Blogging Like It's 2005

When I registered for this blog, I was wrapping up a gap year between undergrad and law school. It was 2005. And blogs were...more of a thing. I never did much with it, but I'm grateful to my former self for registering it. Thanks, 2005 John!

I hope blogs still have a role to play. They are more in-depth than most other hot takes lurking out here as we all cruise along the information superhighway. 

This space is to explore mostly my professional interests--which revolve around challenging extreme punishments in post-conviction proceedings, legal scholarship, and working with the next generation of advocates. I'll discuss these topics in some depth, with the hope that those otherwise unfamiliar with habeas corpus, certiorari, or Latin in general might understand and, at times, even enjoy checking it out.

Wait! Don't leave! Although these are weighty topics, I will aim to take them on with humor and humility. 

I'll also occasionally explore more personal interests, like cycling, coaching my daughter's basketball team, learning cello in my 40s, cooking, and the weirdness of living in Berkeley.

A little bit more about me: I represent persons across the country facing either execution or death in prison, something I've been up to since graduating from law school. I co-founded an organization that specializes in that sort of work, and I also teach law school classes and draft scholarship on such subjects. I have had clients go home and I've had clients executed. It's my aspiration to insist on the inherent dignity of my clients. More to come!