I had jury duty yesterday, for the State of NJ and County of Camden. And yes, the county courthouse is named The Hall of Justice. I shit you not.
Anyway, so I set out to get to the court for my 8:15 sign-in, in beautiful down town Camden, NJ. Not at all to my surprise, the city had shoved the public walks and roads, but had not put down any salt or sand. As a result even 4x4 and AWD vehicles were fish tailing and drifting at all of the intersections. That I only saw one accident I can only chalk up to sheer blind luck. Oh, yeah, we had snow the night before. Happy Birthday to me.
Oh, yeah, Monday was the birthday. Second year in a row it has snowed on my birthday, which at this lattitude isn't really common. Global warming? My ass.
So, after well as sat around for an hour or two, they took 92 of us upstairs to see if they couldn't fill a 14 body jury for a murder trial. Murder, illegal possesion of a handgun, illegal discharge of a handgun, etc. And on and on it went. And Craig Mitnick was the lawyer for the defense. Which, as luck would have it, also got me excused. While Mr. Mitnick is perhaps the best known (some might say infamous) criminal defense attorney in Camden County, his father doe brisk trade in civil suits. One of his clients is my neighbor (yes, that neighbor). Throw in my general pro-cop leanings (yes, I know there are plenty of less than stellar police out there, but I put more weight on the word of a cop than the guys on the other side of the bars) and associations, and Mr. Mitnick had me dismissed from the panel. Which, from his standpoint, was a good thing, since the judge nearly tossed me off too. Had I been called early in the day, rather than late, I think I would have been bounced pretty quick. The thing I found interesting, and the last thing I will say about the whole thing, was that as of my leaving, the proscecutor only bounced one juror, a self admitted party girl. The defense asked that 10 or more jurors be sent back tot he pool, in adition to the dozen or more the judge passed on.
Anyway, my slow day in the court left me time to think, about a numbe of things. Including other court issues.
The Soloman Amendment bruhaha
So, a bunch of liberal law school types don't want the military recruiting on their grounds, because the military doesn't allow homosexuals to serve openly. They are claiming that by allowing and being required to provide the same access to the military as any other recruiting entity is a violation of their civil liberties, in particular their First Amendment right to political speech.
Now, nobody is actually forcing these schools to host the military recruiters. But as part of Soloman, the funding they get from Congress has a few strings attached. One of them is that the military must be allowed to send recruiters on the campus.
So, if you don't take the money, you don't have to host the boys and girls from the JAG corps.
But, that would mean schools like Yale would have to give up some money if they want to punish the military for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
And this means that really what they want is to eat their cake and have it too. Give us the money, but don't you dare expect anything in return.
So here my take on all of this.
- They are punishing the military for a choice CONGRESS made
That's right. Congress, at the behest of the President (at the time, Clinton), implemented the policy that has Yale et al's panties in a bunch. But the rhetoric is not going after Congress, but the Pentagon. This means that the law schools are either exceptionally deficient in logic, or they are being just a tad dishonest. The latter would never surprise me from lawyers and progressives, and the former would seem to me as another great reason not to give federal funds to such a school.
- Yale... grubbing at the federal trough...
I'll be honest, if the schools were small schools whose reputation was one of modest means, I might have some sympathy. But when Ivy League schools that can afford to be picky about enrollment, and are, I find it hard to have alot of sympathy here. Especially since it is essentially pay for play.
- It's not enough that the military is what allows them to be free and have freedom of speech
Nope. The role the military servers in our soiciety is not enough for these ingrates.
- It's like taking a man's hospitality, and spitting on his floors
Or entering a Japanese home in your muddy shoes. Come on, people.
Ug. Given that it is Congress that came up with don't ask, don't tell, anybody know why they aren't pressuring Congress? You know, harrassing them to change the ruling? Single out the supportors and signatory parties?
Or could it be, that this really isn't about gay rights (or not entirely)?
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