Dear Julia,

First off, I know what you’re thinking, “What a surprise–Robert picked the event with someone talking about the law.” Look at this from my perspective though, how would I not got to an event about the law? You’ve heard me talk about my love of Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor enough at this point to know that a strong progressive judge is pretty much the coolest thing you can be in my book, so I was excited to see where Judge Miller would fit in coolness-wise. And on that note Julia, I’m happy to report he indeed really cool. Miller mentioned that he was the first judge in NY state to rule on whether or not a police officer who smells marijuana on an individual can stop and frisk them. (Naturally I thought about or conversation about the penumbra of privacy in the Constitution and its amendments earlier this week.) Beyond that though, he just was a really personable and interesting guy. He talked a lot about the ethical issues he’s faced and the guilt that comes both from successfully defending people who admit to their guilt and failing to defend people he knows to be innocent. What I thought was most admirable though was how much passion, optimism, and excitement he had about his role in the legal system. I hope I find that same gratification when I finish law school too.