Blog Posts

Much though I love freedom of speech, the more raucous and unrestrained the better, I also favor the creation of a new Internet. Even if it is a so-called "gated community" where folks must assume an identity to participate. The Internet now resembles a giant libidinal bubble, where anyone can...

Our youngest son is an aspiring doctor, starting a M.D./Ph.D. program this summer. So my wife and I read medical fiction and books about young doctors. I suppose we are afraid we'll run out of things to talk about with him. When a young doctor confronts crime, I am in seventh heaven. My son and I...

Waiting for a verdict in a criminal case is the closest I expect to get to Hell. That is not because I hope to ascend to Heaven at death. I simply don't believe in an afterlife. So today I suffer for sins committed in the past. But whose sins?
My client is accused of manslaughter as to her own...

My client was acquitted today of all counts relating to the state's claim that she drove while intoxicated. She was convicted of one count arising from the jury's conclusion that one child was not in a mandated booster seat for a child under 60 pounds in weight. It is a good day.
Here's more:...

When I was a youngster working my way through adolesence, it was a big deal to head off to the drug store and sneak a peak at Playboy and Penthouse magazine. On several memorable occasions, I found the courage to actually purchase copies and smuggle them home. I am grateful I did not come of age...

My bluff was called the other day. I was invited to serve on a committee of some sort composed of lawyers and judges. The topic was whether to use video conferencing in the state courts. I even got a nice letter from Chief Justice Chase Rogers thanking me for my service.
Of course, I returned...

Connecticut does not generally permit opening statements in criminal cases. Indeed, they are so rare I am aware of a case in which a brand new prosecutor once spent several days picking a jury. Once the group was emplaneled, the young woman stood up, looked at the jury, and gave an opening about...

John Dominic Crossan considers Luke 14:31-32 to be an independent parable. I am not so sure that I can fathom this. Consider:
"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming...

I was getting ready to board a trans-contintental flight the other day when an email arrived: "Saucier v. Katz" has just been over-ruled." I was overjoyed for a distracted moment, and then a small voice asked: "What was it that Erwin Chemerinsky said?"
Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194 (2001), is...

I've been getting plenty of emails on a private account in response to a piece I wrote not long ago on my renewed interest in the historical Jesus. A few folks are hoping that I see a light of some sort. Several others have made recommendations for future reading. I am compiling a reading list and...