was behind the bench. he really is a man of high moral values and always expressed those values. he never refrained from giving his own personal opinion. one time, when addressing people that had come to potentially be selected to be on a jury, he mentioned that being selected for the jury is like winning the lottery, and then proceeded to monologue for 5 minutes about the lottery and how the money was supposed to go to the school system and that is why there were cutbacks in funding for public schools, but the money never went to the schools and there is now less funding. he also had a great monlogue about how the budget for all of the federal courts in the whole nation is less than what it costs to build a jet for the military, yet people make a fuss about giving the courts more money (federal judges havnt had a raise in 18 years- they make less than you think. california state judges actually make more than federal judges) but they dont think twice when more money is given to build a new fighter plane. anyways, he had many great monologues. especially about the lakers. he's a DIE-HARD fan.

another thing i enjoyed was how in criminal proceedings after the lawyer addressed the court, the judge always asked to speak with each and every criminal defendant. he didnt need to and most judges dont speak directly with the defendants, but he always wanted to talk to them and hear what they had to say. i think that many times he did it so that he could better understand each defendant and how they felt about being there in court. for instance, the judge would really get upset if when he asked someone if they had anything to say about violating their parole, if they responded, 'no. not really.' the judge would especially get upset if people were violating their parole and they had a family with young children, or even worse, a pregnant girlfriend. sometimes people will bring in family members to show that they have family support, but if that support is a pregnant girlfriend, leave her at home. the judge will get extremely upset that the person bothers to think that they can bring a child into this world when they cant even manage their own life. anyways, here are some things the judge said at one point or another to people that had violated parole:

'i would wish you good luck, but its going to take a lot more than luck. its going to take hard work.'

'why are you bringing a child into this life? do you think you are one of these celebrities or athletes and living this hollywood lifestyle? acting like one of them and bringing a child into this world out of wedlock.'

'people take drugs, so i hear, to escape reality. well, you cant escape reality. you have to face it.'


he really is a champion. just a great man that believes in the good of humanity and fights for it. he really believes mankind is inherently good and has faith that every person has potential to improve their life. and he has incredible reading goggles.

two final things:

there is a picture of the two law clerks. also great guys. interesting people. most clerks are out of law school and they only clerk for a year before going on to private practice. these two guys made a career out of it, so needless to say, they are an interesting breed, which im sure is inferred from the photo. they made me donate a quarter everytime i used the word 'like' incorrectly. i donated roughly $20 in quarters in the 4 months i was there.

and finally, there was a sentencing hearing the final week i was there. 4 men that conspired to kill (but didnt actually pull the trigger) a teenager of a rival gang were sentenced to 10 years in jail. the judge said he would have liked to give them more like 20 years, but they took a plea that had a 10 year max sentence. and i was thinking about it, 10 years is a long time. i read about some business man that committed all sorts of white collar crimes and he had to pay over $500 million instead of serving time. and i was thinking about how much more of a penalty it is to serve 10 years in prison. losing 10 years of your life is a big deal. this guy will just file for bankruptcy and move on with his life. but lose 10 years of your life! you cant get that time back. oh, and dont rob a bank. armed robbery of a bank is a federal offense with minimum jail time of 10 years. that, and the average jail robber takes only a few thousand dollars. thats it. if youre going to do it, go big like oceans 11 or go home. 10 years! lost! you cant get that back.