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legal humor / the cases

May we blow up your house?

Yesterday at the Freighthouse, my housemate and I ran into a group of nursing students.
Future nurse: “Are you guys studying law or something?”
Housemate and I: “Yep! We are first years.”
Future nurse: “Ouch. Law School must be rough…”
Me: “No, law school is hilarious, actually.”
The nursing student looked at me like I was the most sarcastic asshole in the world.
Me: “No, seriously. Law school is hilarium. Really. Like, for example our assignments…”
I stopped because I realized it was useless to explain.

But, the reading, (aside from last Thursday’s contracts assignment) is actually interesting and frequently funny.

For example, the question in today’s reading involved a blowing up someone’s house on Christmas Eve…

Surocco v. Geary

Supreme Court of California, 1853.

MURRAY, CHIEF JUSTICE. This was an action, commenced in the court below, to recover damages for blowing up and destroying the plaintiff’s house and property, during the fire of the 24th of December, 1849.
And the biggest understatement of 1849…
… “The necessity of blowing up a house may not exist, or be as apparent to the owner, whose judgment is clouded by interest, and hope of saving his property…[but] the evidence in this case clearly establishes that the blowing up the house was necessary…”
Ie, “You may not thing think blowing up your house was necessary, but we do. Thou art the fail whale, and can’t recover. Goodbye.”

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