As read to the Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday night:
My name is Norm Pattis. I live in Bethany, and I also own Whitlock Farm Booksellers, located at 20 Sperry Road. I have lived in Bethany with my wife for the past ten years. I am a newcomer, still falling in love with what Bethany has to offer.
I cannot be with you tonight because I am with my wife visiting two of my children who live in Seattle. I can assure you they did not leave Bethany because they could not find low-cost housing. They wanted what Bethany could not offer: Big city life, with the...
February 28, 2014
I missed the town meeting in Bethany tonight, where residents once again debated whether to permit condominium development. But a friend was there, and she read a letter from me to the town's Planning and Zoning Commission. I also got text message reports from those in attendance.
It turns out the Green Haven supporters took a few pot shots at me. That's fine. Both my feelings remain intact. Besides, I wasn't there to defend my position; I was an easy target. I brought all that on myself. I get it.
But one remark struck me as particularly stupid, and so I call the speaker out...
February 26, 2014
Almost everyone pleads guilty to a crime when prosecuted. Some estimates place those pleading guilty, rather than facing trial, at more than 90 percent of all cases. In order to force defendants through the plea bargaining machinery, the law accepts outright hypocrisy. You can, for example, plead guilty to an offense while not admitting your guilt. That’s what is known as an Alford plea.
Plea bargaining saves the criminal justice system the time and expense of a full-blown trial.
But is plea bargaining good for the criminal justice system?
The reliance on pleas to...
February 26, 2014
The good-neighbor folks of Green Haven are back, this time with new lawyers, a scaled-down version of paradise, and even a Johnny Appleseed impersonator. At a recent public meeting before the Bethany Planning and Zoning Commission, their consultants and lawyer enthused about how good co-housing would be for the town. Their message was clear: either give us what we want, or we will take you to court and force ourselves upon you. They even resorted to half-truths and cheap rhetorical tricks.
Last year, Green Haven was sent packing by the commission when their application to build a...
February 24, 2014
February 19, 2014
If you’re of a certain age, you will recall the Jetsons, as in the space-age cartoon characters who’d do such things as leave their pod...
February 14, 2014
Remember “Miller’s Boys,” the gang of corrupt racist cops whom the feds prosecuted, calling them bullies with badges for their...
February 5, 2014
Massachusetts Judge Joseph Johnson has imposed a gag order on the parents of Justina Pelletier, preventing them from raising public questions about...
January 15, 2014
It seems to shock friends when I tell them that it matters not at all to me whether a client has committed the very crime the state alleges. Even...
January 12, 2014
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could very well find himself a defendant in a criminal prosecution as federal prosecutors investigate his...
January 11, 2014
I called one of the law’s great septuagenarians just after the new year to commiserate about the passing of New Haven attorney William...