The Jeffersonian

Most law students begin their academic career sitting down to review their law school applications.  Then when first year begins, the students are herded into classrooms to sit and listen to lectures.  To prepare for those lectures and exams, they sit for long hours studying and taking practice exams.  But the lack of physical activity creates a very sedentary life that can trigger depression and heighten anxiety which can ultimately sabotage their success. 

According to World Health Organization, individuals who are “insufficiently physically active” suffer a 20-30% risk of mortality compared to people who are moderately active for at least 150 minutes a week.  Regular physical activity lowers the risk of stroke, hypertension, and depression.

To remedy the problems of a sedentary lifestyle, students should incorporate daily exercise and a balanced diet to ensure longevity in a demanding and stressful legal career.  Finding the time to take good care of ourselves while chasing those grades may seem impossible.

Arlette Scott, 3L honor student at TJSL, says this balance is possible!  But instead of finding the time, she makes time for self-care by planning her healthy meals ahead of time and participating in fun, physical activities.  “Everyone makes time to do the things they want to do. Diet and exercise should be a priority.” 

Although Arlette juggles a full schedule working at Webb & Bordson, APC, attending classes full-time, studying, doing homework, and managing a coaching business, she balances her work life with lots of fun exercise: running, hiking, bike riding, and swimming.  In addition to the exercise, she prepares her meals at home to avoid the temptation of quick fix junk food.  The combination of daily endorphins and proper nutrition ensure longevity in her demanding schedule and stressful coursework.

A month ago, I sought out Arlette’s advice because I wanted to adopt her balance of health and legal studies.  Since she is an effective Beachbody coach, she pushed me to jog in the mornings and revamp my diet to include fresh fruits and vegetables.  I already see the benefits: 1) endorphins elevate my mood; 2) exercise relieves my stress; and 3) proper nutrition strengthens my level of concentration.

I see from Arlette’s example that we do not have to be an exception to the rule in balancing health, fitness, and student life.  Arlette says that, “Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day.”  If others can make time for self-care, then so can you and I.

If you are interested in joining Arlette’s program where she provides support and accountability, add her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/arlette.scott, or email her at scottap@tjsl.edu.

The China study abroad program is a fantastic opportunity that I had the chance to be apart of. It is incredible to be able to live in a foreign country and study international law at their university.

One of the best parts of the China Program is that Chinese students take the classes with you and there are really meaningful discussions had about the student’s views on different topics compared to our views. The Director of the China Study Abroad Program, Professor Tiefenbrun, also arranges for speakers to discuss various legal topics in the Brown Bag Lunch Seminars. This year we had an intellectual property lawyer in China speak to us about why copyright infringement is rampant in China, and the steps that are being taken to try to reform. These seminars are an incredible opportunity to be able to hear from people on pressing international topics and helps students obtain a well-rounded, educated understanding of why there are differences in the way people think all over the world.

Besides the course work, the China Program offers a great deal of cultural experience as well. Because we are thrust into a new culture, in a place where many of us don’t know the language, we are forced to struggle a bit to communicate with the people of the area, as well as cooperate with other American students and work as a team.

Its impossible to obtain the same level of education and understanding for these international differences by just reading someone else’s experience; actually going through the China Program and immersing myself in the culture and, at times, the struggle, gave me a greater respect and understanding as to why there are such vast differences between the American legal system and the Chinese legal system.

The China Program is one of the best things, if not the best thing, I have ever done in my law school career.  For me so far, there has been no greater learning experience than learning comparative law in China, among my Chinese peers.

This summer I was lucky enough to travel to both China and France through the Thomas Jefferson School of Law Study Abroad program.  The program consisted of 3 weeks in Hangzhou, China and 4 weeks in Nice, France.  While in China we were able to see and experience many things about the Chinese culture, most of which we were unaware of.  In the second week of the trip we travelled to Beijing and visited the Chinese Supreme Court, the Great Wall of China, and the Forbidden City.  It was quite an amazing experience because prior to visiting China, I had a very limited knowledge or perception of what life was like in China.  One aspect I really enjoyed in China was the fact that all students stayed in the same hotel and travelled to class together daily.  This is something that I did not grow to appreciate until I arrived in France and realized that everyone was spread out throughout Nice.  China is a communist country and as such, they limit the Internet.  This was a very frustrating aspect of our stay in China, however after a week or so, it did not matter.

After the China program, I flew to Chester, England.  Chester is a smaller city in England that I used to live in and I still have many friends who live there.  I was in Chester for two weeks and I had a chance to relax and enjoy spending some time with my friends before heading off to France.

I arrived in France the day before classes began and I was able to see some of the people who were in China with me and I was also able to meet some new classmates as well.  Classes in France were Monday through Thursday afternoon, which gave us three and a half day weekends.  During my first weekend in France I travelled to Marrakech, Morocco.  The second weekend, I joined some of my English friends in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  The third weekend, I went to Barcelona, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal.  During one of my extended layovers I was able to explore Geneva, Switzerland, which is a gorgeous city.  My favorite country of my trip would probably be Morocco.  Although I was a bit out of my comfort zone, Morocco was a beautiful country and everyone was extremely helpful and nice.   One of the most beneficial aspects of the France program was the fact that there are so many countries within a quick flight of Nice, coupled with the fact that we were only two miles from the airport and had three and a half day weekends.  The biggest negative of the France trip were the accommodations.   I stayed in a hotel/apartment style complex. First, our room was never cleaned by their cleaning service, even though they said they would do so every few days.  Secondly, there was only one key for our room, which made things difficult.  Thirdly, the rooms were very small, not uncommon for Europe, but space is needed in order to study for law school.  One thing I wish had been suggested to me was an idea that came to me in the middle of my France program.  If someone was planning on traveling during the weekend, which most students did, it would be wise to book separate accommodations Sunday-Thursday for the four weeks we were in Nice during the program and then normal hotels or AirBnb while we were travelling.  Instead, I paid for accommodations in Nice and while I was visiting the other countries, I still paid for my room in Nice and all the countries I travelled to.  I would have saved thousands of dollars if I had done this.

Pros

1. Amazing experience whilst being able to travel the world and get course credits
2. Networking experiences
3. Made friends with people and was able to share experiences with them

Cons

1. Accommodations in France were quite bad
2. I had to jump through hoops to access the internet in China
3. Hand written exams were unbearable

Overall, this summer program was a great experience.  Sometimes the program seemed a bit scattered and unorganized, but this did not bother me because I was able to travel to 10 different countries for the same price as going to summer school in San Diego. Also, I was able to take 8 credits all while travelling, which was a nice bonus to the whole program.   Although three months is a long time to be gone from home, the experiences and memories I gained far outweigh any negative aspect of the study abroad program.

There are several legal issues that are brought up by the recent actions of Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis after she refused marriages licenses to several couples following the June SCOTUS decision.  The first of these legal issues is more of a common misconception.  Why wasn’t she just fired for not doing her job?  The answer is simple, she was elected as the county clerk, so she is an elected official rather than just an ordinary employee.  Under Kentucky law the only method of removing an elected officer for misconduct or neglect of duty would be by impeachment before a committee 2/3rds vote in the Kentucky State House of Representatives or the Kentucky State Senate. KY. Const. Sections 66-68.  In Davis’s cases “neglect of duty” could be considered careless or intentional failure to exercise due diligence in the performance of official duty or gross immorality or misconduct in office amounting to neglect of duty.  KY. ST. Section 63.090.

The next issue is whether or not Davis should have accommodations for her religious beliefs.  Accommodations that would allow her to ignore her duties to issue same-sex marriage licenses or to allow her to use her office deny those licenses.  After the SCOTUS decision in June that essentially legalized same-sex marriage, the Governor of Kentucky issued a directive that all county clerks were to follow this decision.  The court has disposed of this issue in some sense by affirming the Governor’s directive because it neither asks Davis to condone same-sex marriages nor impairs her religious beliefs.  As well as ordering Kim Davis to cease interference with her deputy clerk’s issuance of licenses to same-sex couples.  Miller v. Davis, No. CIV.A. 15-44-DLB, 2015 WL 4866729, at *15 (E.D. Ky. Aug. 12, 2015).  Further interference with the issuance of marriage licenses could result in more jail time for Davis.

The third issue being discussed is whether or not the current licenses being issued by deputy clerks in the Rowan County Clerk’s office are valid.  During the 5 days Davis was jailed for contempt after ignoring court order not to interfere, a county executive judge was allowed to issue licenses in her absence, this was valid under Kentucky statute.   KY. ST. Section 402.240.  After Davis returned to work she altered the license forms and the Rowan County Clerk’s Office deputies began issuing marriage license forms without any markers identifying Davis, names only one of her clerks and the Rowan County Clerk’s Office but instead “in accordance with a federal court order”.  This lack of required markers has brought issue to whether theses licenses are valid when non-compliant with some KY marriage statutes.  Kentucky marriage statutes require that a marriage shall not be solemnized without a license but that a license shall be issued by a clerk of the county.  KY. ST. Section 402.080 A marriage license must also contain the signature of a county clerk or a deputy county clerk. KY. ST. Section 402 .100.  This provides some safeguards for those marriages issued by the executive county judge for the five days Davis was in jail for contempt, but not necessarily for those issued while she continues to work at the office with the revised form because it lacks the statutory requirements, although they are being issued under federal court order.

Further legal issues to watch for in the future are other reported actions filed by other county clerks for similar accommodations as well as 2016 KY House Bill No. 31 which would transfer the responsibility of issuing marriage licenses and related marriage responsibilities to the state registrar of vital statistics.