One meme, ten good blawgs

It started with Blawg Review. It spread to Where's Travis McGee? (where? Afghanistan! Read Brad Parker's dispatches) Now, somehow, it's reached me: the meme of the moment, the Top Ten Best Blawgs project.

It's hardly fair, being limited to a list of only ten, and having to avoid blogs already named (which unreasonably excludes the wisdom of Minor Wisdom and the blonde-ness of Blonde Justice) and non-law blogs (you'll miss the coyote's siren song of Creek Running North, the firebell in the night at Orcinus, the curious absence of monkey or disaster in Monkey Disaster).

So, facing the limitations of the playing field as any good public defender should, here's a list - not the list - of Top Ten Legal Blogs:

* Angry Pregnant Lawyer - co-starring Not So Angry Husband, Angry Boy, and Angry Little Baby. Law makes guest appearances.

* CrimLaw - of course. Defended then, prosecutes now, doesn't miss a thing.

* Grits for Breakfast - "Welcome to Texas justice: You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride." This blog gets results, reforming Texas courts, jails and prisons.

* Public Defender Stuff - the aggregator of my people.

* Sentencing Law and Policy - my "serious" choice, from Professor Douglas Berman at Ohio State. Essential and influential.

* The Bardd Before the Bar - indigent defense, indignant cats (turn down your speakers!).

* The Imbroglio - Big Sky vistas stretch out in front of this starting-out lawyer.

* The Menagerie - small-size practice, medium-size dogs.

* The Thirteen Juror - with the most recent post titled "How to Be a Successful Homeless People," a rage against injustice just behind a civil Floridian smile.

* Woman of the Law - "I'm a fast-talkin' hell-raisin' son of a bitch, and I'm a sinner and I know how to fight." Not my words, hers.

* Woman Wearing Black - shot a lawyer in Reno just to watch him die.

That's eleven! I'm arbitrary like that. Sad to leave out a few too many other worthy blogs (these among them), but still, here's a pretty good list to get you started.

Update 10/5: after I put this post and myself to bed, I tossed and turned agonizing, how could I leave out The Invent Blog? Or Simple Justice? Or The Underdog Blog? Or, or, or... as I fell into a listless slumber. Small wonder that memes are considered viral: catch one and it'll make you sick!

Update 10/6: this morning while watching Conference on KBYU, I was seized with a compulsion, yea, even as unto a most powerful magnet, to return to this post and bring you the good news of Law of Criminal Defense by John Wesley Hall, Jr., Scoplaw, Do Not Pass Geaux, Fight 'Em 'til We Can't, my blogfather Public Defender Dude, and so many more - check out my blogroll.