I was in the chambers of a judge I respect a great deal trying to reach a plea bargain in a complex case the other day. Well before trial, he made an offer of a given period of years in a case involving many alleged victims. After a trial in several of the cases, a trial in which my client was convicted, we were trying to settle the case all over again. Suddenly, the judge's recommendation was that my client serve double the time initially offered to resolve the same universe of cases.
"How did my client suddenly become deserving of twice as much punishment?" I asked. I told the judge...
April 11, 2014
The lawyer was at the very least honest, even if the words he spoke were chilling.
“Does the Internal Revenue Service take the position that every time its agents search a location for documents the agents can do so in Kevlar jackets with guns drawn?” The judge was asking the question in a tone that suggested the lawyer ought to be careful in responding, so the lawyer did what unskilled advocates sometimes do — he evaded.
The scene was a federal courtroom in Bridgeport. The occasion was a hearing on a lawsuit filed against the commissioner of the Internal Revenue...
April 10, 2014
I was startled to learn that manipulation of federal "no-fly" lists takes place simply as a means of recruiting potential informants: Young Moslem men are from time-to-time placed on the lists by federal authorities and then given a choice: Want to be treated as no threat? Then act like one. Tell us about your friends at the Mosque. We'll let you fly if you cooperate.
Many of you reading this won't be outraged the practice. We're at war with some part of Islam right? We need to take extraordinary measures in a war without end.
Arun Kundnani's The Muslims are Coming! (Verso, New York,...
April 5, 2014
Delaware Judge Jan Jurden just helped to destroy the market in human souls, and for that, I am grateful. She refused to send a self-confessed child rapist to prison, letting him instead walk out the courthouse door, to begin a lengthy period of probation and treatment as a sex offender.
Robert H. Richards IV, an heir to the DuPont chemical fortune, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his 3-year-old daughter. According to press reports, he penetrated the child with his finger, a twisted and disgusting act. The allegations came to light when his ex-wife sued him for money...
April 2, 2014
March 31, 2014
A friend asked me to write something to present to new members of the bar in Alabama this week. Here it is:
You are about to embark on a career...
March 30, 2014
A reader wrote the other day to ask whether I ever get upset with a client for lying to me. What would I do, she inquired, if a client told me he was...
March 29, 2014
Word that U.S. District Judge Janet Arterton will soon take senior status makes this a good time to ask Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher...
March 19, 2014
I will never understand why police officers don’t embrace video recording of their work. But they don’t. Whether in the interrogation...
March 13, 2014
You know the state's Judicial Branch is bleeding when the chief justice takes to writing opinion pieces. I am not referring to legal opinions, mind...
March 6, 2014
Superior Court Judge Leslie Olear of West Hartford is no doubt a profoundly grateful jurist. She was nearly turned out of office by lawmakers the...