Blog Posts


Consent, Parental Power and Childhood Vaccination

Among the world’s mysteries is the transformation of naked power into authority. Yes, from time immemorial, there have been those with the means to impose their will on others. But we say, or at least we used to say, that when the state acts, its agents possess not mere power, but...

Some Sobering Lessons Learned In A Year Of Living Cautiously

Fifty-three weeks ago today, I got off of an airplane in Hartford, Connecticut, and headed home to face the pandemic. Since that time, I’ve been in my office with other people once. I’ve been physically within six or so feet of non-family members not at all. I’ve eaten...

Just Say No To The Cuomo Coup

A year ago, I watched New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to try to catch my bearings as a pandemic struck. Donald Trump was the black beast of politics then. In the contrast media of the cable news cycle, Cuomo came out looking like a white knight. Hell, he wrote a book about it all. He was king...

Revenge of the Puritans: Some Ruminations on the Politics of Virtue

At the mid-point of the tenth month of the Covid-19 pandemic, one thing has become self-evidently clear: Our republic is not well-equipped to deal with a widespread public health emergency. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends in large part on your politics: the left calls for...

Don't Get Too Comfortable With The Public Health State

The thing that most terrifies me about the Covid-19 pandemic is not the prospect of death or physical illness. No one gets out of here alive: I’m old enough to understand that less as the abstract application of a syllogism – all men are mortal, Socrates is a man, therefore...

Covidtopia: Connecticut's Courts Are Rudderless

The pandemic, I am afraid, is showing no signs of easing, and that means that the courts, at least in Connecticut, my home state, will remain shuttered for the foreseeable future. Amazingly, nine months into this and there is still nothing like a reliable clearinghouse for information...

What To Do When Public Health And Liberty Collide

We’re approaching the ninth month of this pandemic, and the good news is that books written about it are hitting the press. The most unnerving thing about the pandemic thus far has been a lack of perspective. Good books provide that.
I missed John Fabian...

Covidtopia: Playing With Fire In Connecticut Courts

Finally, something that sounds like reliable information about the COVID-19 pandemic and the courts in Connecticut.
A client of mine faces federal narcotics charges. His case was set for trial in early December in Hartford. At a pre-trial conference with a federal judge moments...

Covidtopia --Is Connecticut's Judicial Branch Paying Attention?

I’ve been tempted from time to time to become a judge. Being relieved from the grind of eking a living from the raw suffering of others is the principal draw: imagine never having to ask another human being whose life hangs in the balance for a fee? And think of the ability to do...

Covid-19 and Speedy Trials: Judge Carney Nails It

Wow. Just wow. A shot, or make that a judicial ruling, was just fired that should be heard in every courtroom and courthouse in the nation. United States District Judge Cormac Carney did the right, but unthinkable – he dismissed a prosecution brought by the United States Government...

© Norm Pattis is represented by Elite Lawyer Management, managing agents for Exceptional American Lawyers
Media & Speaker booking [hidden email]