My new geeky habit

Ok, so many beloved friends and family have been encouraging me to get a life outside the practice of law. And I'm working on it, I promise. It's just hard - I'm a geek at heart.

Two weeks ago, I had a serious setback in my road to recovery from geekhood. In other contexts, some would call it "falling off the wagon" or "taking a wrong turn."

I discovered the media website of the United States Supreme Court, Oyez (pronounced "oh-yay"). I am now officially addicted to listening to past oral arguments before the Supreme Court justices. Yes, it sounds strange, but here's why it's cool. These are some of the best lawyers in the country arguing a case before our nation's highest court. The questions come fast and furious, and the advocates are simultaneously responding to the questions, educating the justices, and outlining the contours of a new rule of law. They are wickedly brilliant, prepared, and eloquent; the NFL rockstars of law if you will.

I'm hoping the theory of osmosis has some teeth to it and I'll absorb some of it. If nothing else, it's a fantastic crash course in the precedents governing a particular area of the law. Plus, each argument is capped at an hour - perfect learning blocks for our ever-growing ADHD culture. Even I can pay attention, and I have the attention span of a gnat.

My only beef: like any addict, I want it now. Unfortunately for me, and despite the fact that it is the year 2007, the Supreme Court does not release audio of arguments until the end of the term unless the Chief Justice grants special permission to release the audio recording early. The Court grants such permission where particular public interest exists in a case, such as the cases of Boumediene v. Bush and Al Odah v. United States, both Guantanamo detainee cases scheduled for argument on December 5, 2007 (yes folks, our own internationally-condemned-affront-to-human-rights-torture-facility is still operating and NO, as of right now, you can't get a court to review your case to determine whether you should in fact be imprisoned).

While I seriously question whether the general public has any significant interest in the arguments in this case (it will probably be buried as the fourth story in the nightly news, right after an update on Lindsay Lohan's progress in rehab), I'll take what I can get. C-SPAN has requested, and received, permission to access a recording of the argument the same day.

In anticipation, I've already blocked off the evening of December 5th on my work calendar, and will be waiting with whiskey/coke and popcorn in hand for the broadcast to begin. Relapse never felt so good.