Norm Pattis
Norm Pattis is a criminal defense attorney and civil rights lawyer in Bethany. Most days he blogs at www.pattisblog.com.
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Lies Becomes Cops' Way Of Doing Business
Monday, July 6, 2009 | by Norm Pattis | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Candor is more than a cardinal virtue among lawyers. It is a professional requirement, something like the air we breathe. Whether dealing with the court or third parties, lawyers are expected to be truthful and fair. Perhaps that makes us quaint. It certainly makes us easy marks for those who view deception as part of their craft.
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Rigid World View A Recipe For Danger
Monday, June 29, 2009 | by Norm Pattis | The Connecticut Law Tribune
As a child I would delight in the asinine adventures of the nameless spooks in Mad magazine's Spy v. Spy. The two covert operatives were no doubt involved in the deadly serious business of clandestine service. But they were such bungling idiots. If the world were left to them, we'd all be living in caves and dining on uncooked roots and berries.
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Focus On Efficiency Leads To Fewer Trials
Monday, June 22, 2009 | by Norm Pattis | The Connecticut Law Tribune
I read an interesting essay on judging the other day. The author noted that the image of a federal trial judge sitting dispassionately at trial calling balls and strikes should be supplanted by a new image: the manager, sitting by his or her computer, checking out case reports and researching case law on pending motions. That is not a reassuring image. Many reasons are given for the vanishing trial. Filings in the district court have increased, but the number of cases going to trial has decreased. There have been no new rules of procedure that would account for the decline in trials. The increases in filings suggest we are more litigious than ever.
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Justice System Ill-Served By Victorian Attitudes
Monday, June 15, 2009 | by Norm Pattis | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Were Sigmund Freud alive and well, he would despair over the state of criminal justice in Connecticut. We've criminalized desire to such an extent that many of us are now criminals at some point or another. And rather that put the brakes on a system run amok, lawmakers are finding more and more ways to lock people up. Is the only business booming amid the recession the prison-industrial complex? A story in last week's Hartford Courant reported that a couple of dozen folks were arrested as part of a dawn sweep of convicted sex offenders. Many of those arrested were charged with the felony of failing to provide a correct address to the good folks managing the sex offender registry. Others, no doubt, were arrested for being too close to children; perhaps even for living with their own offspring.
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Defendants Forced To Plea Too Soon
Monday, June 8, 2009 | by Norm Pattis | The Connecticut Law Tribune
This is a tale of two court systems, both committed to preserving the same set of rights, and both dedicated to the pursuit of justice. While I am no monist, and believe that many roads can all lead to the same destination, I know that if I were accused of a crime, I would much prefer the procedure in the federal courts. At least there I would know what I was doing and why, as I considered whether to enter a plea of guilty.
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An Unusual Vacation That's Easy To Book
Monday, May 25, 2009 | by Norm Pattis | The Connecticut Law Tribune
By the time you read this, I should be in heaven. This is not to say that I expect to be dead. Were that the case, the destination is far from certain. In my case, I suspect sweet death to be followed by a locale with enormous and eternal heating bills. No, I expect to be in Wales, attending one of my all-time favorite events: The Hay-on-Wye Festival. The festival has been around for several decades. Hay-on-Wye has been around forever. Indeed, the castle at the town's center is crumbling and in disrepair. But this does not stop the structure from being used. Richard Booth sells used books out of the usable portions of the castle. You can find some real bargains there if you are willing to overlook the cobwebs.
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No Justice In Flawed Pre-Sentence Report
Monday, May 4, 2009 | by Norm Pattis | The Connecticut Law Tribune
A good woman nearly went to prison the other day because she rubbed the person who interviewed her for a pre-sentence report the wrong way. Who gave these unsworn nabobs the keys to the prison?
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Discovery Rights Should Apply To Criminal Cases
Monday, April 27, 2009 | by Norm Pattis | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Sometimes the rules of criminal procedure make no sense. Why, for example, aren't defendants free to move for summary judgment?
