Blog Posts

The man was not happy to be placed on a suicide watch, and he blamed me for it. I was responsible for the call. I made it. His situation was dire, and when he told me not once, but three times, of his thoughts of self-destruction, it struck me that his response would be perfectly rational. The...

Remind me not to move to Bedford, New Hampshire. Parents in town want the right to rate and approve all of the books that are taught in their children’s high school. This way they can object to books they find offensive: books like Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting...

Much though I applaud the reasoning supporting U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson’s decision to declare parts of the new health care law unconstitutional, I deplore the result. We need a publicly financed general health care system to which all Americans are entitled. What we do not need is...

What can Howard Stern teach about legal fees? Not much, really. You see, Howard gets what Howard wants. The rest of us lead lives of quiet desperation under the scrutiny of bar regulators.
Stern has been a radio personality for 35 years. At 56, he is one of the nation’s top draws. When...

The next time members of the Connecticut General Assembly are asked to consider whether the prosecutors of this state should have routine access to investigative grand juries, they ought to take a trip to the Walker Reception and Special Management Unit. That's a euphemism for prison. It's located...

Is Julian Assange the new Martin Luther?
The significance of the Protestant Reformation lies not so much in the proliferation of new, and non-Catholic, theologies: Early Christianity was a wild cacophony of conflicting views of Jesus. It took centuries for orthodoxy to emerge. For well more...

There was a time in the northeastern United States when an innkeeper could expect a few curious customers to respond to signs reading: "George Washington slept here." The man must have laid his head to rest somewhere during his founding travels. Why not at Aunt Sally's bed and breakfast? This is a...

Those of you representing folks accused of sex offenses know the power of mere words. An accusation standing alone, without corroboration, can condemn a person whether they have committed a crime or not. Often these words come from children. And once a child makes a claim, the state abandons its...

One of the oddest things I have noticed in recent years is just how many of the prosecutors I respect and admire have strong religious convictions. More than one has announced after a trial that they will be praying me. I have assembled a nice library of gifts from these folks. I suppose I ask for...

Something like hope twinkled in my client's eyes on Friday afternoon. A jury returned a verdict in his favor, awarding damages, including punitive dameges, against a woman who had accused him of sexual misconduct with her young daughter. The jury also awarded damages to a young girl who was alleged...