Fundamental Rights

My Con Law professor on the fundamental rights sections:

“So we'll start the sections on sexual activity and voting; you may have an interest in one or the other.”

Fair Craig

I remember last semester during Property we studied the Fair Housing Act and learned about how rental advertisements can't state a preference based on race, national origin, gender, etc. Of course we talked about Craigslist, because if you've ever searched on there for an apartment, you know ads are posted all the time saying things like, "Female only," or "Asian only." (The two most common, in that order, I'd say.)

Anyway I just noticed that there's a new flagging function for discriminatory posts, with a link to a page that summarizes the FHA. I wonder how effective it is? When I saw a "females only" post, I thought, 'I should flag it.' But then I didn't because I thought, 'Well some girl might not reply to that post without the "females only."' It's hard too because 1) in a way, people should be able to choose who they live with, and 2) if the ad doesn't say it, that doesn't mean they're not discriminating in their choice. Which I guess is where discriminatory impact comes into play. On the other hand, isn't the publication of discriminatory ads just bad for society?

And I see they're being sued in Chicago.

Here's the CL link:

Discrimination Flagging

Wack

After getting into the Con Law section on Equal Protection, my prof arranged to have an out-of-class discussion on race in our own lives. About 25 people showed up (on a Friday afternoon!) and we basically went around the table describing our backgrounds and our experiences with racism. It was pretty cool...laughter, some tears, the whole bit. The coolest thing about it though is how it made us into a secret club. When I pass somebody in the hall who was at the discussion, who I've known but never really had a conversation with, we make eye contact and smile.

My Con Law prof is of a fatherly-age and he has kids our age, so every once in a while he'll throw out some slang (One time he actually said "wack." Hearing adults use kid-slang is like hearing a foreigner curse in your language: hilarious.) For example, he made up this hypo in class about the right to contract. He posed the scenario of a bakery that was also a porn shop, and described it as "raunchy." (We debated whether the state had a compelling interest in upholding moral values.)

Caveat Spiritus

I was doing some research for my internship; it was for a client whose landlord had an "inspector" take pictures inside her apartment, and then found out later that the photos were taken by a real estate agent and used for advertising. I was researching landlord-tenant issues, and I found this hilaroiusly titled article:

"ARTICLE: CAVEAT SPIRITUS: A JURISPRUDENTIAL REFLECTION UPON THE LAW OF HAUNTED HOUSES AND GHOSTS," DANIEL M. WARNER (Copyright (c) 1993 Valparaiso University Law Review Valparaiso University Law Review, FALL, 1993, 28 Val. U.L. Rev. 207).

No, I didn't read it.

Fleeting

This is my second year of law school, and my second year in San Fran. It's interesting how you feel the passage of time when annual events roll around.

Eg: You'll find yourself sipping a glass of wine and surfing the internet at home, when suddenly there's a ripping, roaring, screaming outside...visions of 9/11 flash through your head...and then you remember, damn, it's Fleet Week doing warm ups. ''''''

Wealth

Con Law prof on the LSAT:

There's a high correlation of LSAT scores with first year grades, but there's another correlation that's even higher.

LSAT scores and wealth have the highest correlation.