Ellis in Wanderland

Lawsuits and legal motions and all that crap are just grown-up versions of the “I”...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:36:15 -0400

Lawsuits and legal motions and all that crap are just grown-up versions of the “I” statement we learned back in first grade.

“I am mad because you caused me $45,000 in damages and I want you to pay it all back. Oh, and the legal fees.”

See?

!!!

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:00:58 -0400

!!!:

” At a show in Vienna, another visitor took a running start and leapt into a Ganzfeld room, perhaps expecting to land on a bed of pillowy clouds. She smashed into a wall. “

Sometimes I wish I could do journalism without the writing part. I really like talking to people,...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:00:28 -0400

Sometimes I wish I could do journalism without the writing part. I really like talking to people, cutting out the small talk, and hitting the hard questions. But now I have a bunch of stories laid out in front of me like puzzle pieces and little idea of where to start. I need to find that corner piece.

Though I really liked this anecdote one of my interviewees told me today:

I grew up in a mostly African American and Latino community. A lot of Latino families would refer to themselves by their ethnicity, like “I’m Mexican. I’m Guatemalan. I’m Dominican.” African Americans would call themselves black. When I went to high school—I went to a private high school 45 minutes away—everyone was white and everyone basically called themselves “American.” And I think for me, since I came from a place where no one called themselves “American” and seeing all these people who were white who called themselves “American,” that affected how I viewed American identity.

If anyone knows peeps involved with Asian American studies or interesting info, help a sista out.

Probably not the best idea that the person in my family with the worst allergies mowed the lawn. Ah...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:43:36 -0400

Probably not the best idea that the person in my family with the worst allergies mowed the lawn. Ah well, Happy Father’s Day.

On another note, emptying the mower and realizing how many dead cicadas I sliced up was… eurgh.

Reason number bajillion why I love the people in my office: we are such foodies. Bless the...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:28:49 -0400

Reason number bajillion why I love the people in my office: we are such foodies. Bless the immigrants that decided to make central Jersey their home. SUCH GOOD ETHNIC FOOD. These two weeks I have had South Indian, Pakistani, and Colombian food. Who knew there was so much good food around me? (Someone go to New Brunswick with me so we can try the Efes there!)

(I wanted to take pictures but I ate the food before remembering….)

humansofnewyork: we are a beautiful peopleeven with EBT, tooth...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 06:00:34 -0400

humansofnewyork:

we are a beautiful people
even with EBT, tooth loss,
pepsis in our mouth
beautiful diamonds
and two legged gold
gods migrating from
the south
ushers of zen and christianity
daily resisting white privilege
and insanity
conjuring floods and storm clouds,
but still lacking clout
the only ones despairing, joyful
and obedient enough to avert
global calamity
by forcing the world to recognize
common humanity
we cannot be free
unless they relinquish their
love of expansion and captivity

I love the other law clerk interns at work. I feel more sane knowing I’m not the only one who...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:08:53 -0400

I love the other law clerk interns at work. I feel more sane knowing I’m not the only one who Wikipedias serial killers.

早餐

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:08:03 -0400

How she’s missed the taste of home cooking.
6:50 a.m.:
already, the argument brews like coffee,
the bitter blend of disappointment.
She’s learned that breakfast is best enjoyed slowly,
chewing the anger quietly and swallowing the saltiness as she’s told.
And if her eyes should water,
it is because of the spices.
You wean her off a taste for good enough
and hope she grows up a tiger.

Day I'm-really-bad-at-counting: fireball of bureaucratic red tape

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:01:02 -0400

A real life Catch-22 I heard about at work today:

An agoraphobic woman had her appeal for disability benefits dismissed 7-8 times by the judge because she did not show up in court. Um, what did the judge expect? She had agoraphobia: she was too scared to leave her house! And if she was well enough to leave her house, then she wouldn’t be suffering from agoraphobia.

Happy ending though: she didn’t give up filing those appeals, and 20 years after her initial claim, she won her case and the benefits she was denied all those years.

Seriously, actually reading the laws and these cases just makes me more and more frustrated with government. It’s ironic how few laypeople, especially people who have intellectual disabilities, can understand the laws that are meant to protect them. GAH. But the disabilities attorney, who is the sweetest, most patient lawyer I have ever met, stressed that it’s a tough balance between over-regulating and under-regulating, and sometimes the laws that come out of this tug-of-war aren’t perfect. I get it, but still, so much frustration. By the end of this summer, I’ll probably end up writing my own fantasy fiction with the government as some evil dragon, Smaug lording over his horde of social security benefits.

"It's so cold"

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:15:00 -0400

Through all this CIA leak controversy, I keep thinking about Catch-22 and Snowden’s death and how John Snowden just could not have had a better name that would elevate his status as the innocent martyr while painting the government as an absurd, bureaucratic mess.

And the leak! The leak! Snowden’s messy secret spilled in the back of Yossarian’s bomber.

Reality is stranger than fiction.

1. On a rainy night 2. Sit by an open window 3. Press play and...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:53:36 -0400

1. On a rainy night

2. Sit by an open window

3. Press play and close your eyes

Searching for alumni who are in the military in order to prep for my breakout trip. Come across...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 20:38:28 -0400

Searching for alumni who are in the military in order to prep for my breakout trip.

Come across David Petraeus. Probably going to send him a letter for kicks. YOOO IF WE ACTUALLY MEET HIM WHEN WE GO TO D.C.

Papa Liang

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:00:48 -0400

Dad: *takes out tub of ice cream from freezer*
Me: It's midnight. And I thought you were trying to prevent diabetes.
Dad: I'm just checking it, seeing how much is left.
Me: Why are you getting a spoon?
Dad: I said, I'm checking it. Quality control.
Me: Can I eat some?
Dad: No need. Quality's already been checked. Very good.

Mama Liang made a funny

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 23:56:45 -0400

My mom thinks she’s great at puns. Except they’re not really puns. They’re just examples of her butchering the English language.

Me: Ma, can I go to Wendy’s house. Please?

Ma: Police? I’m not the police. HEHEHEHEHE.

Or worse, yesterday:

Me: You can’t say you made me. I was made from an egg and a sperm.

Ma: Spoon? Better to say chopstick! HEHEHEHEHE.

Day 8: DYFS

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 23:18:00 -0400

Reading cases on child abuse and neglect feels strangely like reading a movie script. Partly because of the Courier New typeface, partly because the parties are no longer referred to as “defendant” and “plaintiff” but by first name pseudonyms, partly because the situation is all very dramatic.

I wonder how it must feel to represent the families, when the pseudonyms become real people. I asked the family law supervising attorney about being a young mother and doing this kind of work. Her response: you don’t take the cases home.

The point when home feels stifling and all I want is to go back to school.

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:59:00 -0400

The point when home feels stifling and all I want is to go back to school.

Public Radio Tattoos

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 21:55:25 -0400

Public Radio Tattoos:

YO QUIERO. I’LL GET SO MUCH STREET CRED WITH THESE.

When did my journalism teacher become a model? And ow ow Ari Shapiro.

Day 5: Doing work, I mean, Substantial Gainful Activity

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:20:51 -0400

The more stories I hear at this office, the more I realize how absurdly inefficient our government can be. Okay, okay, Ben Bernanke—I’ll try to be less cynical, because hey, politicians are human too. But then you hear about blind people losing their disability benefits because the government told them via letters that they need to refile their claims, and it wasn’t until a class action lawsuit later that the government realized, “Oh, maybe we should send blind people audio CDs instead because they can’t read regular letters.”

+Bon Iver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIY3duxQvIc

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 00:01:52 -0400

+Bon Iver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIY3duxQvIc

Day 4: Do work

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 01:51:00 -0400

I opened the drawer of my desk and, you won’t believe it, THERE WERE ROCKS. Five very very pretty stones left by the last intern (or *gulp* laid-off attorney). I’m going to disregard the laid-off part and just take this for a good sign.

Speaking of lay-offs, it’s also the reason why each of us interns gets our own office. With a window. It’s also creepy to walk around the floors and discover how many empty offices there are in the building. At the height of LSNJ, there were 200+ staff working here. Now it’s around 130 due to funding cuts.*

The other interns and I are on the floor for immigration cases and poverty research. There are only eight other staffers and a whole lotta empty rooms, so the interior decorating has been pretty creative. The staff has converted one empty office into a coffee shop, offering a whole assortment of coffee and tea… even Small World. The walls around the office are also plastered with posters, tapestries, road signs, and newspaper clippings—some serious and dealing with immigration, some really quirky and funny.

I didn’t get to do anything with immigration today, because the supervisor took the day off. Most likely for her 10^th Reunions…. So instead, I was placed with the domestic violence department.

DOING WORK:

I read and summarized an article for the D.V. supervising attorney. The article was on a D.V. case that was dismissed by the Supreme Court but upheld by international court (I didn’t even know there was a court just for the Americas). Really interesting to think about the implication of international rulings on U.S. law, state law, trickling down all the way to family court and litigators. (Though the implications on U.S. law is pretty small given how disinclined the U.S. is to implement difficult but necessary changes.)
Supervisor to me: You should probably read this, it’ll be relevant to you, especially after law school. I walked back to my office, looked at the article title, and cried to myself in a corner.

Later, I sat in on a conversation among the D.V. supervising attorney, a D.V. victim who has a restraining order court case on Monday, and an interpreter. The victim speaks a language that isn’t very common so it was impossible to find a pro bono lawyer and an interpreter who were both available to represent the victim in court on Monday… so the victim had to represent herself. The D.V. supervising attorney was on the phone giving her some advice, explaining to her how a D.V. trial usually works, what she needs to prove so that the judge will make her restraining order against her husband a lifetime order, etc. I just felt astounded. How can she represent herself? Even though I can speak English, I wouldn’t feel qualified to represent myself in court. I wouldn’t know what to raise objections to, what kind of evidence I can present (I didn’t even know what hearsay was until two days ago), how to cross-examine witnesses. I can’t imagine how someone who doesn’t speak English or who isn’t familiar with U.S. court systems can do it and win a case. The victim asked the lawyer, “Do you know if my husband is being represented by a lawyer?” I hope to god he isn’t, because how can a non-English speaking, low-income immigrant hope to win against a lawyer? They say justice is blind, but it helps if you have enough money to hire somebody to sweet-talk her.
Also, started outlining a self-help manual for victims of online forms of domestic violence. Strange and almost grotesque how pervasive technology’s influence is. GPS tracking, keystroke logging, Spyware—just opens up a whole new set of dangers for domestic violence.

—-

(Interesting fact and possible JP topic? Pro bono services are partly funded by interest earned off invested revenue from private practices. Because of the super low Fed Fund Rate post-recession, there really isn’t any interest earned and hence no funding for LSNJ. JP topic: benefits of monetary stimulus vs. harm inflicted onto lower-income people losing access to legal services?)