On Days at the Brink of Life

Today was a day truly at the constant brink of my current life. I was up late last night working on a problem set and a paper outline because, as usual, I waited until the last minute to do both. I got a total of 150 minutes of sleep last night. This, combined with the fact that I am getting sick/am sick, bought me to my tipping point. I usually stick these kinds of things out (that's what she said) but today I was honestly going to throw in the towel. I contemplated calling out of work sick but am so glad I did not. And here's a list why:

1. I shook the hand of Ted Olson. Whatever your political leanings, you cannot deny the influence this man has in the United States.

2. I met Chief Justice Roberts today and was in a few photos with him along with Justice Sotomayor. They're both so friendly and jovial with people in general and each other despite their opposite statures on almost all legal questions. It is amazing to see such camaraderie in person and such adversarial stances on the bench.

3. I saw Justices Breyer and Thomas in the hallway today joking with each other - another example of Justices being friends despite having almost opposites leanings on judicial questions.

4. Solicitor General (and one of the names being kicked around for the next Justice appointment) Elena Kagan was walking past me and stopped to say hello on her way into the courtroom.


And now the big one:

5. I saw Justice John Paul Stevens's final oral argument today in court. The case was an important one (whether those that sign a petition for referendum are protected from release of their names under the first amendment). Despite the cases real-world applications and the arguing attorneys (one of which was great, the other not so much), what really spoke out to me today was at the last moment of court. The petitioner had run out his rebuttal time and the Chief Justice said the usual "the case has been submitted" at the end of the argument. The Marshal hit the gavel and the nine Justices rose to leave their seats. They all vacated their spots except for Justice Stevens, who lingered for a moment. He did not say anything. He simply stood up and looked around the room from the bench for the last time. He then turned around and left the courtroom silently.

I am not sure if this was as powerful to everyone else as it was to me. A true pioneer on the bench, Justice Stevens was more concerned with the practical implications of the legal questions than whether the cases fit the statutes or not. An anecdote from Justice Ginsburg:

Every Friday the Justices meet for conference. ONLY the 9 justices are allowed to sit in on conference - they have no aides, law clerks, or anything of the sort. The Justices went through an entire conference session (they last for hours sometimes) discussing cases. As soon as conference ended, Justice Steven stood up and said: "If we are done here, I would like to leave and go to my son's funeral." Such devotion to public service and one's duties is likely never to be seen again.


So... despite my irritability and inability to function, today was a great and inspirational day.

And in case it wasn't for you, here are all the words to Goodnight Moon.

In the great green room
there was a telephone
And a red balloon
And a picture of--

The cow jumping over the moon

and there were three little bears, sitting on chairs

and two little kittens and a pair of mittens

and a little toy house and a young mouse

and a comb and a brush and bowl full of mush

and a quiet old lady who was whispering "hush"

Goodnight room

goodnight moon

goodnight cow jumping over the moon

goodnight light and the red balloon

goodnight bears goodnight chairs

goodnight kittens goodnight mittens

goodnight clocks and goodnight socks

goodnight little house and goodnight mouse

goodnight comb and goodnight brush

goodnight nobody goodnight mush

and goodnight to the old lady whispering "hush"

goodnight stars, goodnight air

goodnight noises everywhere.