Law and Legitimacy

If 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?...

Norm 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 Ameri...

Norm 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 w...

Ahead 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?!...

Norm 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...

Norm 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....

Norm 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...

Norm 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 poli...

In 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 S...

Norm 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 pa...

Norm 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 r...

Norm 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...

Paul 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 dis...

Norm 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 Co...

Norm 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. Nor...

Norm 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 governme...

Norm 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 investigatio...

Norm 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 Elep...

Norm 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 p...

Norm 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.  No...

Norm 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...

Norm 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 obs...

Jimmy 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 o...

Norm 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 or...

Norm 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...