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William D. Randall's Blog (of no particular interest to no one in particular)
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Thursday, April 28, 2005
Oyez Oyez Oyez... (ed note: This post was edited on 5/2. The author's head was not so clear after the jet lag and the craziness of the trip.) I really had a great trip to D.C. It all moved so fast that I barely remember it. While the weekend consisted of hitting all of the usual tourist attractions, the Air and Space Museum, the WW II Memorial, Georgetown, etc.... Unfortunately the rest is just a blur as we tried to cram in a weeks worth of stuff within four days. But I can say I do remember a couple things vividly. Tuesday was really the best day of the entire trip. In the morning we went to the Supreme Court. Normally if one wanted to view the proceedings of the Court, you would have to line up outside where you would then be given a numbered pass that designated your spot in line. Once all of the tickets have been distributed, anyone else wishing to view the proceedings would be out of luck. Even after all of that you would be given five minutes to watch the proceedings and then you would be ushered out of the Court. But due to the fact that group of attorneys that were scheduled to be sworn in cancelled, my brother and I were able to view the proceedings. Through the nice people in the admissions office, we were added to the Marshal's list and had no limit on the duration of our stay in the Court chamber. We were able to witness the court issue two opinions from the bench. The first case was Small v. United States (03-750 U.S.). This case really was a matter of semantics on whether "any court" as it appeared in the legislation pertaining to the possession of firearms by a convicted felon meant both foreign and domestic courts or just domestic courts. The Court, acting in their roll in determining the intent of legislation, found that "any court" was limited to U.S. Courts and the conviction of Mr. Small by a Japanese court for possession of a firearm could not be used in applying a similar domestic statue to Mr. Small. The second case was Pasquantino v. United States (03-725 U.S.). This case determined that the federal wire fraud statues to apply to any attempt to defraud a foreign nation (in this case, Canada) from any tax revenue they may receive from certain transactions. The Court held that the wire fraud statues do apply and that they do not violate the common law revenue rule which prohibits foreign governments from enforcing the tax laws of other nations. After the decisions were handled down. The Court then proceeded with oral arguments in the matter of American Trucking Associations, Inc., and USF Holland, Inc., v. Michigan Public Service Commission, et al. (03-1230 U.S.) and another similar case. The case, according to the oral arguments pertained to the ability of the state of Michigan to assess a tax or fee on interstate trucking companies that undertake intrastate trucking business within Michigan. The justices were pointed and knowledgeable about the issues. It is funny how lawyers who have been practicing law for many years tend to stammer and stumble while presenting their cases in front of the court. Most of the cases tend to be argued via the written briefs and oral argument serves to just clarify the opinions of the justices. Prior to being a witness to history on Tuesday, we went over to meet with our Congressman for a staff-led tour of the capitol on Monday. To say that the capitol is just another office building is like saying fort knox is just another bank. I think it should be described as the National Legislative Complex at Washington, The place has more security than a military base, and unless you are used to it, it can be a bit unsettling at times. We toured the House side of the building and we made a stop in front of the sergent-at-arms office. Above his door was a quote that read "We build no temple but the capitol, We consult no oracle but the Constitution." I wish more of our elected officials would take the time to walk the halls of the capitol in order to realize that religion is not going to be the savior of America. But I digress. After the tour we then went across the street to the Senate office buildings to get gallery passes for the Senate. We were in luck as just as we walked into the gallery, Senator Boxer was preparing to give a floor speech about three or four issues. She named off the 25 casualties that occurred in Iraq and then went on to the controversy concerning judicial appointments. I agree with her when she mentions that Bush should stop complaining over having 90% of his nominees appointed to the bench. On Tuesday night we then caught a baseball game at RFK. The Nationals played the Phillies that night in a game that included a monster blast to the seats above the right field wall. I'll post some pictures soon. No offense but RFK is a dump compared to other major league stadiums but it is cool that baseball is now back in the Nation's capital. It was just four days in Washington, but it felt like a week. WDR.
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