"You Can't Govern Us; We Quit"

Secession anyone? The last time there was a groundswell of support for the states to secede from the union, we ended up fighting a bloody civil war. One hundred and fifty years later, there are new calls for secession. Just how serious is the new secession movement?
The mainstream press has not reported much on the rush of secession petitions posted on a website maintained by the White House. At week’s end, petitions had been filed from all 50 states. Texas leads the way, with more than 100,000 signatures on its petition. Connecticut’s petition had 2,500 or so signatures....
November 15, 2012

Time to Repeal the Second Amendment?

I’ll be starting trial this week in Norwich. My client is accused of murder. The victim was shot to death, point blank, with a hand gun. The gun has never been found. As near as I can tell from reading the police reports, a bunch of people were hanging out in a low-income neighborhood, rolling dice, getting stoned, and passing a communal bottle of alcohol. A hooded man walked up, pointed a handgun at the back of man’s head, and pulled the trigger. The shooting seems almost random, casual even.
I’ve seen far too many of these sorts of cases in recent years. They are far...
November 14, 2012

Destiny and Demographics

So we’re to have four more years of Barack Obama in the White House. Good, I say. Better him than a throwback to a 1960s sitcom. Once the election results were tallied and the loser had conceded the race, it suddenly came to me: I distrusted Mitt Romney because he reminded me of one of the black and white characters on weekly television shows I watched as a kid. The man had the look, feel, sound, and, apparently, the two-dimensional ethos, of a prime-time stock character. Call him Ward Cleaver, the great white father of the perfect family.
That was the point, wasn’t it?...
November 12, 2012

Four Nominees For Federal Judge In Connecticut

Even if you are in mourning about the results of the presidential election, and I am not, you will agree that there is one occasion for rejoicing: With the elections safely behind us, both President Obama and the Senate can now turn their attention to fully staffing the federal judiciary. The judiciary was all but the forgotten branch in the run up to the general election, an odd occurrence, given its importance in our lives. Nationwide, there 82 vacancies on the federal bench, according to Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts website. Only 34 candidates have been nominated to fill these...
November 8, 2012

I Don't Feel Like Much Of A Sovereign Today

November 6, 2012
I did not feel like much a sovereign when I walked out of the polling place this morning. No, I felt as though I’d just been tossed from a...

Just South of Crazy

November 4, 2012
I’ve a brand-spanking-new lawyer reporting for duty this week. Freshly minted and admitted to the bar, she’s eager to show the world what...

Let F. Lee Bailey Practice Law Again

November 1, 2012
F. Lee Bailey appears this week before the State of Maine Board of Bar Examiners to request permission to once again practice law. I am rooting for...

Surviving Sandy

October 30, 2012
I tried, I really did, to write about something other than Hurricane Sandy, the Frankenstorm, the Storm of the Century, that was to drive us to our...

Want A Better Criminal Justice System? Eliminate Plea Bargaining

October 25, 2012
Here’s a not-so-modest proposal that will reduce the prison population, improve the performance of the criminal justice system, and yield...

Updated: Bullies With Briefcases

October 24, 2012
In the end, the choice of whether to take a criminal case to trial or to enter into a plea agreement with the government belongs to the client, and...

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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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