“No man is a hero to his valet,” an old proverb has it. I think of it often when making a difficult recommendation to a client. Folks want their lawyers to be heroes. Sometimes lawyers are able to fulfill that role; more often, especially in the context of criminal plea-bargaining, reality is far less heroic.
Consider the following cases:
A client is accused of murdering his best friend. The decedent was shot to death while sitting in the front seat of a parked car. Next to him in the passenger’s seat was a confederate, someone eager to learn the dark arts of...
October 20, 2016
Judges, despite their robes and the trappings of majesty — who else enters their workplace to the sound of a uniformed lawman commanding “All rise”? — are just like the rest of us. They are often motivated by high ideals, but, being spun from the same mortal clay as we lesser mortals, their motives can often be venal, even petty.
Most judges crave dispositions. They want the cases on their list of things that need doing, their dockets, to move. Getting between a judge and a closed file can be a risky thing to do. Judicial administrators are closet...
October 19, 2016
Connecticut Chief Justice Chase Rogers believes in committees; she also believes in transparency. So I was curious to see what her committee of judges and journalists was all about. I accepted the invitation to speak to the committee about the pros and cons of plea-bargaining with anticipation.
It was an eye-opener.
The meeting took place at studios of WFSB’s television station in Rocky Hill. There appeared to be about 35 people present. I recognized many of the judges and quite a few of the journalists. It was a friendly group; perhaps too cozy with one another for my...
October 9, 2016
Let me see if I get this right: Clowns are now a potential sign of a terroristic threat. Have we lost our minds? Or is it mere nerve that we are lacking?
Halloween is upon us. And that means costumes. For as long as I can remember, clown costumes have been a staple of the season.
Comes now word of a ban on clown costumes at local schools. And I was recently asked whether the police could lawfully arrest someone for wearing a clown costume or mask in public.
Even a prosecutor I spoke to seemed more than a little unhinged. When asked whether he thought a person could be...
October 8, 2016
September 26, 2016
I’ve been offered all sorts of things as a fee for my services. My favorite offer was of a house in Mexico. I turned it down, telling the...
September 26, 2016
Satoshi Nakamoto.
Remember that name. Whether he actually exists or not is an open question. But there is little doubt Nakamoto’s 2008...
September 26, 2016
Satoshi Nakamoto.
Remember that name. Whether he actually exists or not is an open question. But there is little doubt Nakamoto’s 2008...
September 26, 2016
Satoshi Nakamoto.
Remember that name. Whether he actually exists or not is an open question. But there is little doubt Nakamoto’s 2008...
September 8, 2016
I envy physicians their proximity to death. It goes without saying that those who master the ups and downs of the life cycle must learn a thing or...
September 7, 2016
There's a new security rule in the state courthouses. At least I think there is a new rule. As with so many security measures, practices across the...