Blog Posts

Connecticut takes pride in creation of the nation’s first public defender system. Representation of the indigent accused of crimes is important work. Why, then, does the state seem content to let this proud legacy collapse amid the ugliest sort of squabbling?
In recent...

It was obvious to me one year ago that the pandemic would yield a time of extraordinary social tumult. Indeed, just over one year ago, I wrote in these pages about the general strike theory of the pandemic, how the viral contagion would be turned into an occasion to try to recast the...

I submitted the following testimony to the Connecticut General Assembly in opposition to the so-called "Prosecutorial Accountability" act. The legislation is a solution to a problem that does not exist.
My name is Norman Pattis. I have represented people accused of...

The best thing about the pandemic? I’ve discovered podcasts. One of the best is Lex Fridman’s, called, simply, Lex Fridman Podcast.
Fridman is a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology specializing in machine learning. He began the podcast in...

Although the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump has yet formally to begin, I can say this much: The House managers’ impeachment trial brief wins my vote as the better of the two briefs filed.
First a word on process.
An impeachment...

Elections have consequences, I get that.
But do we really have elections so that familial legacies can be seeded?
Rumors swirl that Connecticut United States Senator Richard Blumenthal is busily at work advancing the cause of his son, Matthew, to be...

Max Tegmark remains one of the most interesting scientists alive. His book, Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (2017), is must reading for those wanting a quick and accessible survey of how artificial intelligence is changing, and will challenge, the way we...

Intellectual historians sometimes refer to the “climate of opinion” as a means of marking one historical era from another. On a more granular level, folks speak of the so-called “Overton window” as the range of acceptable opinion at a given moment in time. (This...

It’s been a wild, rollercoaster of a day for election watchers, I presume. I got off easy. I had a difficult labor arbitration hearing via Zoom. Hence, a good night’s sleep and an excuse to ignore the news.
Here’s what I gather from a quick scan of the...

I am a practicing lawyer focused on criminal defense and first amendment law. When I awoke this morning, I did so without any apprehension whatsoever that there had been a coup in the United States Supreme Court. Yes, the timing of Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination and...