If anyone has a copy of the motion I would dearly love to see it. My friend Josh Zientek points out that the orders are available in all their glory on the recently revamped Harris County District Clerk website – see The State of Texas vs. GREEN, JOHN EDWARD JR.. It’s 10 cents a page, which I might find objectionable if the Clerk, Loren Jackson, hadn’t done such an amazing job bringing that system into the 21st century.

Update:

Ah, now I get it. Mark Bennett does a typically thorough job in clarifying the situation.

Today Judge Fine denied the defendant’s Motion to Declare Death Penalty Unconstitutional Based on Texas’ Lethal Injection Protocol (Scribd) and his Motion to Declare Texas Death Penalty Statute to be Unconstitutional (Jurors’ Inability to Predict Future Dangerousness) (Scribd). The motion that Judge fine did grant was the defendant’s Motion to Hold that Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 37.071 is Unconstitutional: Motion to Hold that Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 37.01 is Unconstitutional.

Collected Commentary:

• Paul Kennedy, The Defense Rests, More on Judge Fine’s ruling (Mar. 5, 2010)
• Mark Bennett, Defending People, Even in Texas, Death Penalty Still Constitutional (Mar. 4, 2010)
• Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, Texas Lawyer, Houston judge declares death penalty unconstitutional (Mar. 4, 2010)
• Chris Vogel, Houston Press, Harris County Judge Declares Death Penalty Unconstitutional; We’re Guessing There Will Be An Appeal (Updated) (Mar. 4, 2010)

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University of Houston Law Dean Ray Nimmer announced today that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, now a partner in the New York office of Houston-based Bracewell and Giuliani, will deliver the commencement address at our law school commencement.

Although a commencement speaker doesn’t substantively add to the education you just received, it’s one of the few opportunities to celebrate your accomplishments with your family and it’s nice when it’s somebody your grandma can recognize.

Update:

Commencement speakers seem, for some reason, to have become magnets for controversy in recent years. One UHLC alum has declared herself ‘humiliated’ by the choice of Giuliani as commencement speaker, citing a litany of personal and professional failings. Now I wouldn’t nominate Mr. Giuliani for sainthood, but nor would I construe his failings – whatever they might be – as a reflection on the law school. I simply don’t think that selecting someone as a commencement speaker is an institutional ratification of everything they’ve done or said. I honestly don’t think it reflects on the institution at all. Some could fairly disagree with me on that I’m sure. I’ll be sitting in that audience, so I’m mostly hopeful that he will have something interesting and/or useful to communicate. I’ve found that people who have experienced failure often have more interesting and useful things to say than those who haven’t. I remain enthused.

So what should be the criteria of a commencement speaker? As I stated above, recognition by my grandmother is necessary but not entirely sufficient criteria. For a law school I would suggest a commencement speaker be (a) recognized for their career as an attorney, (b) distinguished for leadership and service in government and/or community, with (c) something valuable or useful to say to a group of graduating law students and their families. Giuliani clerked for a federal judge, served as Associate Attorney General in the Justice Dept. and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Mayor of New York City and a Presidential candidate. His legal and political career is as active and varied as they come. Will he have something valuable to say? We’ll see.

It also got me wondering what other schools have lined up for commencement day. It’s not entirely clear which law schools have separate ceremonies as they are with us, but here’s what I could track down:

• Michigan: President Obama (A sitting President, OK, so that’s impressive, though I’m sure the birthers will have a lot to say about that one.)
• Harvard: Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter
• Yale Class Day: Former President Bill Clinton (yeah, no personal failings there)
• Seton Hall Law: Chris Christie
• Penn Law: CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin (referred to on Above the Law as the Tiger Woods of journalism)
• William & Mary: Christina Romer
• Santa Clara University School of Law: Miguel S. Demapan, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
• Vermont Law: Howard Dean (Yeeeeeeeea–haaaaaaaa)

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Adobe Photoshop Cook from Lait Noir on Vimeo. via urlesque

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The ad, of course, begs to be spoofed. See Hitler spoof meme for a preview of where this is headed.

A Realistic French Romance

Is Tiger Feeling Lucky Today?

Study Abroad: Thailand

Dating Fail

Surprise Party

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David Dow is a law professor at the University of Houston Law Center and Litigation Director of the Texas Defender Service. His latest book The Autobiography of an Execution (Amazon) was just published last week.

He had a very interesting interview on Fresh Air on NPR 20 Years Of Defending Death Row Inmates (embedded below) Hat tip to Nancy Rapoport

Prof. Dow also had an excellent article in the Houston Law Review: The Last Execution: Rethinking the Fundamentals of Death Penalty Law, 45 Hous. L. Rev. 963 (2008) (pdf).

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It’s probably not a good idea to sleep outside in one of these – especially not in Maine – certainly not in hunting season – or or mating for that matter. Still, a clever idea from designer Eiko Ishizawa.

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Order Cont. Trial 1-27-10

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