Quick Reviews: All The Light We Cannot See

I'm inaugurating a new feature on this blog: quick reviews.
If you're like me, there just isn't enough time to read. I'll post reviews here of things I've enjoyed. Perhaps it will help you to identify what to read next. I'd appreciate your returning the favor.
All The Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Two children, one a blind daughter of a museum locksmith, the other an orphan boy transfixed by radio and conscripted into the service of Nazi Germany, stumble through the concluding days of World War II. What unites them is an overwhelming sense of decency, of pressing on in...
February 22, 2015

Inconvenient Truths in Adnan Syed's Case

Regulars in the criminal courts develop a certain cynicism. It’s a survival instinct, really. We all know the system isn’t perfect. We protect ourselves against the devastating truth that innocent men and women are convicted by strict dedication to procedure. If everyone plays his or her role, then no one is responsible.
But it’s really not that simple.
Consider the case of Adnan Syed in Maryland. Syed is serving a life term after being convicted of murdering a former girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. The two were high school students at...
February 18, 2015

The Debt We Owe to the Cross

No sooner had news broken that Craig Hicks was accused of killing three young Muslim college students in North Carolina than calls erupted for a federal hate crime investigation. The Justice Department promptly obliged.
Where was the hue and cry for such an investigation when Ali Muhammed Brown was arrested in 2014 for killing four randomly selected Americans in retaliation for civilians killed by the United States forces in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan?
“The defendant was on a bloody crusade, executing four innocent men — with the same murder weapon, over the course of...
February 18, 2015

Alabama Secedes from Union -- Again

If you are looking for a compelling reason not to elect judges, look no further than the State of Alabama. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy S. Moore openly thumbs his nose at the federal courts. He was ousted from office a decade ago after defying a federal court order to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments from a Montgomery building.
The good people of Alabama returned him to office.
This week, he directed the state’s judges to refuse to give marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.



He’s a salty old nut, to be sure, but...
February 12, 2015

Immunization and Medical Luddites

February 6, 2015
It is perhaps too much to assert that Hartford attorney Dan Klau plays a role roughly akin to conscience in my life, but he does try to correct the...

When Judges Are Willfully Blind

February 4, 2015
A couple of decades ago, I paced the halls of the federal courthouse in Hartford for days awaiting a verdict in a police misconduct case. My client...

Legal Fees, The Middle Class and the Hog Rule

January 28, 2015
Most lawyers don’t talk much about legal fees with members of the general public. Why should they? It’s rare that good news brings a...

Death? Maybe

January 27, 2015
I've been reading the press reports about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's jury selection in Boston with a growing sense of ambivalence. Tsarnaev, you will...

Welcome to the New Boss: The Flash Mob

January 24, 2015
Power, Moises Naim tells us, is everywhere on the decline: whether in the realm of corporations, the effective military reach of the state, or...

DCF: Big Sister Knows Best

January 24, 2015
Dying scares me less than suffering. Perhaps that’s because I’ve reached an age at which I attend more funerals than weddings. But I can...

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Taking Back the Courts
Norm Pattis Taking Back the Courts

The Wizard of Oz was one of my favorites movies as a kid. Little did I know judges were so much like the wizard, hiding behind empty trappings of power. This book tells you things you need to know about what really goes on in court. Read it, weep, and then demand that the courts do better.

In the Trenches
Norm Pattis In the Trenches

Plenty of lawyers write about the law, but few who write try cases. Judge for yourself whether I talk the talk and walk the walk in this collection of occasional essays about life in the law's trenches.

Juries and Justice
Norm Pattis Juries and Justice

How prepared are you to take seriously the notion that 'we the people' are, in fact, sovereign? Discover the secret, and unused, power of jurors. 'Ask why; then nullify.'

Norm Pattis

About Norm

Norm Pattis is a Connecticut based trial lawyer focused on high stakes criminal cases and civil right violations. He is a veteran of more than 150 jury trials, many resulting in acquittals for people charged with serious crimes, multi-million dollar civil rights and discrimination verdicts, and scores of cases favorably settled.

© Norm Pattis is represented by Elite Lawyer Management, managing agents for Exceptional American Lawyers
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