End of Strasbourg + Paris - Through Tuesday, June 20, 2010

And I've fallen behind yet again. But that's not surprising. How about an attempt at an update:

The last week of classes went well. As some of you know, the program included a week-long course in Contemporary Issues of Constitutional Interpretation from Supreme Court Justice Alito. I knew that it would be a great opportunity - I mean, how often do you get to meet a Supreme Court Justice, let alone have a week of classes with one? The fact that I don't agree with most of Alito's decisions and generally thought that he was not particularly interesting made me not quite excited as I would have been to meet another Justice, but I still really wanted the opportunity. He did not change my opinions - I still disagree with most of his decisions. But I was quite impressed and definitely gained respect for the man.

I don't think any of us really knew what to expect - Alito has never been a professor. Conversations with others who had been involved in this program before said that the different Justices that have participated behaved very differently. Justice Alito was not particularly social with us outside of class, but he was very willing to answer questions and would stay around for a bit after each class. One of my favorite aspects of the class was that he did not shy away from difficult/interesting topics. He could easily have explained to us the basics of textualism and the living constitution (different theories/styles of Constitutional interpretation) using politically neutral subjects, but he didn't. After the first day of introductions and discussions about the books we had to read by Justices Breyer and Scalia (different books) - which led into these different theories of interpretation - we talked about the Second Amendment, the death penalty for juveniles, life sentences for juveniles, unreasonable searches and seizures and US Supreme Court use of foreign and international law. These are not uncontroversial issues! He gave us cases to read that had literally been decided weeks before, and he had been involved in the majority of the decisions we read. While the focus of the class did put more weight on Justice Scalia's way of thinking, Justice Alito was respectful and open to criticism, comment and analysis and was in no way dismissive of other reasonable opinions. I was impressed.

On Monday night, we had a fancy-ish dinner with him and all our professors (who were still there) at a beautiful restaurant on the river. It was a fun excuse to dress up without wearing a suit. And of course, it was one of the few nights it rained. It was a bit of an adventure walking on cobble stones, in heals to the restaurant, but we made it. Not so sure about my shoes...


On Friday afternoon, we had a reception hosted by the Strasbourg Law School, where our classes were held. We got pictures and tried to look all lawyer-ly. Got a few for frames on office walls for "someday."

Guys trying to look...manly?...


The whole group:


The group from DU with Alito:


Yours Truly with Alito:


The weekend was spent in a mixture of studying, not studying and trying to figure out next plans. A few people were heading home directly after the program ended; most were going off somewhere for at least a while. Monday, we had 3 exams in a row - a bit tedious, but not too difficult (I say now)...lots of bitching about writing things by hand. Wow, we are spoiled! After the last final, a group of us who were still in Strasbourg went out for a last dinner.

It was really good - I believe the place specialized in potatoes of different kinds. I had chicken and really got a kick out of the plate it was served on:



That night (and at least one other) I watched a light show that they did at night on the cathedral. It was really fun - lights flashed in different colors and spots in time with music. Really beautiful - and fun to see all the people who turned out to see it each time.


On Tuesday, Laura, Anne and I all headed to Paris. Laura (new friend from CU Law) was meeting family for another week or so, Anne was meeting up with some guys from our program who started another program in Paris (crazy - it's their 3rd of the summer), and I spent a nice 6 hours in the city. There are definitely beautiful spots in Paris, but it's not my favorite city. The time I had there was nice - got to see a few sites again - and then got back on a night train to head to Spain. (You can't tell, but we're in front of Notre-Dame)


This program was a great experience. Lots of good people, lots of fun and I'm pretty sure I learned quite a lot. I have since realized that I did get spoiled by the hotels and (after the Hague) good breakfasts...but I keep reminding myself that I will have them again...