Blog Posts


A Lawyer, A Judge and Black Privilege

It is difficult for me to understand why U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Meyer thought it necessary to refer attorney Josephine Miller for professional discipline. It's even harder for me to comprehend why Miller thinks she can prevail in the brand new federal lawsuit she filed to prohibit...

Carpe Diem at 60

You’ve heard the syllogism:
“All men are mortal;
“Socrates is a man;
“Therefore Socrates is mortal.”
The logic is airtight, inescapable — so long as it is applied to someone else. Substitute your own name, or a personal pronoun, for...

Yale's Flawed UWC Sexual Misconduct Policies

Yale is concerned that students facing sexual misconduct charges might not fully understand the manner in which such complaints are handled. So the university is creating a list of advisors who can assist both complainants and respondents, according to a recent story in the Yale Daily...

A Shout Out To CJUS 1111

Here’s a shout out to the students in Introduction to Criminal Justice, CJUS 1111, Western New Mexico University. Andy Warren, the professor, informs me that this blog is required reading for the class. Send him a note thanking him for me.
In general, I post...

Restitution Madness

I am sure that in the rarefied atmosphere federal judges call home, gargantuan restitution orders look fair, just and reasonable. After all, what can be more just than requiring a defendant to pay back what he has stolen? The problem is the law's unreasoning way of calculating loss...

A Tidal Wave of Need

Those of you of a certain age will well recall being admonished to eat your vegetables, to clean your dinner plate, by being told of the starving children in Africa. The moral was simple: You should be thankful to live amid influence; think of those who only wish they had what you take for...

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

During the past 30 days, an average of three people were shot to death by police officers each day in the United States. It was a particularly bloody month. For all of 2015, the average number of people shot to death by police officer was 2.7 per day.
As if that were not bad enough, as of the...

How Dare I Not Say `Good Morning'?

I’m all for civility at the bar, don’t get me wrong. Fighting with words doesn’t bring out the best in people. Lawyers ought to make a special effort to leave the conflicts on the record, where they matter. What goes on in the hallways is a different matter.
...

Mommy Made Me Do It

Every defendant has a mother, of this much I am certain. If there were justice, I am nearly as certain, many of these mothers, rather than the defendants themselves, would be behind bars.
Harsh words for mothers, you say?
Come. Take a walk on the wild side. Let me show you a thing or...

Potemkin's New Haven Courthouse

I'm not sure how much money was spent on the renovations to the Elm Street courthouse in New Haven, but it wasn't enough. Sure, the courthouse looks pretty, although there are those embarrassing holes drilled in the stairs approaching the front door where contractors miscalculated where to sink...

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