An Open Letter to the Connecticut General Assembly

A call came in moments ago. Mayor Bill Finch and his aides are busy at work in Hartford, lobbying lawmakers to pass legislation retroactively justifying the disbanding of the elected school board in Bridgeport. The governor's men are also at work. Just yesterday. the State Supreme Court told the governor and the city they broke the law with this bloodless coup. Undettered, they now want lawmakers to change the law.
Attached is an open letter to the General Assembly. If you care about local control and the right to vote, email it to your state Senator and House member. I'm told a...
February 29, 2012

War Of Attrition Begins In Bridgeport School Case

The war of attrition has already set in on the Bridgeport school board case. Notwithstanding the 6-1 decision of the Connecticut Supreme Court declaring the state's ouster of elected school board members to be unlawful, the state board still remains in power. Apparently it intends to govern by inertia for as long as it can.
Just this afternoon, the legion of lawyers involved in the case were ordered to appear before Judge Agati in the Waterbury Superior Court at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. The topic could be nothing other than the Supreme Court’s direction to him to order a special...
February 29, 2012

Embedding Dannel Malloy in the Courant

The Supreme Court spoke yesterday, finally, and declared six-to-one that the soul of the Bridgeport public schools is not for sale. New elections were ordered to replace those board members who were ousted by the state last summer. All but one justice declared the state’s action lawless. This momentary victory for the voters of Bridgeport was a cause for some relief and even celebration in some quarters.
But it was also a time for the sharpening of long knives in the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The governor’s men want the Legislature to pass a law that would...
February 29, 2012

The Supreme Court Reverses Bridgeport School Board Takeover

At 3:35 this afternoon the Connecticut Supreme Court dropped a long-awaited bombshell: The state takeover of the Bridgeport school board broke the law. It ordered a new election to fill vacant seats. My clients, who are mid-term, presumably can return to work. I am much relieved.
State lawmakers are contemplating a bill that would make it easier for the state to takeover school boards. The effect of the bill would be to justify the takeover in this case. We're preparing for federal litigation in the event lawmakers are so bold as to declare that the vote does not matter in...
February 28, 2012

A Stolen Vote, A Sleeping Court, And A Busy Governor

February 27, 2012
Timing, they say, is everything. There are no coincidences. Things happen when they do for a reason. Thus the conspiratorial mind reckons. Those of...

The Stolen Vote In Bridgeport: Justice Delayed Is Business As Usual

February 23, 2012
A senior federal judge once pulled me aside in the hallway of the court and asked, with a twinkle in the judicial eye, if I didn’t worry about...

Easy Come. Easy Go (Update)

February 21, 2012
Blame the Internet gods, or, at the very least, my webmaster.
In an effort to accomodate the complaints of several readers who had difficulty...

The CSI Effect Revisted

February 20, 2012
I don’t get to watch as much television as I would like: I leave the house early in the morning, and get home late. My wife and I are addicted...

Oh, Jesus. Not Santorum

February 19, 2012
Were I a praying man, I’d utter the following: "Lord, save us from the likes of Rick Santorum." But who would listen to such a prayer?...

The Suicide of a Heroine

February 16, 2012
Death is inconceivable. I am not saying it does not happen all around us every day. But we cannot conceive of death. Life forces propel us through...

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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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