Although I am not much of a fan of legal blogs, I make an exception for Defrosting Cold Cases. It celebrates its first anniversary today. I have actually spoken to the author once, although I cannot recall the occasion. The page is always well written and informative. Vidocq, the author, has a handle on old homicides across the country. The coverage on Defrosing Cold Cases of Connecticut's Richard LaPointe case was insightful and nuanced. Check it out: http://www.defrostingcoldcases.com/
November 24, 2010
There is something wrong, seriously wrong, with a country that makes a watchdog into the national mascot. But we like sheep sat last night, watching 60 Minutes and the unseemly chest-thumping of Drug Enforcement Agents who had managed to capture Viktor Bout, the so-called "merchant of death," and sometime arms supplier to the United States when we don't want to get caught with our fingerprints on a weapon. Why not just throw these dogs a bone rather than make them into celebrities for a day?
"DEA agents live for the hunt," a lumbering Michael Braun told a repoter. Braun looked like a...
November 22, 2010
Two pieces in this week's New York Times sent me scurrying to the New Testament. First, Adam Liptak's piece about the tendency of the Supreme Court to decide fewer decisions each year with increasingly long, and opaque, decisions. Then this morning's essay by Frank Rich about Sarah Palin's excellent prospects should she elect to run for president in 2012. Are we pouring new wine into old skins? Surely, something seems about to burst.
Jesus had a tendency to hang out with outcasts. He drew critical fire for this. Religious leaders criticized him for eating with tax collectors and for...
November 21, 2010
I am, truth be told, far more terrified of the United States Government than I am of the likes of Ahmed Ghailani. Sure, Mr. Ghailani and his ilk can bomb a building and cause mayhem. But only the Government has the power to suffocate daily, slowly and steadily depriving me of the freedom to breathe. Hence, I count it a victory that Ahmed Ghailani was acquitted of all but one of more than 280 counts in his recent terrorism trial. I fear the victory shall be short lived.
Mr. Ghailani is the first of the detainees held incommunicado at Guantanamo to be put to trial. He was accused of being...
November 20, 2010
November 19, 2010
A year or so ago, I actually flirted with the idea of becoming a judge. I was encouraged by someone with more power than sense. My ego warmed to the...
November 15, 2010
Not enough gets written about the matter of legal fees, and what gets written generally scares me. Fictional lawyers practice law in a cocoon;...
November 14, 2010
I ought to be thankful that I learned long ago never to make sport of the efforts of security cops. I've been nearly strip searched by border patrol...
November 13, 2010
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, is worried that the Catholic Church is ill-equipped to deal with questions about how and when to...
November 11, 2010
Can a good man be a good citizen? The debate is at least as old as Saint Augustine's City of God, written in the fifth century of the Common Era. For...
November 11, 2010
It is naive to think that a judicially imposed gag order does anything other than benefit the prosecution in a criminal case. So why do Connecticut...