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THE COMMENTATOR Vol. XLI, No. 2 The Student Newspaper of the New York University School of Law September 21, 2006 The Big Easy NYU Grad and Supreme Falls on Hard Times Court Clerk BY SARAH BETH CHRISTENSEN, the flood. The judge told of a of-state the opportunity to reg- BY ROBERTO L. REYES-GASKIN emphasis on legal writing. He STEINHARDT SCHOOL ‘07 woman charged with prostitution ister to vote if they were not reg- If securing a clerkship after wrote numerous papers while in Lawyers, law students, and sent to the state’s largest maxi- istered before the flood. The im- law school represents a very law school, including a note on the other members of the American mum-security all-male prison. portant constitutional question prestigious next step, then Office of the Comptroller of Cur- Constitution Society filled a large Another unnerving description of whether displaced citizens of clerking with the Supreme Court rency (OCC), the federal adminis- classroom at Columbia University of the prison system’s failure in- New Orleans remain eligible to is its zenith. This year, one NYU trative body that oversees the last week as the Honorable Judge volved a young man evacuated vote in the city’s elections is yet graduate, Nicholas Bagley (J.D. banking system. Ironically, the is- Sarah Vance of Louisiana took the to a different prison before the to be resolved. Likewise for the 2005), has joined the ranks of the sue of whether that agency over- podium to discuss the legal flood who sat in a prison cell in concern over the quality of the privileged few and will be work- stepped its authority by regulat- troubles in post-Katrina New Or- another Louisiana city for two city’s 2008 presidential polling ing for the highest court of the ing against excessively high inter- leans. months longer than the maximum places and New Orleans citizens’ land. He est rates Judge Vance expressed her sentence for his alleged crime access to these locations. will be has empathy and concerns for the without ever actually being As the judge wrapped up her working passed disaster’s victims during her charged with the crime. list of post-flood legal disasters, Justice through speech, which examined Katrina’s In New Orleans, legal prob- her clear voice revealing her John Paul the damage from a legal perspective. lems abound outside the prison slight drawl only when she ut- Stevens, court She touched on the familiar but system as well. Crime is rampant tered the name of her beloved nominated system still-painful (and ongoing) human due to the lack of police; the bar- city, a clear change came over the for the and suffering that resulted from the ren, gang-friendly devastation of tone of the seminar. The conver- bench at reached floodwater that engulfed 80% of many of the city’s neighbor- sation shifted from a scholarly the high- the Su- New Orleans, killed hundreds, and hoods; and the unavailability of discussion of constitutional is- est court preme displaced thousands. She also mental healthcare or substance sues to a hard-sell recruiting mis- by Presi- Court briefly mentioned the heavily dis- rehabilitation programs. Vance sion for lawyers and law stu- dent Ford this year. cussed subjects of race, class, reported that gangs run many dents. A young lawyer spoke up in 1975. As planning, leadership, and bureau- neighborhoods and have tight- from the audience and told of his Bagley, is typical cratic obstacles. ened their hold due to the in- new job with the District from San of Su- After a thorough description creased demand for drugs and Attorney’s office and spoke of Diego, preme of these well-recognized Katrina is- lack of police intervention. Turf- the satisfaction of helping to CA, is a Court sues, the judge focused on her de- wars occur regularly and wit- change the badly damaged sys- graduate clerks, scription of New Orleans as a city nesses of violence often refuse tem from the inside. Another au- of Yale Bagley rife with dreadful constitutional to testify for fear of gang retri- dience member described a re- College, first violations and a grave lack of fi- bution. warding experience as a summer where he majored in English. clerked for a Circuit Court judge. nancial and managerial resources Combining this new terrify- intern in Louisiana. At New York University School From 2005 to 2006, he worked with to correct them and to establish ing atmosphere with the pre-exist- Although the “working in of Law, he focused on admin- Judge David Tatel of the District process and procedures to abide ing lack of organization and fund- the balmy humidity of New Or- istrative law, “but not exclu- of Columbia Circuit. Bagley calls by federal law. ing, it comes as no surprise that leans for low pay and long hours” sively,” also taking higher his first clerkship a “terrific experi- According to Vance, the the city of New Orleans does not daydream is likely lower on the courses in property and envi- ence.” It was exciting because a city’s criminal justice system was know exactly how many pending totem pole than other fantasies ronmental law. Nicholas also new case came across his desk dysfunctional pre-Katrina and criminal trials there are. Vance said for most New York City law stu- served as Notes Editor of New every week that related mostly to now sustains a mere fraction of its that after the floodwaters sub- dents, the personal and long-term York University Law Review. complicated, regulatory and ad- obligatory functionality. Before the sided, it was difficult for the DA’s career benefits could be compen- While “so many great profes- ministrative issues. He especially hurricane the public defender’s office to start trying cases because sation enough for many. The re- sors” influenced his interests, appreciated the “humbling and ex- office received the bulk of its in- their entire evidence room was structuring of the various court particularly significant were citing” opportunity to discuss adequate funding from the pay- flooded. A team of experts from the offices in New Orleans along with Larry Kramer (Civil Procedure cases on the court’s docket with ment of traffic tickets and had no Smithsonian have been reportedly the unprecedented need for le- and Constitutional Law), who Judge Tatel. Bagley’s duties will central computer system or orga- successful in their attempts to re- gal aid in both criminal and civil is now Richard E. Lang Profes- be different this coming year, in- nized records system to keep case store the evidence to its original matters presents a unique oppor- sor and Dean of Stanford Law cluding reviewing petitions and and client files. Even before the state. Unfortunately citizens do tunity to the legal force. Inter- School; NYU’s current Dean, advising Justice Stevens on which storm the office was shamefully not have access to the ested NYU Law students or Richard Revesz (Environmen- cases the court should hear, since understaffed and had to handle Smithsonian team to restore titles alumni should contact tal Law); and Michael Schill, the Supreme Court has discretion- roughly 90% of the city’s criminal and vital property ownership pa- www.katrinalegalaid.org or con- presently Dean and Professor ary power over which cases to caseload. The city’s public de- pers, wills, birth certificates, social tact the New Orleans District of Law at UCLA School of Law. take. The Supreme Court will also fenders worked for the office part- security cards, and other docu- Attorney’s Office to follow-up on Bagley says that although be an intellectual change of pace time and the majority of their in- mentation. Often these documents the possibilities of beginning or the “substantive areas [of the law] for Bagely because it reviews come came from private practice have been lost or completely ru- refreshing your career in a place are important,” perhaps the ele- many criminal and habeas corpus work. They didn’t meet their cli- ined and the courts have no time you are desperately needed and ment that prepared him most for a cases, areas of the law that he did ents before the trial to prepare their or resources to help mediate dis- where you can affect real change. clerkship was NYU Law School’s not see while on the D.C. Circuit. cases, and worked areas of the putes involving identity and prop- court instead of working a case erty ownership when other legal from start to finish. issues are weighted more heavily. Even before the hurricane, a Judge Vance also worries client of the New Orleans public about the future of elections in Infra defender’s office had little chance New Orleans. Adherence to fed- of a fair trial. Now, after the devas- eral and state voting laws will be Opinions p. 2 Arts p. 3 tation, everything is much, much a challenge for state officials. worse. One major issue is the many dis- Before the levy broke, the placed citizens in Louisiana, New Professor Profiles, Part I p. 4 state evacuated 5,000 prisoners Texas, and other states across to other Louisiana facilities. The the nation. In the last mayoral judge characterized this move as election, these displaced indi- completely lacking in organiza- viduals employed satellite vot- tion and planning, and undocu- ing by mail to cast their ballots. mented to the point that the state The NAACP has filed a lawsuit had no record of where the (Wallace vs. Blanco) to force the evacuated prisoners were after state to allow refugees living out- Commentator Opinions Page 2 September 21, 2006 Communism Hates You, and You Should Hate It, Too BY TUDOR RUS ‘07 more than a violent and despotic erty owners, religious leaders, intel- Violence was required to bring a com- that in many instances were not Johnny Weir, reigning three- means that a few individuals lectuals and independent elites and munist regime to power, and the use of even able to feed their own people.