At year's end, it is sometimes customary to name a person of the year, so let me add my nominee: Aylan Al-Kurdi. Odds are, you never learned his name, but it's also true that you will never forget the sight of him. He's the tiny body laying face down on a beach, dead, near Bodrum, Turkey, his face in the surf, his red t-shirt hiked up around his torso, a tiny pair of shoes still on his feet. He appears to be 2, or perhaps 3, years old.
He drowned seeking refuge in Greece, where his family was fleeing, in search of a better life, presumably in northern Europe.
Aylan...
December 30, 2015
I felt much as a secret agent, or a confidential informant must feel, settling in among strangers, listening to them talk, wary of my surroundings. But I was one of them, wasn’t I? No one forced me to attend. I chose to be present, and for no apparent ulterior motive.
Yet I had never set foot in a gun club before. And, until recently, the idea of obtaining a pistol permit seemed far-fetched, if not ridiculous. I’ve called for repeal of the Second Amendment, after all, a result of bearing witness to lethal gun violence in a series of murder trials, killings that occurred...
December 16, 2015
Is gun violence in the United States a public health crisis? There are plenty of people who seem to think so. And these folks are quick to call for improved mental health services as a way of addressing what they regard as an epidemic.
I’ve news for the public healthniks: gun violence is far more serious than a public health matter. It reflects a broader crisis in the legitimacy of public institutions. Gun violence is a cry for help, all right, but not just from a few unhinged folks. We’re all in need of help just now.
What is legitimacy?
It’s the...
December 16, 2015
I have a confession to make. It’s not pretty. Indeed, given the argot of the day, it’s pretty terrifying. You see, I’ve been ”radicalized.”
Why, I am even going to take a course to qualify for a pistol permit, this coming from a guy who once wrote, and still believes, that repeal of the Second Amendment would be a good idea — the world would be better without guns.
But I’ve been radicalized, you see. Maybe a gun or two isn’t such a bad thing.
ISIS, or ISIL, or Daesh, or what President Obama referred to the other night in a...
December 10, 2015
December 8, 2015
“So, will you be voting for Donald Trump?”
The question came from a public defender in a quiet voice,...
December 2, 2015
At least two people a day are shot to death by police officers in the United States each and every day. As of Tuesday, the total for the year is 895,...
November 19, 2015
I imagine John Grisham, the best-selling author of plot-driven legal thrillers, channel surfing late one night on his 100-plus-acre farm in Oxford,...
November 19, 2015
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy thinks Connecticut ought to open its arms to Syrian migrants. Of course, he wants assurances the migrants are appropriately...
November 11, 2015
Much has been made, and will continue to be made, of the past week’s events at the University of Missouri and, closer to home, at Yale. These...
November 5, 2015
If the recently argued case of Foster v. Chatman teaches anything, it is that there probably is no fail-safe way to police the conduct of lawyers...