Law and Legitimacy
506 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★ - 57 ratingsLaw, politics, crime, and culture—in a word, "conflict".
If you have trouble telling the good guys from the bad guys, Law and Legitimacy is your podcast.
Norm Pattis is a trial and appellate lawyer focused on criminal defense and constitutional rights. Norm is also a long-time newspaper columnist and the owner of one of New England's oldest bookstores. A contrarian by nature, he believes that no group is quite so frightening as a self-righteous mob.
His objective? To make you think. Welcome to Law and Legitimacy.
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Episodes
LAL Live Part 1: Officer Command Presence, Randy Cox, and Ben Crump (NPS July 8)
July 11, 2022 15:17 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBNorm opens the show with an important correction regarding the state's authority to involuntarily commit an individual and how long that temporary commitment may last. Thank you to WICC's own Lisa Wexler for listening and providing our listeners with the right information. Norm begins the show in earnest by discussing the Randy Cox case, which is making headlines for the questionable handling of an inmate transfer resulting in the apparent paralysis. How are officers trained? What tools...
LAL Live: Modern Philosophy + What Do We Do About Gun Violence? (NPS July 7)
July 08, 2022 11:43 - 1 hour - 125 MBIf you found yourself in a position of supreme authority to make and enforce laws in the United States, what would you do to mitigate and curb gun violence? Should we ban handguns altogether? Norm has a proposed rule. No one should be able to own or possess a handgun in America except for Norm. Has the firearm become an instrument of political power? Isn't that what we see right now in Chicago? With these nutty shooters, like Crimo? Can we legislate fear away? Norm recalls the gre...
LAL Live: Connecticut's Libertarian Ticket with Aaron Lewis and Kevin Alan (NPS July 6)
July 07, 2022 11:11 - 1 hour - 125 MBNorm opens the show discussing the function of the Supreme Court of the United States—to say what the law is—by examining the history of the Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren, who served on the Court from 1953 to 1969. The Constitution certainly is not written in granite, but certainly the outrage we are seeing—"the crisis in the air"—illustrates the true cultural polarity in the modern American scene. Norm also discusses the next major inflection point in American politics: the ad...
LAL Live: W. Michael Boyer + George Colli — SCOTUS and the Future of News (NPS July 5)
July 05, 2022 20:34 - 1 hour - 126 MBNorm is joined at the beginning of the short week as he always is by W. Michael Boyer, the producer of Law and Legitimacy and North Carolina-based attorney. Norm and Mike discuss a myriad topics centered on the high profile happenings at the Supreme Court. What does Michael Moore's status and influence mean for the greater population of American citizens that share some or all of his views? And what of the call for Justice Clarence Thomas's impeachment? In the second half of the show, N...
LAL Live: John Deaton of Crypto-Law.us, the SEC and Agency Capture + Pizza Talk (NPS July 1)
July 02, 2022 10:33 - 1 hour - 127 MBAhead of the 3-day weekend, Norm thanks listeners for keeping him around through 9 weeks of the Norm Pattis Show. For all of you loyal LAL listeners, our gratitude knows no bounds. Thank you for setting out on this journey with us. Norm opens the show talking about his disappointment with the USA Today article naming the Top 50 Pizzerias in the United States—where is the New Haven representation?! Incredible. A local listener calls in to tell Norm about her favorite local spots and topp...
LAL Live: Udo Middelmann + Ghislaine Maxwell, Jury Nullification, Equal Protection (NPS June 29)
June 30, 2022 12:08 - 1 hour - 127 MBNorm opens the show discussing the news surrounding the sentencing of long-time girlfriend and counterpart to the late Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, for her role in facilitating the sex trafficking of underage minors. What the hell is Governor Ned Lamont doing by extending the state's Public Health Emergency? We get the government we deserve, sure. But there has been an absolute failure of will in this state to produce candidates that have a vision for what ordinary people want in t...
LAL Live: Miranda Warnings No More? + Authoritarian Classics (NPS June 28)
June 29, 2022 15:21 - 1 hour - 127 MBNorm opens the show talking about the frenzy that has become criminal court in a post COVID judicial system, and offers an anecdote or two to shed some light on why the public's often low regard for attorneys is sometimes justified. Norm then transitions to a discussion of one SCOTUS decision from this term that did not get much press during recent days, what he calls a "sleep decision", Vega v. Tekoh, which deals with Miranda Warnings. You know "Miranda Warnings" from TV shows, "You h...
LAL Live: More on Dobbs; Harvard on the Cusp of Reparations Payments? + W. Michael Boyer (NPS June 27)
June 28, 2022 11:52 - 1 hour - 126 MBNorm is joined in the first hour as he is at the start of every workweek by the co-host and producer of Law and Legitimacy and North Carolina-based attorney at Carolina Craft Legal, W. Michael Boyer. Last week, Norm and Mike capped off the end of a rapidly crescendoing news week by analyzing the mechanisms and likely impacts of SCOTUS's decisions in New York Pistol and Rifle Association and Dobbs (Second Amendment and Abortion cases respectively). With so much cultural and political fal...
LAL Live: The End of Substantive Due Process? SCOTUS + W. Michael Boyer (NPS June 24)
June 26, 2022 20:27 - 1 hour - 126 MBNorm opens the show questioning whether the United States Constitution fits the demands of our society anymore. He begins with a monologue framing the issues of both New York Rifle and Pistol and Dobbs decisions. Norm clarifies his solemnity by saying simply that he cannot say that SCOTUS got it wrong in either ruling. The question, though, is whether our society can endure in a scenario as politically divisive as the current one in America. The show begins with an analysis of New York...
LAL Live: Candidate for Connecticut Governor Aaron Lewis + Do People Care About Facts Anymore? + (NPS June 23)
June 26, 2022 20:24 - 1 hour - 127 MBIn a 6-3 majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen that New York's proper cause requirement for obtaining an unrestricted license to carry a concealed firearm violates the Fourteenth Amendment in that it prevents law abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Before he explores this, Norm follows up on yes...
LAL Live: Panhandlers and the Ethics of Charity (NPS June 22)
June 24, 2022 13:02 - 1 hour - 127 MBNorm takes a detour to crowdsource input from listeners on a topic that has been in the back of his mind for a long time: panhandling. He begins with a story of Troy and how Troy burned his trust. There appears to be an increasing rise in the homeless population, at least in the New Haven area. Norm explores his feelings of guilt, his aversion to eye contact, the complex feeling of obligation paralleled by a resentment for those who won't pick up their own beds and walk. What are we...
LAL Live Part 2: James 'Jim' Hardy + What is the Race Discussion Missing
June 22, 2022 02:26 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MBNorm is joined in the second hour by a young Connecticut attorney with whom he's been impressed for several years, James 'Jim' Hardy. Jim begins by endorsing Norm as a candidate for President of the United States and Norm responds by nominating Jim to join the cabinet as Vice President. It is upon that mutual respect and admiration that Norm and Jim indulge a thoughtful yet frank discussion of race relations in America today, complete with alternating perspectives regarding key cultura...
LAL Live Part 1: 'They Are Rotten to Their Core' + W. Michael Boyer (NPS June 21)
June 22, 2022 00:52 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MBNorm is joined at the top of the week as he always is by W. Michael Boyer, producer of Law and Legitimacy and attorney somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon line. Norm opens the show by asking whether anyone is paying attention to the House Select Committee on January 6's ongoing hearings, and asks whether the outcome of the hearings will have any material, positive effect on the deepening political divisions in the United States. Michael shares his opinion reinforcing Norm's observations...
LAL #078 — Paul Bass on 'The Golden Age of Journalism'
June 20, 2022 14:12 - 1 hour - 130 MBPaul Bass is the founder and EIC of the New Haven Independent, one of the nation's first online-only, nonprofit multimedia newspapers. He is also the author of one of Norm's favorite books, "Murder in the Model City: the Black Panthers, Yale, and the Redemption of a Killer," a recount of the trial of 8 Black Panthers members accused of murdering a spy among them. Similar to the magic of Norm's discussions with Ron Coleman, Paul Bass is an undeniable spirit, committed to the first amendment...
LAL Live Part 2: Dr. Michael Goldstein, MD + Candidate for US Congress (NPS June 17)
June 20, 2022 13:48 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MBNorm opens the second segment by reminding listeners of the several cases that the Supreme Court is set to rule on as its session comes to a close. In particular, Norm highlights the Dobbs case and its imminent impact on Roe v. Wade. What of the leaks? Justice Clarence Thomas has stated publicly that the Court has become something less than a collegial exercise of power and that as a result the Court is beginning to appear like the rest of our country, divided on issues that are extremely di...
LAL Live Part 1: A Confidential Witness in J6 + Hearsay Evidence (NPS June 17)
June 20, 2022 13:00 - 47 minutes - 43.3 MBNorm opens the show with an update on the New Fairfield Fire Department's announcement of an internal investigation and the lack of transparency in how it was reported by the Hearst-owned, local print newspaper. Why report the tease and not the story? What was so inflammatory? It turns out, the inflammatory comments from a firefighter are alleged related to Juneteenth and the Confederate Flag. Norm speculates on the type of comment that might have formed the basis of the internal investiga...
LAL Live Part 2: US Senatorial Candidate Peter Lumaj + Communism in America (NPS June 16)
June 17, 2022 12:50 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBNorm is joined in the second hour by Republican candidate for US Senator for Connecticut, Mr. Peter Lumaj. Mr. Lumaj has a fascinating story with respect to his family's arrival in the United States more than 30 years ago. Put simply, Mr. Lamaj and his brothers fleed the communist regime in Albania—a decision so serious that his father sacrificed his own life at the hands of the Albanian government to guard the knowledge of his sons' departure from the country in defiance of the laws of t...
LAL Live Part 1: Censorship, CNN, and The Federal Reserve + Give Us a Pulitzer (NPS June 16)
June 17, 2022 12:19 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBNorm opens the first hour imploring citizens to vote for and to demand a return to common sense, citing the obvious upside-down character of the United States' governing structures across the country. He then asks listeners to call in and help him understand what the Connecticut Post reported on with respect to the New Fairfield Volunteer Fire Department's announcement of an internal investigation pursuant to alleged "offensive" posts to social media by one of the department's firefighter...
LAL Live Part 2: From Happy the Elephant to Artificial Intelligence (NPS June 15)
June 16, 2022 11:45 - 46 minutes - 43 MBNorm opens the second segment inviting a discussion of whether computers have minds, and the distinctions between narrow intelligence, general intelligence, and super intelligence within the context of artificial intelligence. However, W. Michael Boyer—producer of LAL and weekly call-in guest to the NPS—simply cannot contain himself and calls in to keep the conversation going about Happy the Elephant. We finally get him kicked off so Norm might continue the discussion of artificial intell...
LAL Live Part 1: Property, People, and the Intermediate (NPS June 15)
June 16, 2022 11:24 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MBNorm opens the show with an announcement: he has entered an appearance on behalf of Joe Biggs and will stand between the incarcerated and persecuted Proud Boys member and the federal government in its pursuit of a seditious conspiracy conviction behind the events of January 6. More on this as it develops. Norm then criticizes the January 6 Committee for its unexpected request for "more time" to prepare for its own hearings. Rome is burning and the Committee doesn't have a fire extinguishe...
LAL Live Rewind — Who Are The Proud Boys? + Dan Hull, Esq. (NPS May 4)
June 15, 2022 17:01 - 47 minutes - 108 MBNorm is joined in this rewind version of LAL Live by esteemed D.C.-based lawyer, Dan Hull. This week, Norm entered an appearance on behalf of Dan Hull's client and J6 defendant, Joe Biggs, J6 defendant and member of the Proud Boys who on the eve of the J6 Commission hearings was charged through a superseding indictment with seditious conspiracy in connection with the events of January 6, 2021. Norm asks Dan to shed light on the facets of the J6 prosecutions that are simply not making thei...
LAL Live Part 2: Why the January 6 Committee Will Get It Wrong (NPS June 13)
June 14, 2022 01:20 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBNorm devotes the second hour to his thoughts about what the January 6 Committee should be asking now. Why are we a nation divided, and why are we armed to the teeth—white and black—and openly talking about civil war? Read the opening monologue on the Norm Pattis Blog here: https://www.pattisblog.com/blog/7241/why-the-january-6-committee-will-get-it-wrong/ For the remainder of the second hour, Norm discusses what he sees as a possible result of the January 6 Commission's congressional he...
LAL Live Part 1: W. Michael Boyer + LIV Golf v. PGA, NBA Finals, and Del Rio's $100K Fine (NPS June 13)
June 14, 2022 00:29 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MBNorm opens the show doing his best impression of Mike and sharing the story of his first trip south of the Mason-Dixon line. Mike joins Norm to provide listeners a brief respite from the normal wear and tear of western civilization in decline. Or does he? Either way, Mike pops in as he does every Monday and engages Norm about the intersection of law and professional sports. On the menu is an observation and analysis of the recent announcement of LIV Golf, the newest emergent competitor t...
LAL #077 — Ripple, XRP, and SEC Regulation with Jimmy Vallee
June 12, 2022 19:18 - 1 hour - 110 MBJimmy Vallee joins Norm and Mike for a Sunday Special long form. Jimmy Vallee is a member of Law and Legitimacy alumni at this point, having appeared several times before today's session. Public radio does not afford the sort of patience that something like digital asset regulation merits for proper examination. So that's what we've aimed here to remedy. Jimmy Vallee is the managing principal of Valhill Capital, a Texas-based family investment firm with an investment thesis centered...
LAL Live Part 2: Mark Meckler + Fidelity of Constitutional Principles
June 11, 2022 15:06 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MBNorm is joined in the second hour by a guy he met on an airplane, Mark Meckler. Mark is a co-founder of the Tea Party and is the founder and President of the Convention of the States. Mark is originally from southern California, he is a lawyer who was one of the first internet privacy attorneys in the country, and one of the people who led the Tea Party movement in 2009. The Tea Party has its origins in the TARP bailouts of the Obama administration. The Tea Party was originally designe...
LAL Live Part 1: What Makes the Lie Appealing? + J6 Committee Hearings Open (NPS June 10)
June 11, 2022 14:42 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBNorm opens the show talking about the opening to the January 6th Commission hearing and his disappointment with the framing. We learned nothing from the first night. The J6 hired an ABC executive to produce the hearings. We're not getting answers. Are we moving toward two societies? Those plugged in and those unplugged? There are rootless people in our society who see that there is no place for them within it. Norm discusses the legal underpinnings of House Committee formation and...
LAL Live Part 2: Ray Lopez Returns! + Role of Religion in Public Life (NPS June 9)
June 10, 2022 11:47 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MBRay returns to the Norm Pattis Show to discuss his path to becoming an ordained minister, the role of religion in American society and public life, and share a few stories unique to himself and to his relationship with Norm. Ray gets very personal, sharing the story of his psychological break, his temporary institutionalization, and the story of his journey into the faith. Norm, admittedly preoccupied with our quest for eternity and the spiritual history of western society, presses Ray...
LAL Live Part 1: Jimmy Vallee Returns + Cryptocurrency and Blockchain (NPS June 9)
June 10, 2022 11:40 - 46 minutes - 43 MBNorm is joined in the first hour by Jimmy Vallee, Managing Principal of Valhill Capital. Jimmy joined the Norm Pattis Show a few weeks ago, but the two were cut off. Norm invited Jimmy back for a more robust discussion. The two discuss the fundamentals of cryptocurrency, from function and technoligy, to the general ambition of blockchain development. Jimmy has been very active in the securities side of cryptocurrency, specifically with Ripple, negotiating with the Securities and Exc...
LAL Live Part 2: Guns, California, and J6 Hearings (NPS June 8)
June 09, 2022 15:46 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MBNorm goes the second hour alone and takes the opportunity to talk dynamically about the danger identitarians pose to the fabric of American culture. Norm begins with an examination of a recent Wall Street Journal column, "Why Black Americans Are Buying More Guns". Plaintiffs in the two most recent second amendment cases (D.C. v Heller; McDonald v. Chicago) have one characteristic in common. Do you know what that characteristic is? And how might that characteristic be belied by the narra...
LAL Live Part 1: The Relationship Between Ideology and Economics (NPS June 8)
June 09, 2022 15:24 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MBNorm opens the show discussing the history of The Weather Underground, the Richard Nixon impeachment behind Watergate, and why Americans should be suspicious of the modern moment as we approach the the J6 Congressional Hearings. Norm also discusses what the recent election results in California may mean for the future of progressive district attorneys all over the country. Then, Norm fields an interesting couple of questions from a caller. So much so that Norm spends a great deal of th...
LAL Live Part 2: Jacqueline Polverari + Reentry Advocacy (NPS June 7)
June 08, 2022 12:56 - 46 minutes - 107 MBNorm is joined in the second hour by long-time friend and client, and friend of the Law and Legitimacy podcast, Jacqueline Polverari, an advocate for those individuals needing assistance with reentering society after nonviolence felony convictions resulting in incarceration. After spending time in a federal corrections facility, Jacqueline discovered the immense difficulty inherent in transitioning back into normal life, and the total lack of support available to those similarly situated....
LAL Live Part 1: Kevin Allen + What the J6 Committee SHOULD Tell Us (NPS June 7)
June 08, 2022 12:25 - 46 minutes - 106 MBNorm opens the show stressing the importance of brave voices in media, specifically radio and broadcast. The context? The Congressional hearings on the January 6 Commission meets Thursday of this week. Norm has attacked the legal foundations of the J6 Committee, and even sued on behalf of a client in the Committee's crosshairs based on the obvious foundational deficiencies in the Committee's formation and de facto political purpose. What does Norm want to see out of the J6 report? Someth...
LAL Live Part 2: Right to Bear Arms vs. Right to Abortion (NPS June 6)
June 07, 2022 12:08 - 46 minutes - 107 MBHow are the Roe v. Wade debate and the American gun debate related? Norm spends the second hour in a legal and intellectual deep dive into foundational constitutional principles—the federal bill of rights, the notion of the "silly putty constitution", the emergence of non-explicit "rights" through inference, and where that leaves us today in the abortion and gun debates. Norm believes SCOTUS will overturn Roe v. Wade with its forthcoming decision in Dobbs v. Mississippi Women's Health C...
LAL Live Part 1: W. Michael Boyer + Spam, Bots, and Will Elon Get It Done? (NPS June 6)
June 07, 2022 11:53 - 46 minutes - 107 MBNorm is joined as he is every Monday by W. Michael Boyer, the editor and producer of Norm's podcast, Law and Legitimacy, and North Carolina-based business and regulatory attorney. Norm opens the show with a monologue regarding the privacy rights of parents whose children are killed at the hands of mass shooters. Mike hops in to continue the analysis of the recent public focus on mass shootings, providing weekend data for reference. Norm queries why we as a nation are so preoccupied now ...
LAL Live Part 2: Steve Farley and Kevin Blacker + New London Wind Turbine Project (NPS June 3)
June 06, 2022 12:18 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MBHow much do you think you know about what your government is doing? At the state level? Locally? Norm is joined in the second hour by Steve Farley and Kevin Blacker to discuss a project undertaken by Connecticut Port Authority that may not have had authority to begin in the first place, costing Connecticut taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Steve and Kevin detail the nature and scope of the project, how the Connecticut Port Authority has been mired in scandal in recent years, a...
LAL Live Part 1: In Praise of Nerds + Shelton Tucker (NPS June 3)
June 06, 2022 12:01 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MBNorm opens the show with words of appreciation for Harini Logan of San Antonio, Texas, the winner of the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Language is beautiful! Congratulations, Harini! What did Hobbs have to say about words? They are "wise men's counters." You are what you read, think, and speak. In other words, the language we use defines us. Norm is then joined by Shelton Tucker to discuss the Southern Poverty Law Center's recently published study showing a burgeoning belief that...
LAL Live Part 2: Ray Lopez + Federal Probation and Sentence Mitigation (NPS June 2)
June 03, 2022 12:37 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MBNorm is joined in the second hour by longtime friend and retired Supervisory U.S. Probation Officer, Ray Lopez. Ray is also a sentencing mitigation expert, specializing in federal death penalty cases, and a published author and evangelist. Ray evangelizes "redemption" to the most hard core of criminals in the United States. Ray discusses his pathway into his professional career, beginning with the story of how he himself landed on probation. Listen as Ray describes his path from Cali...
LAL Live Part 1: Judge Robert Holzberg + Judicial Selection (NPS June 2)
June 03, 2022 12:10 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBNorm opens the show debriefing the outcome of the Depp-Heard trial. Is the #MeToo movement dead? Heard's testimony was not credible. She was not a spokesperson for the tenets of the #MeToo movement. There will be appeals. Among them, the judgment against Depp is perhaps the most likely to be overturned. Norm is then joined by former judge and Connecticut mediator and arbitrator, Robert Holzberg. Norm and Robert discuss the appointment process, whether there has ever been a non-attorn...
LAL Live Part 2: Tyler Dupuis + Real Estate Trends in the Northeast Kingdom (NPS June 1)
June 02, 2022 13:32 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBNorm opens the second hour by discussing the incompetence of Governor Ned Lamont and the misguided $4M Connecticut voter initiative. He is then joined by real estate expert, Tyler Dubuis, who talks with Norm about pandemic and post-pandemic real estate trends in the Northeast Kingdom (i.e., northern Vermont). Why are there no Home Depot's in the Northeast Kingdom? Why go to Vermont? Isn't that Bernie Sanders country? Like, share, and subscribe. Norm is live every weekday from 12pm...
LAL Live Part 1: Welcome Back to the Cold War + Frederico Reynal (NPS June 1)
June 02, 2022 13:11 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MBNorm opens the show by welcoming the audience back to the Cold War. What did the Daily Wire report about Russian comments regarding its own missle, SATAN-2, capabilities? Is American foreign policy being intelligently managed? Is the war going to war? And if so, why? Norm is joined by Frederico "Andino" Reynal, an attorney and former federal prosecutor based in Houston, Texas. Norm queries Andino about the failed federal prosecution of Clinton campaign attorney, Michael Sussman, the s...
LAL Live Part 2: David Weiss + Cross Examining Flat Earth Theory (NPS May 31)
June 01, 2022 17:10 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MBNorm opens the second hour debriefing a recent decision handed down in a client's case. Sentencing is to promote respect for the law. New Jersey is now calling for non-enforcement of warrants for low level crimes. That should be helpful for promoting respect for the law. Norm is joined in the second hour by David Weiss, host of the "Flat Earth Podcast" all about the Flat Earth theory. David believes that the heliocentric model of Earth is the most important deception in the world. Norm...
LAL Live Part 1: W. Michael Boyer + Affirmative Action (NPS May 31)
June 01, 2022 17:03 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MBNorm opens the first episode of the week with a monologue reflecting on the fifteen additional mass shootings that have occurred in the United States in the short days since the Uvaldi, Texas, elementary school shooting, and makes a call for congressional term limits. He is then joined by Michael Boyer, the editor and producer of Law and Legitimacy, for a multi-varied discussion beginning with the forthcoming SCOTUS decisions regarding affirmative action. Michael gives an overview of t...
LAL #076 — Maneuvering in the Law's Shadow with Mike and Norm
May 29, 2022 03:59 - 57 minutes - 91.3 MBNorm and Mike connect on a Sunday afternoon for a well-deserved long form episode. Uninhibited by the Ad Man, the duo begin with the elusive topic of "justice" by debriefing one of Mike's recent case resolutions. Norm asks Mike to unpack the basics of trademark law in view of the anecdotal facts attendant to the relevant case. The two discuss the procedural considerations, the pressure of keeping the best interests of the client at the forefront at all times of litigation, and how the ...
LAL Live Part 2: Mario Cerame + The State of Free Speech (NPS May 27)
May 27, 2022 19:34 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MBNorm opens the second hour by getting reprimanded by an avid listener. He is also joined by Connecticut civil rights attorney, Mario Cerame, to talk about our coveted first amendment to the United States Constitution. Mario is the self-described "nerd" at his firm, Brignole Bush and Lewis, practicing at the intersection of individual rights and government action. How is a lay person supposed to know the difference between protected and prohibited speech? The meaning of the freedom of...
LAL Live Part I: John Maxwell + Translating Wall Street and the Fed (NPS May 27)
May 27, 2022 19:13 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MBNorm opens by recalling his whereabouts on the day of the Sandy Hook shooting, and what he saw this morning that brought him to a new low. We get the government we deserve, but do we not deserve better than this? We has become of service? What has become of honor? Law enforcement in Uvaldi have some explaining to do. Norm points out the proposition that government has no duty to protect citizens against acts of private violence as SCOTUS held in DeShaney v. Winnebgo County DSS (1999)...
LAL Live Part 2: Ira Judelson + Bail Reform, Subway Violence, Executive Protection (NPS May 26)
May 26, 2022 22:34 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MBNorm continues eviscerating Beto O'Rourke in the second hour. He then turns his focus to how we should go about the conversation of what to do about guns in America. Norm's law partner, Kevin Smith, recommended to Norm that he read Nicholas Kristoff's piece in the New York Times. Norm admits that, under normal circumstances, he wouldn't take such a suggestion, especially given the topical nature of the subject matter. But one of life's great pleasures is loving and respecting people...
LAL Live Part 1: John R. Williams + 1983 Litigation Pioneer (NPS May 26)
May 26, 2022 21:03 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MBNorm is joined in the first hour by the godfather of 1983 litigation, the esteemed John R. Williams. John is a close friend and lifelong mentor for Norm. Norm wants people to get to know John, who has been practicing in New Haven, Connecticut, since 1969. Originally from North Dakota, John went to Harvard for undergraduate studies where he worked summers for a conservative republican senator who afforded John the opportunity to work for him while John attended law school and graduated ...
LAL Live Part 2: David X. Sullivan + Shame on Us (NPS May 25)
May 26, 2022 14:26 - 47 minutes - 43 MBNorm is joined in the second hour by former federal prosecutor, David X. Sullivan. David retired from the U.S. Attorneys Office after 30 years and ran for Congress in Connecticut's 5th Congressional District in the 2020 election. David ran on a platform that countered the burgeoning tide of what he viewed as socialism and disregard for the basic rule of law as seen through the Summer Riots of 2020. Norm asks Dan to define "socialism" and offers his own definition of the term as it r...
LAL Live Part 1: Something Is Broken in American Culture (NPS May 25)
May 26, 2022 14:17 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MBNorm opens the show with a solemn monologue focused on the latest carnage in a Texas elementary school. Something is broken. And we know to a moral certainty that the world we are living in is changing and our collective responses are what it requires to make it a better place. Norm raises the question: why NOW in our history are all of these mass shooting happening? Why now for Columbine, for Sandy Hook, for Buffalo, for Robb? Why NOW as opposed to the era of the civil war, or the ...
LAL Live Part 2: Kathy Maher + The Barnum Museum (NPS May 24)
May 26, 2022 14:03 - 46 minutes - 43 MBNorm opens the second hour reading an excerpt devoted to the life of P.T. Barnum from Robert Wilson's, "Barnum in American Life." Norm is joined in the second hour by Kathy Maher, the Executive Director of The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Who is P.T. Barnum? Norm and Kathy talk about Kathy's path into her position with The Barnum Museum, her initial hestitation, and how she became overwhelmed with Barnum's influence. They then transition to a long form discussion of P...