Call someone a victim, and they are at once framed in a sympathetic light. Bad things happen to victims, we are drawn to them, wanting to help them in any way we can. It is horrible to be a victim.
We don’t feel the same way about accusers. These folks are suspect. They point a finger, whether with justification or not lies in the proof. An accuser might be entitled to our sympathy, but they might just as easily merit our scorn if it turns out that their accusations are false.
To a victim goes immediate sympathy and support; to the accuser, a cautious ear. A victim has...
March 12, 2011
Everyone plea bargains in the criminal courts; sometimes the bargaining resolves a case. It is part of the process. But not all parties approach the bargaining process as equals. Indeed, one party is never present at all. I learned that lesson again today in a case that was set for trial, but ended in pleas of nolo contendere.
My client was accused of vicious acts of violence. His former fiancé was the accuser. The medical evidence about what, if anything, took place was contested. The former fiancé was rip-roaring to go, however. She wanted to testify, despite all...
March 11, 2011
I understand that times are hard for lawyers statewide. Receipts are down, the public defender’s offices of the state are swamped, and judges are concerned lest the judicial system be capsized by a tsunami of pro se litigants. We aren’t immune from the ebbs and lows of the business cycle after all.
But what I do not understand is a rigid adherence to empty form. I take special aim this week at Martin Zeldis, the Chief of Legal Services for the state’s Division of Public Services. I am not sure what has changed in his office in recent months, but something has. A...
March 10, 2011
"It would be a disgrace to us if amongst us men should burn a rattlesnake or a mad dog. The badness of the victim is not an element in the case at all. Torture and burning are forbidden, not because the victim is not bad enough, but because we are too good.... It is evident, however, the public opinion is not educated up to this level."
William Graham Sumner
So begins the preface to Walter White’s, Rope & Faggot: A Biography of Judge Lynch. The book was first published by Alfred A. Knopf...
March 7, 2011
March 6, 2011
The law is, and always shall be, a late-comer to any crisis. By the time legal doctrines and rules evolve, take shape and respond to a crisis, the...
March 4, 2011
I am lucky I came of age many years ago. Were I a college student today, I am sure I would be expelled, or perhaps even imprisoned. College was a...
March 4, 2011
I was in New Haven the other day, crossing the street near one of the courthouses.
"Gimme your money," a voice said. He was young, black, and...
March 3, 2011
Christopher Murphy wants to be a United States Senator, so it is understandable that he will tilt at windmills from time to time. But his poking at...
March 1, 2011
Just how tight is the market for legal fees just now? Tight enough that some private defense lawyers are complaining that too many defendants are...
February 28, 2011
I don’t write about it much here because, frankly, I don’t get to spend much time at it, but one of my avocations is as bookseller. My...