-- MorreaseLeftwich - 02 Apr 2020

I liked the excerpt from Lawyerland. When Judge Day talked about exerting power, I first disagreed with her, being sure that judges do exert power. Soon after, she almost changed my mind when she distinguished 'power' from 'political power' by characterizing the latter as having to do with exerting power on the minds of people. I thought to myself, "even when judges are shaping the law, which Judge Day admits does exert power over minds, they're really just defining the already-existing law, and regardless, usually no one thinks of a specific judge when a court renders a decision." However, as I write this journal entry, I'm thinking about how maybe she's just talking, saying anything to perpetuate the notion that judges only discover the law, never inventing it. I mean, I suppose its possible that even if that's what she's doing, maybe she's telling her truth, as she genuinely sees it and I get that. It's a beautiful fiction, but regardless, I'm off it, but all of what she says in this chapter is pretty interesting. Now that I'm writing this out, what I just spoke about is what's most interesting to me about the chapter, but I also enjoyed reading her explanation for why the essential lawyerly characteristic is being a liar. The explanation didn't really blame lawyers at all, but instead, the process. And she went further by saying there is no better alternative. Now that I think of it, I've never heard anybody offer an alternative to lawyers being so-called crooks, but instead people would just rather lawyers mislead for a sympathetic client's benefit. I don't even know if lawyers really are crooks, but I'll say I can't imagine an alternative to the process which may or may not cause them to be.

I'm not really sure what the requirements of this journal is but if its what I think it is: after doing something course-related, write a journal about it if you're so inspired, so long as the inspiration comes frequently enough, then I think this works well for me. Assignments like this and revising the essay are more in line with what I'm mentally susceptible to right now--an organic learning experience, instead of something forced and uncomfortable.

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