Blog Posts

When the National Academy of Sciences reported several years ago on the sorry state of forensic sciences in the United States, Dr. Carll Ladd, DNA Supervisor of the Connecticut Department of Public Safety, was quick to point out what he thought were "methodological problems" in the NAS report. Now...

I watched videos of the recent rioting in London the other day, and two words sprang to mind: Joseph Schumpeter. And I wondered who, in North America, will throw the first brick. These thoughts filled me with dread, exhilaration and hope.
Schumpeter was an Austrian economist active in the...

Each year, as predictable as the change of seasons, a few clients charged with crimes fire me: they believe I am doing nothing for them. They are replaced by new clients who have fired their lawyers: they believe the prior lawyers were doing nothing too. The cause of all this is the snail’s...

It’s time to put the potted-plant theory of the separation of powers doctrine to rest. Jack B. Weinstein, Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, is proof that it can be done. All it takes is a judiciary determined to take its role as judges...

Yeah, that’s right. The headline says it all. I want you to buy my book. Today. Head on over to Amazon.com and get a copy sent to you. Those of you who have developed the habit of turning to the back page of the Law Tribune to get your dose of me these past eleven years can now get something...

I’ve been tossing and turning a lot lately, visions of wind-swept Oklahoma on my mind, and the twang of tough men and women staring me down, wondering who I am, and why they ought to listen to a word I have to say. You see, in a couple of weeks, I will be speaking at the 2011 Patrick A....

It actually felt like summer the other day: a long, languid sort of day with sunshine, no place to go, and fields humming with life. After a winter in which we saw one outbuilding collapse and the roof on another begin to crumble, the day felt like a gift. So when evening came, I decided to...

I was accused by an old friend the other day of getting soft and mellow. He blamed it on my psychoanalyst. You see, I spend four hours a week, mostly at a time when truly mellow folks are getting out bed, free associating about what crosses my mind. I’ve been at it for a couple of years now....

I poked my head into the courtroom in which jury selection drags along, draining the state’s coffers of needed cash, in the case of State v. Komisarjevsky. The courtroom was all but empty. There were two layers on each side, all looking weary. And to the far right, taking it all in, sat Dr....

I was in prison yesterday, visiting clients and potential clients. Between meetings, I sat in a professional visiting room, where so-called "contact" visits are allowed: in other words, I was able to shake my client’s hand; there was no barrier separating us. The door to my room was open, and...