“You’re a lawyer?” The man looked at me with disdain, his paunch creeping out from beneath his bulletproof vest. I had just pulled up to the York Correctional Institution to visit with a client. He sauntered out of the booth acting put upon.
“Yes,” I said.
He gave me a once over, taking in the pony tail, my fleece vest and the interior of a car littered with coffee cops, newspapers and books. I guess I didn’t look very lawyerly to him.
I handed him my driver’s license. He nearly winced when he took it in his hand. He looked at it as...
April 12, 2012
New Haven's Mayor John DeStefano will be on the Chaz and AJ show on WPLR 99.1 FM on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. His mission? To explain why he did not look like a complete ass on New Haven's Green this week when he ordered the eviction of the New Haven Occupy protestors only to be stopped dead in his tracks by a federal court order.
It's no use, John. You got caught with your pants down. You had all the charm of an Amber Alert.
Give him a call at 203.877.2269. Tell him it's no use. He looked stupid. His explanations for this on-again, off-again spasm are as convincing as a sterile man's...
April 11, 2012
New Haven’s Mayor John DeStefano took to the air waves this morning to defend the City’s actions yesterday on the New Haven Green. He’s defending his police chief, Dean Esserman, against charges that Esserman jumped the gun in efforts to evict protestors from the Green. I take full responsibility, the Mayor said.
Okay, Mayor. Have I your way: You are the culprit.
If you aren’t from New Haven, you probably have not been following the drama surrounding the city’s efforts to evict protestors who have been living on the Green since October 15, 2011. The...
April 11, 2012
I stood in a public place yesterday and watched two tearful parents say goodbye to an American hero. The young man was leaving for a year. Odds are, he will return safe and sound. But the world is a dangerous place. There are no guarantees. They were sending him into harm’s way.
His odds of survival are good. Although he is only 23-years-old, he is already a veteran of four years of service in the United States Navy. He served in Somalia and the Persian Gulf, and was highly decorated during those tours. He is quiet, but loving and eager to lend a hand. When his sister fell ill...
April 5, 2012
April 1, 2012
I saw the White Devil the other day, and it terrified and saddened me. He was reflected in the look of wariness and suspicion in a young man’s...
March 31, 2012
The claims and counterclaims regarding the killing of Trayvon Martin are flying fast and furious. It’s well past time to get this case into a...
March 29, 2012
I find it almost impossible to walk away from a fight, which explains, I suppose, my choice of vocation. Trying cases is one of the few places left...
March 28, 2012
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," Jesus is reported to have said. Somehow, I don’t think he foresaw just how...
March 26, 2012
In the Roman Coliseum the crowd voted thumbs up, or thumbs down based on the performance they had just witnessed. Life or death depended on the fancy...
March 25, 2012
"The positive testimony of history is that the State invariably had its origin in conquest and confiscation," wrote Albert Jay Nock in Our Enemy, The...