The 4th of July is right around the corner and it reminds me of a very important lesson I learned.  I teach at Texas A&M School of Law and told my students that it was important to know your judge. I talked about an upcoming hearing and said that the judge was an ex-marine. A student quickly informed me that there is no such thing as an ex-marine. Once a marine always a marine. .. After the hearing was over, I was telling the judge the story. The judge confirmed that my student was correct and pointed to the Marine Corp flag in his courtroom. Students teaching the teacher.