Can The First Amendment Harness Facebook?

Let me put my cards out on the table: I represent Alex Jones and Infowars. I despise efforts to silence him because his speech discomfits the self-righteous. And I regard Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg as clear and present dangers to the right to speak freely.
If any of this offends you, move on.
If you’re interested in helping to conceptualize litigation against Facebook, read on.
Last week, Facebook “de-platformed” Jones and Infowars, and several others. The social media behemoth promised to do likewise to anyone who...
May 15, 2019

Alex Jones Speaks Out

Editor's Note: The New York Times, Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal won't publish this piece by my client, Alex Jones. Yet they will run material critical of him. And now Facebook has decided Alex is too dangerous to print. Gutless cowards all. Here's a piece Alex wrote that the mainstream media won't run. Why?
Alex Jones The Piece The Media Won't Print
By Alex Jones
You know my name. I’m Alex Jones, owner of InfoWars. People love to hate me, yet I have millions of listeners and viewers.
I’m called a conspiracy theorist. I’ve been sued in...
May 3, 2019

There's No Such Thing As Hate Speech

This is the pre-prepared portion of the talk I gave to the Hartford County Bar Association for Law Day this year:
.
LAW DAY 2019
HARTFORD COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH HATE SPEECH?
We’re here today to celebrate Law Day under the banner of “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society.” I wonder how much of the freedom we celebrate today is at risk as we approach another electoral cycle deeply divided. On the horizon I see a fundamental challenge to freedom of expression in our fascination with hate speech.
...
May 3, 2019

A Police Shooting In Hamden


The City of Hamden was rocked this week by protestors angry about the shooting of a young woman, Stephanie Washington, by a Hamden police officer. Here’s my prediction – the City will pay the young woman $2.5 million to avoid a lengthy courtroom fight.
My phone lit up the evening of the shooting. Reporters wanted to know whether the City could withhold evidence of the shooting, which took place earlier that day.
“They can,” I told one reporter. The law enforcement privilege permits the police to keep evidence to...
April 21, 2019

Social Media and the Mueller Report -- Who's Being Investigated?

April 21, 2019
I’ve been watching the baubleheads on the networks discuss the Mueller report, and I’m disappointed. From the left, cries for...

Yuval Noah Harari's Dismal Nihilism

February 17, 2019
Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli historian with a love for the long view, as in where did we, as a species, come from, the topic of his...

Sandy Hook and Jurisprudential Pathos -- A Dangerous Decision

March 14, 2019
Pathos is a recognized form of rhetoric. Until today, it had little real place in the law. The Connecticut Supreme Court changed all that...

To Facebook, Or Not To Facebook, That Is The Question

January 3, 2019
I like to say the following to folks after one of my all-too-frequent displays of bad temper: “I’m sorry. I’m in AA. That outburst...

Gov. Lamont's Disastrous Tax On Legal Services

February 20, 2019
Gov. Ned Lamont lives in a bubble, and that bubble is impenetrable. I know this because he was once a potential juror on a criminal case...

Build The Damn Wall, Already

February 20, 2019
I suppose it was inevitable that Connecticut’s Attorney General would sign on to California’s federal lawsuit seeking to block president...

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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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