Blog Posts

Those of us who earn our living on the front lines of the criminal justice system are often too shell-shocked to recognize larger trends. But when things go beyond a mere trend, and take the form and shape of a tsunami, everyone notices. So I write today about allegations of sexual misconduct with...

Those of us who earn our living on the front lines of the criminal justice system are often too shell-shocked to recognize larger trends. But when things go beyond a mere trend, and take the form and shape of a tsunami, everyone notices. So I write today about allegations of sexual misconduct with...

A woman called yesterday. She was a stay-at-home mother with two small children. Her husband had a good job. Then he touched a woman on the leg in an airplane. Federal prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation moved in. The man is a sex offender, they concluded. So he goes to prison next...

I'm a battle-hardened criminal defense lawyer, so it always surprises me how weak in the knees I get when a policeman pulls me over. The urge to confess runs rampant, even if I haven't done anything. I assume the authorities must have a reason for wanting to talk to me. What have I done?
Police...

I'm a battle-hardened criminal defense lawyer, so it always surprises me how weak in the knees I get when a policeman pulls me over. The urge to confess runs rampant, even if I haven't done anything. I assume the authorities must have a reason for wanting to talk to me. What have I done?
Police...

The only way lawmakers will be forced to face the consequences of bad laws if is the people affected by those laws educated those in power. And that is precisely what will be taking place in Springfield, Illionois, on April 22, when a group of ordinary people seeking to reform sex offender laws...

Regular readers know that I am more than a little ambivalent about Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyer's College. I doubt it can or will survive Spence's retirement, and I've noted with a chortling, irresponsible sort of glee what appears to be strains of hypocrisy evident in the institution. But even so,...

New York Times is inching its way to the correct conclusion. In an editorial yesterday, the paper praised efforts by the Justice Department to assure that indigent lawyers have adequate counsel when facing criminal charges. The paper also noted a less remarked upon problem: the extent to which...

Dear President Obama:
When you took office you promised to give a voice to the voiceless. You spoke of the audacity of hope. You promised to include those often forgotten and despised. I am appealing to you honor those promises now.
This past weekend you appeared on a television show called...

Dear President Obama:
When you took office you promised to give a voice to the voiceless. You spoke of the audacity of hope. You promised to include those often forgotten and despised. I am appealing to you honor those promises now.
This past weekend you appeared on a television show called...