Farewell SLIP 20

You were a great class.  We look forward to all of your updates and news to come.

A Reflection on Miller v. Alabama - Please read.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/26/a-former-teenage-carjacker-reflects-on-supreme-court-ruling-in-miller-v-alabama.html

A Reflection on the Importance and Beauty of True Humility

Yesterday afternoon I was thrilled to attend the portrait unveiling for the Honorable Beverly B. Martin. Judge Martin was elevated to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals by President Obama. Prior to that, I appeared regularly before Judge Martin in United States District Court and it was an honor and a pleasure to do so. As I was headed up to the unveiling (which Judge Martin had requested to be very small and with limited ceremony), I was remarking to people how Judge Martin has always been one of my favorite judges. At the conclusion of the ceremony, I was reminded just why she is so special. Judge Beverly Martin is one of those rare individuals who is both very distinguished and also genuinely humble. Many of us are raised to be humble and not to boast to others about our accomplishments. Yet, few of us achieve true and genuine humility which is marked by wanting everyone to feel included, important and special at all times. Though Judge Martin now sits on a court which is only outranked by the United States Supreme Court, she spent her entire remarks trying to convey to others how much she owes them for her success and how much she really values their contributions to our profession. This presents the opportunity for me to remind each of you that as you find yourselves becoming more and more accomplished, do not ever let your excitement about your accomplishments ever inspire you to overshadow others as they seek to be included in conversations and gatherings. True and genuine humility is a thing of beauty. Just a thought. See you next week! Tasha

United States Supreme Court 2012

Time Sheet Week of July 16-20, 2012

Follow-up to our discussion on sentencing

Thanks for a very interesting and entertaining discussion last night about sentencing.  As a follow-up to our discussion, the four goals of sentencing are:

• Retribution (punishment for bad acts)
• Rehabilitation (preparation for return to society without reoffending)
• Incapacitation (keeping the offender locked up to protect society) and
• Deterrence (warning the public and the individual offender that actions have consequences)

In addition, a fair system has to have proportionality.  In other words, the time should fit the crime.

We had talked about one of my cases in which a string or armed robberies results in exposure to more than one hundred years of incarceration.  I was very impressed with the arguments on both sides given as to an appropriate sentence.  In particular as budding lawyers, I am always interested in hearing your opinions given with supporting arguments and reasons.

I thought you might be interested in the link to the article below which discusses a similar scenario as it relates to your essay topic.

Looking forward to reading your essays and seeing you next week!

- Tasha

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/03/quartavious-davis-florida-man-injustice-sentence_n_1645120.html

Timesheet Week of July 11-15, 2012

Time Sheet Week of July 2-6, 2012

Email address for host photos

Great meeting last night!  The new email address for sending your photographs with your hosts is:

TASHASINTERN@GMAIL.COM

Supreme Court strikes down mandatory life without parole sentencing schemes for juveniles convicted of murder.

The United States Supreme Court decided today that it is unconstitutional for a state to enact a sentencing scheme which mandates life without possibility of parole for juveniles convicted of murder.  This year's SLIP Essay Requirement is about this decision.

Here is the link to the opinion: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-9646g2i8.pdf.

The SLIP 20 Essay Requirement has been posted.  You can find the link to the right of click HERE.

Time Sheet for Week of June 18-22

Weekly Time Sheet

Week of June 18, 2012

Intern’s Name  ______________________________________________________

Host Firm/Organization’s Name
______________________________________________________

Supervisor’s Name 
______________________________________________________

Day                             Start Time                  End Time                   Daily Hours Worked

June 18                                                                                                                                                        

June 19                                                                                                                                                       

June 20                                                                                                                                                       

June 21                                                                                                                                                       

June 22                                                                                                                                                        

Total Hours Worked  ____________________________________________

I certify that I worked these hours

(Signature of Intern)

Date  ______________________________

Approved by

(Signature of Supervisor)

Print Name                                                                                        Date

An Interesting Article: How would you handle this situation?

Click on the link below for the full article:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-10/news/ct-met-defending-a-supremacist-20120610_1_white-supremacist-civil-rights-defender

Many thanks to our three excellent orientation speakers

Javarus Gresham

Claude Davis, II

Raqketa Williams

SLIP Internship Memories

SLIP Internship - Courtney L. Glasker

            I had the opportunity to participate in the Atlanta Bar Association’s Summer Law Internship program for three very enriching summers; one was spent at McKenna Long & Aldridge, the other two, at the Federal Defender Program, Inc.  My diverse placement provided exposure to both the corporate and public service areas of law.  That first summer, I learned the importance of accountability.  This knowledge was emphasized through the keeping of a timesheet, but applied to every aspect of the professional environment in which I worked.  While working at the Federal Defender Program, Inc., I am grateful that I was able to gain practical skills through interacting with clients and filing documents at the courthouse, amongst other tasks. 

I remember looking forward to the mandatory weekly meetings that were held at the Atlanta Bar Association for the program’s participants.  In retrospect, while I believe the meetings were supposed to be mostly informative, as we often had guests speak about their respective practice areas, the meetings also served as a type of support group.  If only for a moment, we were able to come together and discuss the events of our week and receive encouragement, advice, and even correction when necessary. 

Although many benefits were gained through my participation in the internship program, the ones that I cherish the most are intangible; the sense of professional confidence which was instilled through the constant grooming, and mentoring and the lasting relationship with my very first mentors in the legal community, Wade Malone and Natasha Perdew Silas.  Ultimately, the internship program intensified my interest in practicing law and kept me focused on that path; I was put into a position that allowed me to see a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, therefore I was able to hold on to the memory of its gleam when times were difficult.  I am currently in my last year of law school at the University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law.  I have nine credit hours standing in between me and my Jurist Doctorate degree.   

Years Interned: 2003, 2004, and 2005

Current Place in Life: 3L at University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law

Information that is Good to Know

Our kickoff breakfast is being hosted this year (as in past years) by the law firm of Alston & Bird.  Alston & Bird is located in One Atlantic Center (formerly the IBM Tower).  When it opened in 1987, One Atlantic Center was the tallest building in Atlanta.  The breakfast will be in the Alston & Bird dining room in the building across the street from the main skyscraper.  This smaller building is called Atlantic Center Plaza.  People call this building the "mini-me" building because it looks like a smaller version of One Atlantic Center.  Our host for the breakfast, Alston & Bird, is a law firm of over 800 attorneys worldwide.  They handle all types of matters and enjoy an outstanding reputation worldwide.

Kick Off Breakfast Invitation

Three down and one to go!

Congratulations on another terrific orientation session on June 4, 2012.  There is only one more before work starts.

Congratulations also to our lucky winners on the Robin Roberts pop quiz.  We were really impressed with how well you have digested this book.  There are so many words of wisdom there.

Today we heard from Javarus!  Failure was definitely not an option.  He had many words of wisdom for you.  We are so happy to see Javarus doing well.

Do not forget to review the Dress for Success video.
Do not forget thank you letters. (Kudos to Jasmine Collins for a really excellent letter.)
Do not forget to bring one to keep, one to turn in and one to mail.
Do not forget enrichment.



For next week, we have a lot to review.  We will begin to practice for the Kick-Off Breakfast too.  Introductions go something like this:

"Good morning, I am Jane Smith.  I am a rising senior at ABC High School.  This is my first year interning in the program.  I am assigned to work with Jones and Jones.   Here with me today is Jocelyn Dorsey."

We have an exciting speaker for this year's Kick-Off Breakfast, the Honorable Patsy Y. Porter, Chief of the Fulton County State Court.  Click here for information about Judge Porter.  That should be a very special treat!

One last thing, remember:  "If it is not illegal, unethical, or immoral, it is in [your] job description."

Timesheet for Public Interns

What an awesome meeting last week!

Thanks to all of the interns who showed up early, dressed professionally, and ready to engage in the orientation process.  You made the meeting an absolute pleasure.  We hope you learned a lot too.  We are looking forward to seeing you on Monday at 12:00pm.  You have enrichment that is due.  You need to bring thank you notes ready to be mailed to our speaker.  Also, you are responsible for more chapters in Robin Roberts' book.  There is a link to the right of an interview with Robin Roberts about her book.  We are looking forward to announcing intern work assignments.

See you Monday!

SLIP 20 Students
(featuring Jacob Frieson-Grant, Ashley Barber, and Jackie Boards)
at Orientation Meeting 2

We are so grateful to our speaker, Raqketa D.  Williams
Don't forget your thank you notes!