Blog Posts

I was inclined to greet news that a Nebraska federal judge issued an order enjoining the state from enforcing part of its new sex offender law with good cheer. "Finally," I thought, "a judge with the sense to see through the madness of these new laws." But then I read the decision, and I am now...

Press accounts of criminal convictions and their consequences make for painful reading, especially for practicing lawyers and their clients. I've had more than one family say in exasperation something along the following lines: "I've seen murderers get less time. What can we do?"
I sometimes...

One day, in some courtroom in the United States, a juror will stand up in the middle of a criminal case and shout: "Liar, liar, robe on fire!" I hope it happens in Connecticut. Here is why.
When we refuse to let juries know the truth about the consequences of a conviction in a criminal case we...

During the years preceding the civil war, a netword of abolitionists developed in the United States. These folks helped spirit African-Americans to slavery by forming an underground railroad. It appears that something similar is taking place today, although the goal is far different.
Inclusion...

"The implied purpose of the sex offender registration act, public safety, is not served by requiring an otherwise law-abiding adult to be forever branded as a sex offender because of a juvenile transgression involving consensual sex during a Romeo and Juliet relationship."
Finally, some words...

I’ve been watching the debate about national health care with a sinking feeling in my stomach. If it is this hard to build a consensus around assuring that all Americans have access to decent health care, how will we ever summon the conviction necessary to make sure that all Americans have...

The death penalty is cruel, wastes money and makes fools of perfectly good men and women. Abolishing it makes both economic and moral sense. But will abolition play in the Legislature, where passion rules and reason is often an unwelcome guest?
The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee...

Most lawyers I know struggle with the mental health needs of at least some of their clients. We are not trained for this work, and generally make a mess of it. Yet new rules of professional conduct place a premium on client communication. Just how many tirades drenched in hatred, rage and paranoia...

Storm clouds are gathering over the Connecticut General Assembly as lawmakers consider the reappointment of Superior Court Judge Thomas P. Miano. A bitter fight is expected, and the focus of that fight is the judge's sentencing decision in the case of State v. Burke. A good jurist should not be...