Chambers: A tribute.

I realize I am not a big blogger, I don't have the gift of words, But I will try to put in words what I feel and have been feeling for a while concerning my internship.

The first couple of days in February, were stressful. I had no legal background and it was like learning a new language trying to understand all the legal terms. Also being put in a situation where I don't really know anyone or anything was stressful to me but gradually the stress went away and I felt like I had been there all my life and that thanks to the wonderful people I worked with.

Greg, one of the most humble men I have ever met. He was on the first case I listened in to, a trial, and it felt like he was taking me under his wing and explained things to me. His patience with me as well as his curiosity in Sweden made me feel a little bit more like I fit in. As time went on he became a true friend helping me in different matters of life. In particular with my dating. He is a genuine and true friend. Honest, humble and pure. But most importantly, he is one snazzy dresser!!

Chayce. At first I was a little bit intimidated by Chayce. He is tall and musced and sounded like he was pretty tough but I soon found out that he is just like a big teddy bear. He still is tall, musceled and tough but he is also very, very nice and considerate. He kind of is the tease in chambers and I knew when he started teasing me that I was ok, I was then a part of the group.

Britton. I always thought that Greg reminded me of one of my brothers, in his body language and that Britton reminded me of my other brother, but who he really reminded me of was Jesus. I know that is a very big compliment but Im serious! He is so NICE! To everyone. No, he is not perfect like Jesus but just his way reminded me of how Jesus is. He also has the most adorable kids. Sorry Greg and Chayce, your kids are adorable too but Jack just stole my heart!

Alison. One Impressive Woman!
The kind of working mother every child should have. I could see early how much she loves her family and that love wasn't restricted to them. She took me under her wing and somehow I felt like part of that family. She is so pure and loving. I wish I could be like her.

Ron, so hard working, and so much fun. He took care of me and found things for me to do in the beginning which helped me feel a little bit needed considering my lack of a law degree. I love his example of showing that family comes first but also his strong dedication to his work. seems he got the balance pretty much figured out.

Ed. I really don't know much about Ed but what I do know is that he is so kind and considerate. He cared about me and my life and would always listen.

And finally Dee. He is one impressive man. Perhaps one of the smartest I've met, but he is not full of himself. He is a people person for sure. I met a woman in a shop and somehow I told her about my internship and she had no connection to the Courthouse or legal stuff but she said: "Oh judge Benson, I know he is very well liked and appriciated." Thats true, I haven't met anyone who doesn't like him, I have seen attorneys annoyed with him and his ruling but there is always respect. He really took a chance on letting me come do an internship with him. For all he knew I could have been a socially retarded mythomaniac, bullying my way in to anything. I am glad I am not and I am glad Dee took that chance. It has been one of the best times in my life. I have been given opportunities and experiences that will affect the rest of my life.

So this is my tribute to chambers: I can't imagine a better place to do an internship or better people to work with, I might even write a country song about it.

Boise

So Boise Idaho. I like it. It was a cool experience. We drove up in Dee's truck, I sat in the front between Dee and Chayce and Briton sat in the back seat. We drove on the road with nothing but mountains and fields and listened to old school rock and country music, I have never felt so American in my life, maybe because I am not American.

In Boise it seemed like one of the quests was to find the best restaurant, the distillery won I think because we went there twice. We had some great food that week, I tell you!
When it came to working I did a lot of it. I was in charge of the sentencings we had scheduled so I read all the presentence reports and told Dee about it and sat in with the probation officer while he briefed Dee. It was very interesting and it felt like I maybe contributed a little at least. During the week we sentenced 9 out of 14 people in a big drug case including the two top guys so it was very interesting.

The night we were there we saw The Conspirator by Robert Redford, it was bad. and then we took a walk over to the stadium where a Boise football team plays. Apparently the turf there is blue so we had to go see it, the only problem is that this was around midnight and the stadium was locked and it was dark, so we just climbed the fence. No, we didn't trespass we just climbed up and looked in to see the grass, besides when a federal judge tells you to do something, you do it:) So when that adventure was over we started our walk back to the hotel and on the way Dee went an bought a lottery ticket to everyone. It was one of those where you scrape off 3x3 numbers and the total on each should be 7, 11 or 21, so I scraped of my two first lines... nothing then the last line and got 5, 1 and a....1...I think...so I scrape off how much money I would get and it says $3000, everyone cheers and says I won three thousand dollars...I kind of don't believe it, so Dee looks at the ticket and says: wait a minute...then it turns out that I had not scraped off the whole number and the last number at it was 13 not 1. so no win...but it was a little bit funny.

So now Im back in Slc and life is good, Ive been on a couple of dates if anyone is wondering but no, I am yet not engaged.

Ok so I guess it is time for me to update this thing again, seriously I don't even know what to write. My parents and sister have been here these last couple of weeks, since I came back from DC and it has been busy. I have still tried to go in to work as much as possible... It was great to have them here. We did all the touristy things one does here in SLC as well as meeting relatives and friends.

Now life is kind of back to normal again... Lately I have been thinking alot about what I want to do now that I am coming to an end of my studies, I will now announce any plans until I know what will happen but if things go as I feel at the moment then my life in this year will be very very exciting (and no, I am not getting married).

But speaking of getting married, my last companion is getting married and she has asked me to be her bridesmaid. I am so excited because I have never been a bridesmaid... I am seeing her tomorrow to plan the wedding which is in one month!! it will be fun!

The long wait is over and I am sincerely sorry you all have had to wait this long for me to update the blog. So, I was in Washington DC. I will just tell you all I did. I was given a private tour of The Capitol, went to the Botanic gardens, Native american museum, Mount Vernon (where George Washington lived), the natural history museum, American history museum, the holocaust museum, the white house, arlington cemetery, national art gallery, The temple, shopping, Library of Congress, Supreme court, Pentagon. On the thursday I met up with Dee and he showed me the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court. THAT WAS COOL! Not that the building was extraordinary or anything like that but just the fact that I got to see things that not a lot of people get to see. I got there and Dee had to have his fingerprints read and I had to lock in my phones. Dee had turned all the papers on his desk so I couldn't see what he was reading. The court room was locked and had several doors with bolts and locks and totally sound proof. He also showed other parts of the courthouse. In the cafeteria we met some important people and it was really cool to be there. Then we went over to the Capitol and he showed me the Senator part of it. We went to Senator Hatch's office. He wasn't there but I sat in his office and chilled.. haha.

Monuments I saw were Lincoln, Grant, Jefferson, Washington, Iwo Jima, Vietnam and thats all I can remember. I also met a lot of young single adults from church. I saw BYU games and spent time with people. I visited DC metro church and the Catholic church. I also went to a huge singles ward and met lots of great people.

I really enjoyed DC, I am contemplating going back to get a masters degree. I stayed with Megan from my mission. we had not met in 4 years and it felt like not time had passed! It was so great to spend time with her and her roommates were great too! I was a bit sad to leave, and I landed in SLC tuesday night and wednesday afternoon my parents and Bella came.

Now we have seen all the sights of SLC and been to conference and done stuff. They came to the courthouse and Dee showed them around and they said that that was the best part of the day. It is good to have them here. its intense because we do things all the time and going to work is kind of my relax time. Tonight I am going to another Jazz game and that will be fun. I will let you know how it is and now you know what I have been up to lately.

I am sitting at the kitchen Island and everyone else sits here too and I will tell you... it has taken a looooooong time to write all this because there have been many distractions. But it is fun. Life is pretty good.

unexpected...

So the other day I went to a law firm close to the courthouse just to hand one of the attorneys something Dee wanted him to have. As I walked back, minding my own business I came to a crosswalk. As I stood there waiting for the green to appear and the bird to whistle I saw two guys standing on the other side. They had already seen me and were looking at me. One of them waived and I confusingly waived back. As the light changed and we walked passed each other one of them exclaimed: YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!

I just laughed and said thank you and walked on. It kind of made my day though.

Jazz-game

Yesterday was a nice day. I cleaned my room, did my laundry and tried to get ahead of things I have not had time to d this week. The evening was different though. Rick took me to a Jazz-game. Apparently the Jazz are not doing so well at the moment. Their coach and assistant coach resigned a couple of weeks ago and then shortly after they traded their best player. I think they have lost like 7 games in a row.

This game was against Sacramento, Kings. They are, what I hear, not a very good team so it really should have been a piece of cake but it wasn't. The first two quarters were very slow and very flat. But the second two were a little bit better. The last one was the best because it was so close and it even went to overtime and the Jazz won.

It was fun to see a basketball game, I don't know all the rules and Rick had to explain a few things but what I thought was the most interesting was the culture around the game.

First of all they have a bear running around telling everyone to yell, stomp their feet, or clap their hands. He also threw out treats and you should have seen the people when there was something thrown out, some people got crazy!

Second, they have cheerleaders. I don't know, I've never really appreciated cheerleading. I think it is kind of demeaning for the girls to dans down their and toss their hair back and forth. They were good at what they did though no question about it.

Third. They filmed the public during the time-outs and people started dancing like crazy, I kind of hope they were drunk because I don't ever think anyone would dance like that sober... I think....

But...It was a pleasant experience. I mean, I study International Relations and a key to build those relations is to know the different cultures and traditions each state has...sort of... So I learned a few tricks at the game in how to make the American people do what I want. All I need is a bear or similar, a few girls tossing their hair and a film-camera.

Dear readers, I am sorry I have not updated this week. It has been an intense week.

As I have told you we had the DeChristopher case this week, the environmentalist who disrupted an auction. Well Monday was interesting. I got to the courthouse rather early so when I got there there were no demonstrations or anything. A couple of hours later there was a bunch of people in front of the courthouse singing, dancing, hoolahooping and generally just being there. The Jury selection process started in the afternoon and the courtroom was packed. Judge Benson said it was the first time onlookers came for the jury- selection because it is a very long and boring process... and eventually the environmentalist realized that and one by one they left.

One funny part of this is that Daryl Hannah (you know the actor) came all the way from wherever she lives just to be there for the jury-selection and then she wasn't there the rest of the week. I wonder what that flight cost the environment? I am not going to go in to detail about the case of who said what and who did what but it was interesting to see the turn-out and read the articles about it because I was in the middle of it all. Monday was probably the worst, when some people came down to the first floor of the courthouse they were met by a huge team of swat police with the helmets on and guns up. The rest of the week was more quiet.

I met both the prosecution and the defense attorneys and as it happens one of the defense attorneys (Ron Yengish) gave me a book, which I thought was very nice of him.

thursday was the last day of the trial, first was the jury instructions read and then the prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments. The Jyry sat and deliberated for about 5 hours and then the verdict came. He was charged with two counts and was found guilty on both. According to the statutes he could get not more than 5 years on each count which means 10 years prison. However, it is not very likely that he will get that much since he has no criminal record.

On friday I sat and talked with Michelle who is the PR attorney of the courthouse. We were discussing mediation and it really had me intrigued and interested in looking in to maybe doing something with that. While we sat there and had a nice time her phone rang and it was this man who had a suggestion on what Judge Benson should sentence DeChristopher to. Apparently people do not understand that sentencing is not like an auction where you can bid up the time for the defendant. It is funny to see that I, a non-american, student and not even in law, understand more of the legal system in America than some Americans...

The friday afternoon was spent by "the crew" went to the movies and saw Adjustment Bureau and had Belgian waffles in the sunshine. I think after a long and intense week of a high profile case such as this week one is deserving of some relax time.

ps if anyone wants to read about the case from the journalists view, just google Tim DeChristopher :)

Oh, I almost forgot! I bought tickets to Washington DC this week. I am leaving on March 17 and come back on March 29. You can not imagine how excited I am!!