“If you see something, say something.” That’s the mantra of the new national security state.
In a post-9/11 world, we’re all junior G-men on the lookout for terrorists. But if you try to complain in a courtroom when Government overreaches, you just might get thrown out of court. You might lack standing, or the you might learn that the Government is immune from suit, or maybe the individual you sued will be given a free pass by a judge granting what lawyers call qualified immunity.
Targeted killing by means of drones, those lethal big birds operated by...
February 28, 2013
I didn’t see any headlines heralding the anniversary, but I noted it nonetheless. Feb. 3 was the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 16th Amendment to Constitution. It enshrined the income tax in federal law.
It’s not the sort of date I would normally notice. But I was neck-deep in a tax trial in federal court. The United States was prosecuting my client, Donna Bello, and another defendant, Jill Platt, for their role in something called “gifting tables.” The government charged them, among other things, with impeding the ability of the government to ascertain...
February 21, 2013
SIGMUND FREUD was rarely accused of being too timid. Religious ideas are illusions, he wrote. God and the notion of an afterlife are mere products of our wishes. They are no less real for being illusory. Call them necessary fictions.
But Freud was cautious, even coy, about government and justice.
After writing about religious illusions, he had this to say about justice: “Must not the assumptions that determine our political regulations be called illusions as well? ... The author does not dispose of the means for undertaking so comprehensive a task.”
Let me help Freud...
February 17, 2013
A good friend of mine can’t needle me enough about my outspoken support of gun control. He’s a criminal defense lawyer, so he likes to stand tall for the defense of the rights of ordinary people. The very idea that someone could take his guns enrages him. He marshals all sorts of arguments in support of the right to bear arms. All are foolish.
Does the press report a bus accident in which children are killed? He sends a note: When will I call for the banning of school buses? The reasoning is so stupid, I am dumbstruck. Just what do you say to a person who...
February 9, 2013
February 8, 2013
“Can I sue?”
I am asked the question almost daily. The answer is, of course, simple: You can always sue. The real question is, can...
January 31, 2013
One of the down-sides of practicing law is having little time to do such things as watch television. Without a steady diet of the flickering screen,...
January 31, 2013
Justice delayed, we’re told, is justice denied. In Connecticut, delay is routine. State lawmakers can change that during the current session...
January 17, 2013
Laws banning assault weapons, prohibiting clips capable of carrying dozens of rounds of ammunition, and requiring background checks of all gun...
January 17, 2013
Have you bought your AR-15 yet? Do you have enough ammunition? Are you ready to shoot your way to freedom and security? And what about a stockpile of...
January 13, 2013
IF you or a loved one needed life-saving surgery, would you choose a surgeon who had only read the textbook, or would you want a doctor who’d...