Stephanie P v. Pox County

Now that submissions for the Law Review write-on competition are in, I feel safe in posting what I spent a tortured three days writing. For the record, I do not actually believe juvenile offenders should be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Unfortunately, case law seemed so clear that the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution doesn’t prohibit it. So this is what it’s like to be a judge…

Click here to read my opinion in the matter of Stephanie P. v. Pox County. And please don’t email me to tell me there are a bunch of typos or citation errors. That’s what 5 a.m. editing will do to a paper. 

Sisters do the Brothers

Looking at the summit of the Brothers from the south couloir

The prevailing opinion among The Mountaineers is that all-women’s climbs don’t work well. Non-specific comments abound about the dynamic among the climbers being bad, women not being able to carry all the gear, etc. Having organized an unofficial one before with partial success, I was game when Rena called one day out of the blue asking me to put another one together.

Rena is a basic student this year and noticed the glaring disparity among the sexes in our chosen sport. She wanted to meet other women – both experienced and new – and develop a camaraderie that would hopefully foster more women climbers.

Continued...