Editorials
Editorial: Sex Offender Registry Goes Wild
Monday, February 27, 2012 | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Originally conceived as a statute protective of public safety, the Connecticut sex offender registry has become so overly stringent that its original mission is no longer being achieved. It is time to amend the statute so as to promulgate regulations that classify crimes/offenders into categories of dangerousness, broaden the range of time periods for placement on the registry beyond the current periods of 10 years or a lifetime, and to allow greater mechanisms for past offenders to seek relief from the burdens of the registry.
Editorial: Connecticut Pardons Process Should Be National Model
Monday, February 27, 2012 | The Connecticut Law Tribune
The recent grant of more than 200 pardons by the governor of Mississippi on his "way out the door" is an example why the pardons process in many states should be changed. In the majority of states, pardons are the exclusive prerogative of the governor, who, like the president of the United States, has an unlimited authority to grant pardons for the commission of any crime. Some states do require a recommendation from a pardons or parole board. But in most of those states, the governors don't have to follow the board's recommendation.
Editorial: The Role Of The Prosecutor
Monday, January 30, 2012 | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Norm Pattis offers a useful perspective in his entertaining weekly column in the Law Tribune. The bar needs to be reminded of what criminal defense attorneys see and observe about people and the legal system. In particular, Mr. Pattis' independence and focus on the rights of the individual often provide a useful lest-we-forget in a complex legal system and world.
Editorial: For Mandatory CLE, Proof Isn't In The Pudding
Monday, January 23, 2012 | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Judges and lawyers are in the business of proof. In the courtroom, assertion is meaningless without evidence, and any verdict based on mere speculation or anecdote is prohibited. Ironically, we now see judges and lawyers who demand rigid proof in the courtroom coming out in support of mandatory continuing legal education without a shred of empirical evidence demonstrating its efficacy. Instead these folks rest their position on amorphous concepts like "public confidence" and "consumer protection." These soft and unsupported arguments are analogous to a lawyer banging on counsel table when it becomes clear that neither law nor fact is on their side.
Editorial: Revise, Pass The Uniform Arbitration Act
Monday, January 16, 2012 | The Connecticut Law Tribune
The Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly has considered the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act on seven occasions since 2002. It only made it out of committee once, in 2009, when it died on the House floor. Each bill had its problems, but so do the state's present arbitration statutes, which have not been significantly updated since 1949. In the meantime, arbitration has moved on and become more popular. It's time to fix the proposed bill and straighten out our statutes.
Editorial: Access To Justice Hit By A Minibus
Monday, January 2, 2012 | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Congress has announced that among the many cuts within this year's federal budget is a significant reduction in Legal Services Corp.?A House-Senate conference agreement for fiscal year 2012 provides $348 million to the Legal Services Corp. (LSC). Of that, $322.4 million would fund basic field grants for the delivery of civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. This reduces LSC's overall funding by 13.9 percent and for basic field grants by 14.8 percent.
Editorial: The Struggle Over 'Qualified Immunity'
Monday, December 26, 2011 | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Qualified immunity protects officials sued for civil rights abuses from suit and liability, provided that they did not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. It is a strong defense for state and federal officials sued in their personal capacity, but it is still not absolute immunity and, therefore, provides an opportunity for the victims of abusive official behavior to seek compensation.
Editorial: A Pro Se Proposal For The Supreme Court
Monday, December 26, 2011 | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Pro se parties, now labeled by some courts as "self represented parties," have long been a management challenge for courts in our adversary system where a battle between trained advocates is the norm. Recently, no doubt partially due to economic conditions, the number of pro se parties has increased at both the trial and appellate levels, leading to bar association and judicial task forces on how best to handle problems arising with untrained advocates.
Editorial: Law Schools And Lawyering
Monday, December 19, 2011 | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Recently, The New York Times ran a front-page article explaining in detail how law schools teach very little about the actual practice of lawyering, presumably leaving that job to the law firms and lawyers who hire law school graduates. The model may have worked well in the past, argues the author, but now, in a down economy, law firm clients no longer will allow themselves to be billed for lawyer apprenticeship. ?
Editorial: Stronger Sex Abuse Reporting Statute Needed
Monday, December 12, 2011 | The Connecticut Law Tribune
The recent allegations of child sex abuse by coaches at Penn State and Syracuse universities, and the attempts by those institutions to address them, have brought attention to the prevalence of minors involved in college-affiliated youth sports programs, in roles such as ball boys for the college teams. The scandals will have widespread repercussions, one of which should be the evaluation of the existing procedures whereby schools and coaches report allegations of child abuse to state officials.
