And thus our heroes return to London...

Here is part of the gang returning to the train station after attending the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. From top to bottom they are: Chaz, Kevin, Nicole, and Kirsten. I am taking the picture and Kristen and Christy had already returned to Cambridge.

First, I must say, there are no Harry Potter spoilers contained within this blog. Secondly, and of less importance, I am sure, Nicole and I got to meet both Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia.

Both men were very friendly. They genuinely seemed to be without pretense or any arrogance at all. Its funny because we would never get to meet either of them at home, so we had to come to England to meet members of our own Supreme Court. We did not get a chance to take a picture with either of them. Scalia is notoriously anti-recordings, but Roberts seemed amenable. Unfortunately, he was called away by the staff as I was tapping him on the shoulder to get a photo.

Chief Justice Roberts was there to be named an Honorary Master Bencher of the Middle Temple. The Middle Temple holds its connection with the United States in very high regard. A number of benchers of the Middle Temple signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Sir. Walter Raleigh and Sir. Francis Drake, as I mentioned previously, were also of the Middle Temple and very much associated with the exploration of the Americas. It also helps that England and the United States have essentially the same legal system. In this vein, a number of Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court have been made Honorary Benchers. Chief Justice Roberts is now among those. He was very humorous in both his speeches and in casual conversation.

When I met Justice Scalia, I was in awe. To someone such as myself, he is a rock star. I acted like a 12 year old girl meeting Justin Timberlake or something. I gushed praises upon him; telling him I am a follower of his judicial ethos, how enjoyable his dissents were, and how I wished he were more in the majority than the minority. Unlike when I met a certain other Judge, who shall remain nameless (she may have taught Nicole etiquette), who believed it was a privilege just to be in her presence, Justice Scalia was very gracious and thanked me and told me that he wrote his dissents for the future. He always knows the right things to say.

After a little more gushing and lushing (the champagne was very nice) it was off to dinner. At the meal, we befriended Eugene, a Barrister of the Middle Temple. I know his last name, but in respect, I will keep it to myself. Afterwards, Eugene invited us to his favorite London pub for a couple of pints. Then we returned to Cambridge on the last train of the night. It was an amazing experience and we met a number of nice people.

Well, stay tuned tomorrow for details about our trip to Scotland. There may be a picture of Nessy involved...

Cheers

* I don't know why blogspot is jamming this all together, I put spaces between the paragraphs. Sorry.