Week 5

It has been such a great week! So much has happened, beginning with a special visit from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. I was so excited to hear that he was going to be joining us here at the College of Law.

I was shocked, but mostly impressed that Justice Thomas and his wife pulled up in their motor home. It is Justice Thomas' nature to be involved with those not involved in the elite "Ivy League" Law Schools. Sadly, all 9 of the current Supreme Court Justices have graduated from one of three of those Law Schools, and all but one currently accepts law clerks ONLY from those institutions. Yup, Justice Thomas is the one and only to consistenly pull law clerks from non-Ivy League Schools. In fact, this is what he said to us:

"I think you underestimate what you have here. Washington doesn't interrest me. I'm comfy with the tuition paying, dirt-under-your-fingernail type of people. There is a reason why I am herre and not there (speaking of his alma mater, Yale)." 

We discussed a partiuclar case from Connecticut that was decided while he has been on the Supreme Court, and he actually wrote the dissenting opinion of the case. Kelo v. City of New London was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States involving the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another to further economic development. Of this case Justice Thomas said,

"What is interesting is that our laws provide that we could not have set foot onto Ms. Kelo's property to conduct a seizure, but we were freely allowed to have taken the entire Kelo property away from her." 

The major issue in this case is whether the phrase "public use" could be interpreted as meaning "public benefit." The changing of this one word had a massive impact on this case. The court ended up, in a 5-4 decision, deciding that it did mean benfit, and took away Ms. Kilo's home from her. Justice Thomas disagreeing said,

"Use means use; if you wanna change it, change it. But, I was not elected, nor am I part of the legislature, that's not my job to change the law."

Many are weary of Justice Thomas and his ethics; as of recent, numerous Democrats have called for an ehtics investigation into his finances and the role his wife plays as a political advocate. Having met Justice Thomas I generally agree with his ideology when it comes to deciding the law, and I reject the hatrid opinions of others.

Justice Thomas voiced concern that all Justices were from 3 law schools, and that they were certainly unlikely to represent the views of the nation, particularly Nebraska. Of this he felt that it was his job not to create new law, but to hold to the existing law as is, and allow the legislature to do the elected and representative job by creating law. He notes,

"We don't have the answers - you don't want us creatively interpreting the constitution. My personal opinions never push into your doctrine. Unless I have a law to deal with I'm off my terrain. The constitution should be amended by the people, not the judges."

I am grateful I was able to hear from him, but to have also personally met him. He was very sincere as he was coming to know the students here. Seriosuly, I was impressed by his kind nature.

Also, University of Washington was in town this week for a round of Husker F-ball. Apologies to my friends from the Northwest, but these "children of the corn" kids just aren't gonna go down easy. Watch this epic touchdown! (Bonus: Can you name the song the crowd is singing prior to the play?)

The crowd at Memorial Stadium is pretty stellar:

And when we score, we celebrate:

Overall, the week was wonderul, wonderfully busy, but wonderful. School is still overbearing, but I do what I can and trust it is enough. I sure miss alot of you and think about you often. Hope all is well; be in touch.