Perpetually bad breath

So began the report and recommendation of a federal magistrate judge last year in the case of Han Tak Lee, a New York man then serving a life sentence in a Pennsylvania prison for the 1989 arson murder of his 20-year-old mentally ill daughter, Ji Yun Lee.That proverb, inscribed at the University of Pennsylvania Law School on a bronze statue of Hsieh-chai, a mythological Chinese beast with the power to discern guilt, serves as a “fitting metaphor for both the progress of the law and the history of this case,” wrote Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson of Harrisburg.Carlson describes Lee’s long legal odyssey and the revolution in arson science that has taken place between the time of his 1990 trial and today.A plaque on this sculpture at the University of Pennsylvania Law School was quoted by the federal magistrate judge who freed Han Tak Lee. Photograph courtesy of Pennsylvania law school blog.“Sometimes we find that truth eludes us,” he continued. … [Read more...] about Long-held beliefs about arson science have been debunked after decades of misuse

John Dowd was convinced that President Donald Trump would commit perjury if he talked to special counsel Robert Mueller. So on Jan. 27 the president's then-personal attorney staged a practice session to make his point. In the White House residence, Dowd peppered Trump with questions about the Russia investigation, provoking stumbles, contradictions and lies until the president eventually lost his cool. "This thing's a goddamn hoax," Trump erupted at the start of a 30-minute rant that finished with him saying, "I don't really want to testify." The dramatic and previously untold scene is recounted in "Fear," a forthcoming book by Bob Woodward that paints a harrowing portrait of the Trump presidency, based on in-depth interviews with administration officials and other principals. Woodward writes that his book draws from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand participants and witnesses that were conducted on "deep background," meaning the information could be used but he would not … [Read more...] about Bob Woodward’s new book reveals a ‘nervous breakdown’ of Trump’s presidency

It’s my third time reading Joanna Litt’s brave piece in the American Lawyer about the death by suicide of her beloved husband and accomplished lawyer Gabe MacConaill, and I’m still stumbling through it in tears. As she describes the pressures Gabe experienced as an attorney, I lose my breath because I remember from my time practicing law experiencing a similar pressure, similar stress and similar feelings of not measuring up in spite of tremendous effort and ability. Many of the lawyers I know and a number with whom I work describe to me a similar misery stemming not from the substance of the work but from the lifestyle, structure and culture of the profession and the unreasonable standards they nurture. Litt writes, “Though it’s only the beginning stages of trying to figure out why this happened, I came across a concept, maladaptive perfectionism, that combines unrealistic standards of achievement with hypercriticism of failing to meet them.” She … [Read more...] about A call to deal with impostor syndrome, a hidden source of attorney distress

Having a bad cold and practically losing my voice earlier this week wasn’t helpful but to all intents and purposes that didn’t matter. What mattered was doing the right thing by my constituents on Tuesday; listening to their voice and voting accordingly.When three out of four amendments were withdrawn in order to allow a clear vote on the Prime Minister’s Brexit Deal, I breathed a sigh of relief; a clear shot at what the people of Hartlepool, both remainers and leavers, wanted me to do was all I needed and I duly voted against the deal.Don’t get me wrong I would have voted against it anyway, but the strange symbiotic myriad of emails arriving, even on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, really did show me just how the people of the town, on both sides of the divide, felt about it.The deal basically put us into a perpetual spin; locked for an undetermined amount of time in the Customs Union with no right of say or control; having to obey by the rules of the … [Read more...] about Brexit no cure but we can’t make it worse

Having a bad cold and practically losing my voice earlier this week wasn’t helpful but to all intents and purposes that didn’t matter. What mattered was doing the right thing by my constituents on Tuesday; listening to their voice and voting accordingly.When three out of four amendments were withdrawn in order to allow a clear vote on the Prime Minister’s Brexit Deal, I breathed a sigh of relief; a clear shot at what the people of Hartlepool, both remainers and leavers, wanted me to do was all I needed and I duly voted against the deal.Read more: What you said about MPs rejecting the Brexit deal - how Hartlepool reacted to the vote in ParliamentDon’t get me wrong I would have voted against it anyway, but the strange symbiotic myriad of emails arriving, even on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, really did show me just how the people of the town, on both sides of the divide, felt about it.The deal basically put us into a perpetual spin; locked for an … [Read more...] about Mike Hill: Brexit no cure but we can’t make it worse