Living LAwfully

You may have heard about a recent event in which a man, Dan Goldstein, reportedly yelled at Ivanka Trump on a JetBlue flight which resulted in him being kicked off the plane, along with his husband and child. This garnered more attention when it was discovered that the husband (of the man that allegedly gave Ivanka a hard time) apparently tweeted about the event, saying that his husband was chasing down Ivanka to harass her.

The scene escalated further when the news started reporting the identity of the tweeter- a man named Matt Lasner. He was later connected to my college, Hunter College, as he is a professor there.

Following this news reveal, random people with no affiliation with Hunter College decided to review Hunter College on Facebook, giving it bad reviews. Citing this recent incident with Ivanka, many people unfairly attacked the school, degrading the institution to a 2.8 star rated school. This rating may now affect anyone who decides to look up Hunter College. It may affect the school's reputation. This rating is not an accurate portrayal of the quality of the school.

This morning I saw a petition asking for him to be fired from his job at Hunter College. The petitioner argued in the description of the petition that Lasner's "conduct is a direct representation of Hunter College" and that someone "who would harass a mother and her child simply trying to go about their day, does not deserve the honor of teaching."

I feel that this proposal is interesting- getting someone fired for something he tweeted. It is necessary to point out that the creator of the petition must have had a little bit of misinformation when he created the petition. Lasner was not the one who supposedly "harassed" Ivanka. Lasner's husband's actions do not transfer to Lasner's responsibility. Lasner was not reported to be saying anything controversial at the time when his husband raised the conflict of sitting on the same flight as Ivanka.

In fact, I question if a ruckus was even made about Ivanka's appearance on the plane. TMZ reported that Goldstein was "an out-of-control passenger" who "began verbally berating her and 'jeering' at her 3 kids." A supposed witness on the plane made a Facebook post claiming it was a relatively calm scene and he did not hear any screaming at all. TMZ may have exaggerated the story quite a bit.

I think this news sheds light on important ideas in our legal system, such as the Freedom of Speech, which many Facebook commentators seem to mention. I will have to return to this event later in time once I start learning more about the First Amendment in my Bill of Rights class next semester. Only then will I feel adequate enough to talk about the coverage the First Amendment offers. This situation also brings up the question on an employer's right to fire an employee based on off duty events. New York has certain protections for off duty conduct (some policies highlighted in the New York Labor Law, Section 201-d - Discrimination Against The Engagement In Certain Activities), however it is still complicated to determine whether or not Lasner can be fired.

I have also seen the reverse petition to NOT fire Matthew Lasner from Hunter College. I look forward to seeing what my college will say about this situation, if they will comment at all.

The famous Strand bookstore in NYC boasts an amazing selection of half priced, cheap used book, art books, cute literary knickknacks, and much more. Recently, I have been going to the law books section of Strand, which actually has a good amount of books! This was vastly different than my experience to the Barnes and Noble in Union Square which basically had only law textbooks...

So I may have splurged a little.

To be honest, I know it's terrible, but many times (about 85% of the time) when I find a book I want at a bookstore, I check Amazon.com and see which has the cheaper price. It's bad because I don't want bookstores to die and we should all support independent bookstores, but at the same time, I always want the cheapest deal! I can't help it that I'm just another poor college student on a budget!

No matter. I ended up spending more than $65 + tax the last few times I went to Strand. I figure I'd do a fun "book haul" post, listing prices, the reason why I bought the book, etc.


Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon, Shana Knizhnik
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has become a pop culture icon with this book. While I was at PLEN, I went to the Supreme Court with women who I knew looked up to RBG a lot. I contemplated buying her book, but it was quite expensive. This one seemed like a cute biographical and informational book, so I went ahead and bought it!

$10 - I consider this a major steal! Originally priced about $23 and saved $3 from the Amazon price.





One L by Scott Turow
This seems to be a go to book all One Ls to be read the summer before law school. It probably scares them senseless. Apparently the experience highlighted by Turow are still basically what being a 1L is like today. I figure I better know what I'm getting myself into early. Also, this was recommended by someone I know who's a lawyer.

$7 - It was labelled "Out of print," as I think this is the original version of the book, not the 2010 reprint.





May It Please the Court
This is a book with a transcript of oral arguments of several landmark Supreme Court cases. It was inspired by The Courage of Their Convictions (which the next book on my book haul list). I specifically found this book because it also contained recordings on a CD of the oral arguments. I put them onto my phone and can read along or just listen to them on the go if I want to.

$17.50- the list price was $35



The Courage of Their Convictions by Peter Irons
This book covers sixteen Supreme Court cases that were monumental to giving us some of our civil liberties that exist today. It also highlights the cases where Americans fundamentally challenged the law of the land immensely.

$1- I was lucky enough to find this amazing book in the sale carts outside Strand! I can't believe I got this book for cheaper than a chocolate bar (in Manhattan)!


I saw this book in Melanie's office. I have no idea what area of law I want to specialize in. Hopefully this book will help me figure that out in the future. So far it seems alright (flipped around through several specialties), but many have complained about the book being too positive and not including enough negatives.

$10.50- The $21 sticker on both Amazon and the list price made buying this book seem more worth it!




Proceed with Caution by William R. Keates

This book caught my eye because it's a diary kept from a lawyer in the "dream job" position, yet he hates his job. I can't wait to read it.

$9.50- It was supposedly out of print and I decided to give it a shot!

Hope you all enjoyed my book haul! Not that I should spend a bajillion more dollars buying more books, but I suspect there should be another one some time in the future.

I know. Most people start their law blogs in law school. Why would anyone want to read a law blog from someone so inexperienced like me? Well, I believe that since my passion for studying the law started before law school, it is adequate to start my blog now and track my progress through college, law school, and maybe through my eventual practice (hopefully).

This blog will cover topics I find interesting, things I learn from reading the newspaper or learn in my classes. My articles can range from What I Bought at the Supreme Court Gift Shop to a review of a law book to Who Owns the Right to Chess Moves and Games. In general, I will write about what I want to and about topics that interest me.

I am not sure how often I will post. It depends on when I have time and when I learn about newsworthy topics to write about.

I hope whoever reads my blog recognizes that this blog is not meant to show top notch legal experience. It is meant to be personal, educational, but the fact remains that I am no professional (yet). I am just having fun!

A note on the title of the blog, Living LAwfully: it's meant to be a bit of a joke, like "Living Awfully," yet also remaining "Living Lawfully." I say awfully because as you may be aware, sometimes studying the law can just be quite a tough experience. I use my humor lightly, though, as of course I enjoy it a lot!