More Class with some Sangria.

Monday we had another interesting round of classes, continuing our discussion on the 8th amendment and the use of foreign decisions. We talked about the use of life imprisonment for a juvenile who committed a non-homicide crime. As an interesting note, J. Alito pointed out that a large majority of the most populous nations actually allow the death penalty, though the Court often focuses on western European nations when including foreign decisions as support to limit the death penalty. Later in the day we had a beautiful rain that cooled down the city (the umbrella came in handy), and in the evening, a very nice dinner with all of our professors. I had chicken with spatzle noodles, which were like the noodles from the German restaurant not the way Grandma makes them. After dinner we stopped by a bar with our TA’s and tried the sangria, which was delicious. Plus, the more you drank the cheaper the pitchers became, so of course we stayed a little while. The bar was a small place and the employees were very kind. I even had an employee come ‘check on me’ and start a conversation when I stepped out for some fresh air.

Tuesday we began our discussion of the fourth amendment and a search incident to an arrest, although we focused on the use of precedent in interpreting the Constitution. The discussion was again very interesting and there were many varying views in the class. I have noticed that J. Alito sometimes frames the question in a way that leans towards his own views; although this is probably a result of the way he views the issue in general. After class a few of us attempted to do a brewery tour, but there was a scheduling mistake and we ended up just doing some free beer tasting, which would have come at the end of the tour. Afterwards I was able to sneak in a quick swim and a talk with Kim, and now I’m off to do some reading.