Is It A Crime To Conspire To Close The George Washington Bridge?
Posted: January 10, 2014 Filed under: General Law | Tags: chris christie, hobbs act Leave a commentTalking Points Memo has an interesting piece today on whether the George Washington Bridge scandal enveloping New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has criminal implications. TPM writes:
Interfering with peoples’ ability to drive between states by closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge between New York and New Jersey might be a crime on its own. Read the rest of this entry »
The NSA Rulings: Which Judge Is Right?
Posted: December 30, 2013 Filed under: General Law | Tags: fourth amendment, national security agency, nsa Leave a commentIn the span of ten days, two federal district court judges have issued diametrically opposed rulings on the constitutionality of the National Security Agency’s metadata collection program. One judge said the program is almost certainly unconstitutional, while the other judge said it is perfectly constitutional. Read the rest of this entry »
An FOI Lawyer’s Wish For The New Year
Posted: December 27, 2013 Filed under: General Law Leave a commentAs the year 2013 comes to a close, I have started to think–like most of us do–about my hopes for the New Year. At the top of the wish list, as always, is peace on earth. Further down the list is the wish that is the subject of this post: I wish (and hope and pray) that the trend towards opacity in our state government stops and reverses itself. We need to return Connecticut to the days when it was a true leader in the fight for freedom of information and government transparency. Read the rest of this entry »
The Power To Terminate Includes The Power To Evaluate, Ctd.
Posted: December 18, 2013 Filed under: General Law | Tags: governmental accountability Leave a commentThe Attorney General has issued a written opinion that the Governmental Accountability Commission or “GAC” has the legal authority to evaluate the job performance of the Executive Administrator of the Office of Governmental Accountability (“OGA”), the consolidated agency that serves as the umbrella organization for the state’s “watchdog” agencies, i.e., the Freedom of Information Commission, Office of State Ethics and the State Elections Enforcement Commission. Read the rest of this entry »
Editorial: Prosecutors Shouldn’t Be Hiding Crime Records
Posted: December 17, 2013 Filed under: General Law | Tags: 911 calls, Sandy Hook, sedensky Leave a commentThe following editorial appeared in the Connecticut Law Tribune. It is republished here with the permission of the Trib.
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Prosecutors Shouldn’t Be Hiding Crime’s Records
December 17, 2013
Danbury prosecutor Stephen Sedensky and Michelle Cruz, a former prosecutor and State Victim Advocate, have recently been talking up the need to protect Newtown survivors from sights or sounds that bring back the events of that horrifying day. Read the rest of this entry »
The Unspoken Question About The Skakel Habeas Case
Posted: December 7, 2013 Filed under: General Law | Tags: habeas, skakel Leave a commentAs any conscious person knows, Michael Skakel was recently released from prison on bail. His release follows Superior Court judge Tom Bishop’s decision that Skakel’s defense lawyer did not provide a constitutionally adequate defense during Skakel’s trial for the murder of Martha Moxley. Read the rest of this entry »
Executive Order No. 38–A Step In The Right Direction
Posted: December 3, 2013 Filed under: General Law | Tags: foia, freedom of information, malloy Leave a commentI have not always been thrilled by some of current administration’s actions with respect to freedom of information, but if someone is going to criticize an administration, he or she also should give credit where credit is due. Read the rest of this entry »
Final Judgments And Attorney’s Fees
Posted: December 1, 2013 Filed under: Appellate Law, Practice and Procedure | Tags: attorney's fees, final judgment; final judgment rule 1 CommentIs a trial court judgment final, for the purpose of seeking appellate review, if all issues in a case have been resolved except the issue of attorney’s fees? The United States Supreme Court is going to revisit that issue this term in Ray Haluch Gravel Co. v. Central Pension Fund. I say “revisit” because many of us thought that the Supreme Court had settled that issue long ago. Read the rest of this entry »
Initial Thoughts On The Sandy Hook Summary Report
Posted: November 25, 2013 Filed under: General Law | Tags: freedom of information, freedom of information act, Sandy Hook 1 CommentAs promised, this afternoon Danbury State’s Attorney Stephen Sedensky released his report of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Lanza home on December 14, 2012. The 44-page report is available here. The 236-page appendix is available here. Having read the report, I have a few reactions. With one exception, my comments are limited to the legal implications of certain statements in the report. Read the rest of this entry »
Appealingly Brief! 