Things I learned in class today:
In Evidence:
Under The Federal Rules of Evidence 606(b) as applied in Tanner v. United States, 483 U.S. 107 (1987), jurors who drink heavily during lunch, smoke marijuana, and possibly snort cocaine while deliberating will not constitute grounds to require a grant of a motion for retrial. Preserving jury trials is very important.
In Con Law II:
Lawrence v. Texas is a sure fire way to get law students all fired up. I think discussions in class are interesting, I like to know what people think, especially people that I know personally. But sometimes it is difficult to know what the people around you think about hot topics because many social situations are just not conducive to launching into personal views, either because people will clam up and stop talking completely, or one or two people with extreme views will dominate the conversation and no one else will get a word in edgewise. Of course with your close friends you are going to know where they stand, but this is often limited to a close circle. So I think class discussion is a good place where people can voice their opinion in a logical manner and have a chance to finish a thought without some overly pushy individual attacking them. Also, if we don’t talk about issues like gay marriage in a manner that makes it personal to everyone, many people aren’t going to apply it to their real life, and we will be stuck with stagnant views.
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