Posts by Thomas Moukawsher
Vermont Bar Association Fall Journal Book Review
Fall 2023, Vol. 49, No. 3. BOOK REVIEW The Common Flaw: Needless Complexity in the Courts and 50 Ways to Reduce It by Thomas G. Moukawsher Brandeis University Press, 2023. Reviewed by Gary G. Shattuck, Esq. Fifty. As in: Ways to Leave Your Lover; Shades of Grey; Hawaii Five-O; number of American states; years of…
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The Common Flaw: Needless Complexity in the Courts and 50 Ways To Reduce It. Moukawsher, Thomas G. The Common Flaw: Needless Complexity in the Courts and 50 Ways To Reduce It. Brandeis Univ. Sept. 2023.240p. ISBN 9781684581641. $29.95. LAW Connecticut complex-litigation judge Moukawsher’s book begins and ends with a critique of the U.S. Supreme Court…
Read MoreOpinion: How Judge Aileen Cannon once again ruled in Trump’s favor | CNN
Don’t misunderstand Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision Friday to stick to the established May date of the Mar-a-Lago trial. Though it could be read as a defeat for former President Donald Trump, as he wanted to push the date back further, in fact the defendant has just won a partial victory for his top legal strategy — dragging out the cases against him until…
Read MoreProsecutors Must Choose Wisely When Enforcing Rule Of Law | Law360
Legally, Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 election interference case and Hunter Biden’s gun charge case have more in common than you might think. Whatever the right outcome of each case should be, both cases illustrate exercises in prosecutorial discretion. The use and misuse of this discretion is worth studying. It can signal whether we live under…
Read MoreCourts have to earn trust now every day with efficiency and fairness | Hartford Courant
There isn’t a lot of praise circulating for American institutions today. Even though we can see abundant evidence of the shortcomings of alternative systems in Russia, China and elsewhere, too many Americans are buying populist propaganda against their own government. Lately, it’s the courts’ turn. Judges are being denounced as biased, corrupt and incompetent, not…
Read MoreAI Won’t Be Deciding Your Case Anytime Soon
Reports of the death of humanity at the hands of artificial intelligence (AI) have been greatly exaggerated. Particularly in court. Yes, AI can help courts manage and interpret data. It has even been used by judges to predict whether a convicted person might offend again. But no, it can’t replace judges. Court decisions involve judgment.…
Read MoreJudges don’t have to put up with litigants’ sniping in the media | The Hill
Perhaps President Donald Trump has crossed the line with his comments about court proceedings. Or perhaps he hasn’t. Let’s now consider the merits. Regardless of this particular case, judges never have to put up with parties who publicly attack themselves, lawyers, witnesses or prosecutors with lies. In criminal proceedings, the judges have a hammer to wield in…
Read MoreThe Needless Complexity of Our Courts | Governing
Most people with a case in court can’t understand what goes on in a lawsuit and are increasingly unwilling to accept what comes out of it. For reasons unknown to them, the case goes round and round for years without reaching its merits, and then the parties are forced to settle because their money and…
Read MoreWhat Donald Trump’s case teaches us: Litigation takes forever | The Hill
Forget for a moment whether former President Donald Trump deserves to float or sink amid the waves of lawsuits washing over him. Consider instead what this sea of trouble teaches us about the state of our legal system. Jan. 6, 2021, is more than two and a half years behind us. Yet only now are…
Read MoreWhy Can’t I Make Sense of Judges’ Decisions?
It’s not your fault. It’s because most decisions are written in a secret formula known to most judges and lawyers but not really understood even by them. The formula has its origin in formalist legal thinking. As you might imagine, formalist legal thinking places the form of a legal ruling over its substance. Judges of…
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