Osler's Razor

I met Sara Sommervold when she was in my first-year Criminal Law class at St. Thomas. She had good, and sometimes fascinating answers in class, and even better was the fact that she got genuinely upset at injustices when we got to them in class. I'll never forget the time I got to sentencing for acquitted conduct and she threw both hands in the air like Kermit the Frog and said "Come on!" It was, after all, exactly how I felt about the same topic.

Sara was later in my clinic and a great part of it. When we did the Trial of Jesus the very first time at St. Thomas, I sent Sara to pick up Jeanne Bishop at the airport. What I didn't realize was that I had sent the second-worst driver in America to pick up the very worst driver in America-- they both gesture constantly with both hands, something that is really disconcerting in a driver. I'm still shocked they made it back to school alive.

Sara became Jeanne's partner in the trial, vs. me and Joy Tull for the State. She was obviously skilled in the courtroom, and had a wonderful sense for timing and delivery that probably came from her background in theater. 

Sara now works as the Deputy Director of the Wrongful Conviction Clinic at Northwestern Law School in Chicago, where she has developed a great reputation for organization and management. I love that when I talk to people from the clinic world there, they know about Sara, and sing her praises.

One of her colleagues at Northwestern is Laura Nirider, who (along with Barry Scheck) asked me to chair the panel to investigate the Myon Burrell case. I don't doubt that the connection was made in large part through Sara. She's like that. 

And about Myon Burrell, and the kind of work that Sara now does all the time--

He was granted clemency yesterday, and walked out of prison a free man. The story is here.

# posted by Mark Osler @ 1:00 AM