So, a needle pulling thread in Book Two: The Fifteenth Year of the Third Millennium of the Common Era

Playing the part of the adult a bit more lately.
Last night, knowing my morning would be early, I was in bed by 10. My Wife was expectedly unhappy with this turn of events; but she was not unhappy in a bitch way. As she does not return home from work until around 11 pm… my attempt at early sleep means we don’t see each other. Especially considering I was up and out the door this morning by 8 am… to return around 4 pm. She was asleep when I left and she went to work at 1 pm… and, again, won’t be returning until around 11 pm. As I will be, once again, out the door by 8 am tomorrow… you can see how these cycles prevent us from seeing one another. Tuesday Wife has the day off, though, so perhaps we can hit Red Lobster and a Movie or something. Because (dammit) if I want to be a good husband when I have the opportunity to see my wife I should embrace the Date Concept. Hell, it is my firm belief that married couples should ALWAYS have a Date Concept… at least one night a week that is considered an honest to goodness date. But then… I was being taken to Promise Keepers events by the time I was 7.

Today was quite a day, though. Got in 6 hours of work this morning doing interviews for court. There were… considerably more than usual. Which lends more to the circling notion that our fair city is seeing a severe uptick in felonious activity. That fits, though. The gangs are gearing up and this time it isn’t Black v Black or Hispanic Street Gang v Cartel… there is rumor and suspicion that we may be seeing an all out Gang War within the next 12 months. And then there’s little old me thinking: Why is it so hard for people to just not break the law?! It isn’t like these are nuanced laws that are tricky… stop doing drugs… stop selling meth… stop shooting people… stop stealing… like, do we really need a 10 Commandments Primer up in here?
How about a secular version:
(1) THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER LAWS BUT THOSE OF THE GOVERNMENT
(2) THOU SHALT NOT MAKE ILLICIT NARCOTICS
(3) THOU SHALT NOT IMPERSONATE ANY OFFICER OF THE GOVERNMENT
(4) REMEMBER TAX DAY AND FILE PROMPTLY
(5) HONOR THY COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS
(6) THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT MURDER
(7) THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY
(8) THOU SHALT NOT STEAL
(9) THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE TESTIMONY AGAINST ANYONE
(10) THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ASSAULT

Granted… any notion of government as religion disturbs me greatly but… so many damned people think the law doesn’t apply to them it is frustrating.

ANyway… after the 6 hours for interviews… I did 5 hours in the law library. This time… I did it my way!
The law librarian is supposed to be a librarian. It is unlawful for the librarian to offer legal advice or assist the inmates in any legal capacity. We may help you find a book or narrow a file search. That is all. For me- this is important. I am a licensed attorney… many other licensed attorneys are paid quite an impressive sum to dispense legal advise… other attorneys carry malpractice insurance to aid in any malpractice claims… and I will not risk my license by giving an ungrateful prisoner unlawful advice!
So today… when one of our repeat customers came in to complain and bitch about the same thing he’s gone on and on and on about for the last 3 weeks… I simply offered a book title and said thank you. He got very confused. I informed him that a new policy the Law Library was beginning to enact is that we will no longer staff the library with Law Students because the Law Librarian is not, and is not allowed to be, a replacement lawyer, paralegal, or Junior Council. He… got… very… angry. I suggested that, if he was looking for legal services, he should consult with his lawyer. His response was that he did not trust his lawyer. I did not say so but my thoughts? Oh fucking well! You’re an idiot that you would rather trust a law student’s legal advice than a practicing attorney. You’re a certifiable idiot. What I did say was that I couldn’t help him beyond the services listed on the wall. Because… yeah… for the last 3 years there has been a sign on the Law Library walls expressly stating what the Law Librarian CAN and CANNOT do. But I don’t blame the workers from before. You put a law student in a room of people trying to figure out the law… that law student is going to jump at the chance to help. It is a way to see what they are studying in a real world setting. I get it. But my presence and my policy is to bring the Law Library back to what it is supposed to be.

Funny thing? The law library was quiet all day. When you don’t offer “free legal advice”… inmates don’t walk in and start chatting, whooping it up, yelling stuff… when you behave like a librarian… the inmates treat the law library like a library. In my opinion, a damned good change.

We did have a guy come in though that had an interesting story. He was in a car that got pulled over. Dog sniff indicated the presence of drugs. No drugs were located within the vehicle but a weapon was found. Two of the vehicle’s occupants were arrested, One of them was not. The individual had a problem with all of it. “How come that dog sniff is okay if they didn’t find no drugs in the car?”
A: Sir, if drugs had been used in that vehicle at all that day or even possibly that week, the dog sniff would have indicated the presence of drugs.
“Aw, yeah then. Cuz we’d had some about an hour ago. K.”
Inner thoughts: Dumb asses. You break the law and get upset that the dog indicated the truth. if you don’t want your vehicle suspected in drug use crimes, DON’T use it in the commission of a drug use! “So, if they only found one gun how come they arrested two people?”
A: As we discussed last week, if the gun was not found on anyone’s person the possession of that weapon can be attributed to anyone within reach of that weapon. In a vehicle, most occupants will typically be found to be within reach. “But why did they only arrest two of us? Shouldn’t they have arrested all three? Like, can’t that be a reason why the arrest was bad?”
A: Were there any legally significant differences between those arrested and those release? Like presence of drugs, prior convictions? “Yeah, me and the other guy’ve been convicted of felonies before. Other guy hadn’t.”
A: There you go. In many cases, a felon in possession of a firearm is a felony. The two of you being in possession of a firearm was a crime whereas it was not a crime for the other individual. “Yo, trust me. Ain’t nobody cruising around North O that don’t got a gun in their car.”
A: Then for many of those individuals, they are doubtless breaking the law.
And in my head I’m thinking… North Omaha is the HEART of Old Gang Country. You’ve got your Bloods and Crips in thick numbers up there.... maybe if less people in North O were strapping and banging; there’d be less reason for people to carry guns on them illegally!

Then I came home happy to be out of the jail. $143 of work for today is fine and dandy but I’m happy to come home! And… yes… it does bother me a little that I have to do the Law Library for such a paltry sum… it is one of the reasons I refuse to dispense legal advice. The job basically breaks down to $27k a year… if a licensed attorney is giving legal advice for that little? They are either insane or independently wealthy!

Anyway, came home and had a message!
Considering I have been waiting for my phone to ring for FOREVER!!! I mean… the last job I interviewed for was back in Early August or late July… Poppi needs an interview!
LUCKILY that is what the message was about! Disability Services want to interview me in the beginning of November. Now… disability services could be very cool… you all know how passionate I am about Mental Health...... but the better thing? The job is in Des Moines. So, if we got it… we’d be going home. Not… “back to Iowa, at least”… not “Close-ish to Wife’s Parents.” No. We’d be going back home… to the exact City that Wife wants to move back to. To where my parents and most of my friends live. Obviously, I’m trying to stay realistic about it. But… it is an excellent opportunity. And, at the very least it is an interview… it is one step past “constant applications” and a step I’ve been sorely missing these last few months. After that message… I got a call from one of the County Attorney positions I applied to… THEY ALSO WANT TO INTERVIEW ME!

If neither place hires me, yes… I will be super bummed. BUT… two interviews? When I haven’t had a single interview since the summer? At the very least, if will be wonderful for my spiritual resolve.

Last updated October 19, 2015