The Coalition

(via Andrew Sullivan)

Scrappy

Today, the Alabama State Bar released results of the February bar examination. First-time takers from Faulkner University Jones School of Law passed at a rate of 91.7%. That is the highest passage rate among all law schools in the state.

Congratulations, JSL grads! Turn the world upside down a little bit.

Media Narrative

The question is not whether Obama can win the "big states," the states that matter, as HRC desperately squawks. The question is not whether unionized, working-class, blue-collar Rust Belt populists will vote for Obama in November, even though they voted for HRC yesterday. The question is not whether the bitter masses prefer HRC to Obama.

The question is whether they'll vote for McCain.

Yes, we can, America, so let's get on with it.

Fired up. Ready to go.

Enjoining Coercion

I enjoyed a sweet touch of providence today. I accepted an offer from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law to publish my first scholarly article in the Journal of Law and Family Studies.

My paper springs from our experience in the JSL Family Violence Clinic, and I owe a great debt of affection and credit to my students who stand alongside victims of domestic abuse to counsel them on their legal options and to represent them in proceedings to obtain civil protection orders. My students are brave and true.

This paper addresses a short-coming I perceive in the law of domestic violence. My solution may not ever appear in the law, but the problem is real. If you are inclined to read it, you may download it at this link. If you do, please learn to identify the dangerous dynamic of coercive control in intimate relationships, and be ready to provide shelter and love when these hidden lives are exposed.

On the first page, I declare gratitude to the Family Sunshine Center. The Sunshine Center hosts the Family Violence Clinic, and we meet and serve our clients there. They are heroes and mighty ministers to the vulnerable and desperate, and they deserve all the support we can give them.

(And Go Utes! Thanks for the big break and for giving me a rooting interest in the Mountain West!)