I bet that line is overplayed on blogs this time of year.
Still, I couldn't resist.
Still, I couldn't resist.
Law: February 2008 Archives
SOOOooo...
That pesky bar exam is coming up. Last minute review this weekend. If you can't get ahold of me--you've been forewarned. . .
Ya' know, that isn't even a proper IF-THEN statement. . .
Whatever. You get the idea.
That pesky bar exam is coming up. Last minute review this weekend. If you can't get ahold of me--you've been forewarned. . .
Ya' know, that isn't even a proper IF-THEN statement. . .
Whatever. You get the idea.
The bar exam is less than two weeks away. And I'm at the point--been there for a few weeks now--that I just wish the damn thing was over.
To summarize, the Maryland Bar Examination is a 600 point exam. Two hundred points come from the Multistate Bar Examination (a 6 hour multiple choice test). Four hundred points come from eleven essay questions. Passing is a scaled score of 406 (or 67.6%).
I don't mind the MBE--the MBE is easy. It's those essays...
Fortunately, all of the old essay exams are posted online. Along with model answers. And that's great, right?
The essay questions--and the published model answers--confuse me, I must admit. The answers that the bar examiners published are more like blurbs than essay answers. "Here is a legal issue; here's another; here's another; here's another." Very much the way you would make a grocery list.
I was doing a practice of the July 2007 exam last night. One question involved a civil case, the client was being sued; advise him accordingly. As a subpart of that question, the examiners asked "what pleadings should you file to accomplish your client's objectives". (Or something substantially similar to that.)
Now I raised an eyebrow. If you know your stuff--and I always recommend knowing your stuff--you know that a "pleading" is a defined term in civil procedure. You can file all kinds of "papers" with a court (e.g. 'Notice of Waiver', 'Motion to Eat Cake', etc.). But only a few things are "pleadings": complaints, answers, replies to answers, and a few other things. Everything else that gets filed with a court is a "paper." This distinction was rammed into my head in at least three classes. I also had the fortunate opportunity to watch a Gratiot County judge chew out opposing counsel because she did not know what a pleading was. You just don't forget those things.
The bar examiners asked for pleadings. Their answers listed motions and notices--things that aren't pleadings at all.
This does not inspire my confidence in the examination process.
To summarize, the Maryland Bar Examination is a 600 point exam. Two hundred points come from the Multistate Bar Examination (a 6 hour multiple choice test). Four hundred points come from eleven essay questions. Passing is a scaled score of 406 (or 67.6%).
I don't mind the MBE--the MBE is easy. It's those essays...
Fortunately, all of the old essay exams are posted online. Along with model answers. And that's great, right?
The essay questions--and the published model answers--confuse me, I must admit. The answers that the bar examiners published are more like blurbs than essay answers. "Here is a legal issue; here's another; here's another; here's another." Very much the way you would make a grocery list.
I was doing a practice of the July 2007 exam last night. One question involved a civil case, the client was being sued; advise him accordingly. As a subpart of that question, the examiners asked "what pleadings should you file to accomplish your client's objectives". (Or something substantially similar to that.)
Now I raised an eyebrow. If you know your stuff--and I always recommend knowing your stuff--you know that a "pleading" is a defined term in civil procedure. You can file all kinds of "papers" with a court (e.g. 'Notice of Waiver', 'Motion to Eat Cake', etc.). But only a few things are "pleadings": complaints, answers, replies to answers, and a few other things. Everything else that gets filed with a court is a "paper." This distinction was rammed into my head in at least three classes. I also had the fortunate opportunity to watch a Gratiot County judge chew out opposing counsel because she did not know what a pleading was. You just don't forget those things.
The bar examiners asked for pleadings. Their answers listed motions and notices--things that aren't pleadings at all.
This does not inspire my confidence in the examination process.
I'm glad to see this issue in the newspapers finally. It's been floating around various internet fora for a while now.
And just so the reader is clear, this isn't a "please boot your computer so we know it isn't just an empty case"-test. This is a "we're going to remove your hard drive and make a forensic copy of all the data on it"-search. There are reports--which I have not personally substantiated--that TSA is also making copies of the data contained on Blackberries, iPhones, and [insert your favorite digital organizer/phone here]s. Additionally--and I can't even fathom a "good reason" to do it--there have been a few reports of TSA popping the SIMs out of cellular phones (reported in assorted Slashdot comments--believer beware).
Currently, government agents have broad authority to conduct searches at the border. They have exercised this power for nearly as long as the United States is old. But these searches at their current scope should cease immediately. The U.S. Constitution is clear:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Of course it doesn't mention anything about airports or computers--these things weren't invented yet. But that's irrelevant. It's not that the searchs are at airports. Or that data is hidden away on a computer. The justification for these overly intrusive searches stems from their location: at the border. And borders did exist back in the day.
The Constitution doesn't utter a word about when, where, and under what specific circumstances. It doesn't say you have Fourth Amendment rights at Location X but not Location Y. The Constitution asks a simple question: is the search unreasonable? If the answer is yes, it's unconstitutional. Simple. Elegant. Any person with basic reading skills can look at the Law and understand what it means.
--Now, I know some will read too far into this, crying, "But-but-but what about our safety? All searches should be reasonable--we need to protect the children from terrorists!" So without getting into why such screenings are ineffectual wastes of tax monies, let us assume--just for argument's sake--that such searches are indeed for safety concerns. Safety, in this context, means physical safety. And yet, theoretically at least, we are nation that proudly proclaims we cannot be threatened by mere ideas and information. Yet, I have never witnessed a bits and bytes trying to smuggle uranium or suicide a bomb a café. I'd go so far to assert that it's not physically possible. Indeed, dishonest to even suggest.
Email. Photos. Documents. Bills. Invoices. Internet browsing habits. Documents. Calendars. Correspondence. Tax records. Documents. --BAM! Everything wide open. Is this a reasonable search? You tell me. I cannot fathom a "reason".
Lawyers, of all people, should be particularly concerned. Every client file contained on your laptop (and many you've deleted), every email stored on your BlackBerry--sounds like it's all fair game. And not just for a casual inspection, but copying too. Very disconcerting. Particularly for lawyers in states with stricter ethical rules. California comes to mind.
I'm interested to see how the courts address the public's use of encryption. Should a court order a person to disclose a password so TSA can snoop through his files? Truly, if many courts continue to falter in their constitutional duties, diligent use of data encryption will be the only reliable way to protect information from identity theft and other prying eyes. Scenarios are already cropping up. . .
--The thing that strikes me, curiously, is that by doing these searches and duping hard drives, TSA is committing pretty blatant copyright infringment. (Thanks to the misguided efforts of the RIAA, copyright infringement is so easy a child can do it--literally.) So... who's got the chutzpah? How long 'til it happens?
