You CANNOT "Plead Innocent"

Grrrrrrrrrrr. I knew this was going to end up here sooner or later. Could someone (ANYONE) please inform CNN.com that it is impossible to "plead innocent". As far as I know (and PLEASE someone correct me if I am wrong, b/c being wrong on this w/ 3 yrs of law school could be very embarrassing) no where in the U.S. can you "plead innocent". You can plead "guilty" or "not guilty", end of story. In some instances you can plead "no contest" and in some smaller jurisdictions you can even plead "guilty w/ an explanation" but "innocent" is not an option - ever - at all. CNN are you paying attention?!

OK, had to get that off my chest. You may all resume your day now. :)

CNN.com has got me all riled up again ... Call me crazy (no wait, don't), but I find it to be an incredible stretch of the imagination (or perhaps a hallucination brought on by a serious binge) for the Klu Klux Klan to say that not being allowed to wear their masks and disguises as part of a demonstration is a violation of their free speech. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/20/rights.klan.reut/index.html has the full story in case you care.]

Without even delving into the issues regarding the group itself and its prehistoric ideas about the human race, the absolute lack of logic in their argument astounds me. This is a group that is so "proud" of themselves and what they stand for that they feel the urgent need to demonstrate out in public (in the tremendously diverse city of NY no less!) and yet they want to hide their identities. They want to be free to say whatever they want - as long as no one knows it's them saying it.

Racists AND cowards - wonderful, just what the world needs. Perhaps we should ship the "Christian" klan over to Iraq and see how they like spouting their ideas over there.

(At least the court made the right decision this time - score one for the legal eagles.)

For those who don't know, I am an avid reader of CNN.com. They have this great service where you can pick topics you would find interesting and have the headlines for those articles emailed to you on a daily basis - but I digress. Frequently I become annoyed at what I find, either through the interpretation or content of the material. Today was such a day. While reading the article titled, "Terror financing case in Florida puts the Patriot Act to the test" [found at http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/19/attacks.professor.ap/index.html for anyone interested] I found the following;

"Al-Arian's defense attorney, William B. Moffitt, has said he intends to challenge every aspect of the new law as the case heads to trial and has called the Patriot Act the product of a 'frightened society', overreacting to the horrific events of September 11."

Now you may not agree with the article as a whole, and you may have mixed feelings on the Patriot Act, but what really drives me to look for the closest clock tower and an AK-47 are the words "overreacting to ... September 11". Pardon?! Overreacting!?!?!?!?!?! I cannot even comprehend ANY action that would be too severe a reaction to that hellish day. Thousands of innocent people were murdered in one of the biggest cities in the world in a country where we celebrate freedoms rather than trying to oppress the populous through fear and ignorance.

I could go on and on, but I'll spare anyone who has bothered to come to my corner of the web. I just HAD to comment. If there is any one single historical event whose ramifications are BOUNDLESS it is September 11. In this instance there is no such thing as overreaction! And to think a lawyer made those comments. No doubt trying to save his client's a$$ through the media, but I really want to ask him if he wants some salt to go with that leather because he really stuck his foot in his mouth on that one. It's people like him who make my MY chosen profession the butt of so many jokes.

The score is lawyers 0 - naysayers 1.

So I finally decided to start a blog. Admittedly, I first thought they were a dumb idea. Why would anyone want to post their personal thoughts for everyone to see? But it's not a diary as much as a diatribe on the happenings in any given day. Plus, I figure my roommates won't have to listen to me rant as much. ;)

I was also inspired by two people recently, Kim and Pete. I enjoy reading THEIR blogs so much I decided why not start my own. Who wouldn't want to read my meanderings on a regular basis?! *mental note to decrease the lawyer ego medication* If you are curious you can find them at http://kimmersli.blogspot.com/ and http://pete.holidian.com/ , respectively.

In any event, expect to read about the inately backwards administration at Hofstra U. (the illustrious institution where I attend law school), the law clinic, perhaps my crazy family, the sometimes hysterical IM convos I have with people and anything else I decide to slap up on the WWW. Comments are welcome (as soon as I figure out how to engage that feature) and suggestions are appreciated. :)

Ciao for now! :)