Trial Court Series No. 5 Published on May 10, 2016
Smoke Signal Arises in Courtroom
Continue readingCategory Archives: justice
Contempt of Court Trials & Tribulations
Trial Court Series No. 3 Published on December 2, 2017
I was held in contempt by two different judges during my illustrious career as a Defense Attorney. 
Laughing While Being Held for Contempt
Continue readingPhilly Public Defender Intern Highlights
Trial Court Series (No. 2 ) Published on Nov. 7, 2021
One of my favorite jobs was serving as an intern for the Defender Association of Philadelphia. I went to the jails, the courtrooms, and the training rooms to learn how to properly defend persons charged with various crimes.
Continue readingCriminal Defense Work Calls Out To Me
Trial Court Series No. 1 Published on Aug. 7, 2010
Experience Actually Starts in the Courtroom
Continue readingSinging ‘Yankee Doodle” with Grandkids
I was thrilled and felt so patriotic when I ushered my two young grandchildren into my room and had them listen to the song “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” It was playing on the TCM channel with James Cagney dancing up a storm!
Continue readingMail-in Voter Ballot Helps All Voters
Why is there a sustained effort to get rid of a state’s right to allow mail-in ballots for elections held for Primary as well as General Elections?
Continue readingHonor Flight to War Memorials Scheduled
I will be off to Washington DC next month on an excursion strictly for veterans to participate in what has been designated as an “Honor Flight” for those who served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
Continue readingVA – Uber is now free for disabled veterans
I was escorted from my home by a Uber driver for the first time in my life when I learned the Veterans Administration provides the service free for disabled veterans.
Continue readingHank Williams singer & song-writer honor
The month of January will always bring a sad feeling when I recall what happened on the first day of the year in 1953 to one of the greatest Country and Western singers of all time.
Continue readingInvestigate the 2024 election for fraud?
Was the 2024 presidential election rigged somehow by some unsavory characters with a history of such actions from the last presidential election?
Continue readingVoting for the future of the USA today
I cast my ballot today for the 2024 election in the United States in the hopes and joyful expectations that Kamala Harris will win and be declared president.
Continue readingDemocracy Wins in this Historic Jury Trial
Relieved.
Grateful.
Joyful.
Those are the words that sprung from my heart and soul as I took in what the jury provided the entire world with their unanimous decision to convict a former USA president.
Continue readingDefender Assn. of Phila. honored today
The Defender Association of Philadelphia, of which I worked for 20 years as a public defender, is celebrating its 90th year of representing poor defendants today!
Continue readingWhat to do when hearing you’re deceased
“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
That is what Mark Twain wrote in a cablegram he sent from Europe to a newspaper publisher in the United States that had published an obituary with false details of his death in a widely circulated newspaper one day more than a hundred years ago.
I am saying the same thing right now in the year 2024!
Continue reading‘My Social Security’ & all of your earnings
While getting together all taxable income documents for 2023 to file with the IRS, I came across something that is quite amazing. The Social Security System keeps a list of all earnings you ever made starting with the first time you ever worked.
Continue readingGetting Credit for my Time Served in Philly
Courtroom Opponents Meeting Up Years Later
You never know when an action from your past may catch up to you and remind you of what you once did in your previous life.
Continue readingSupreme Court Guts a More Perfect Union
Today’s Supreme Court is the worst judicial tribunal since the United States’ highest judiciary ruled in 1856 that blacks were not and could not be citizens.
Continue readingConfederate names changed at Army bases
The name change has finally occurred, and I am happy to report that every US Army base where I was stationed has had its Confederate Army soldier’s name removed and replaced with more admirable names.
Continue reading‘Stand Back’ Proud Boys Guilty of Treason
Traitors.
That’s the word that everyone in the United States can call four of the Proud Boys who were found guilty by a jury of their peers for taking part in the insurrection conducted in the Capital on Jan. 6, 2021. They reached the verdict on 31 of 46 counts following seven days of deliberation in Washington DC and nearly 15 weeks of courtroom proceedings.
Continue readingBan Fox News lies from our military bases
Fox News should be curtailed on all military bases and facilities to prevent men and women in uniform to be lied to about stories and events shaping our nation, particularly the political world around us.
Continue readingVietnam War Peace Accord 50 years old!
This month marks the 50th anniversary of when the Vietnam War finally ended. A Peace Accord was reached on January 27, 1973, making way for the complete removal of all troops by March 29th of the same year.
Continue readingHere’s my Pledge to Vote in Pennsylvania!
Voting has been made easier for many of us in Pennsylvania and the state provides links for checking on your voting status as well as any request seeking a mail-in ballot. I took part in a Zoom connection entitled “MontCoVotes” and learned how to maneuver through the government channels and wanted to share them here.
Continue readingFirst Public Defender on Supreme Court!
For the first time in our nation’s history, an attorney who once practiced law as a public defender will serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed by the Senate and will take her seat this summer when Justice Stephen Breyer steps down. She will be the first former criminal defense lawyer since Justice Thurgood Marshall, who served on the bench more than 30 years ago.
Continue readingHighlights of a Philly public defender intern
One of my favorite jobs was serving as an intern for the Defender Association of Philadelphia. I went to the jails, the Courtrooms, and the training rooms to learn how to properly defend persons charged with various crimes.
Continue readingVietnam War Book Review a 4-Stars Rate!
Please Read and Enjoy This Review of My Book
authored by Michael J Contos
at Contoveros.wordpress.com
Continue reading‘Forget the Alamo’ Devastates Childhood
My reality took a major hit when I learned of a book that reveals the famous battle at the Alamo in Texas was not what Walt Disney had broadcast on TV but was a nefarious cover-up of an expansion of slavery in the Lone Star State.
Continue readingUSAA: Stop Tucker Carlson Ads to Vets
I complained to USAA, the American Veterans Car Insurance Company, when I learned that it was advertising on the Tucker Carlson show. As a subscriber of USAA for more than 50 years, I threatened to seek insurance elsewhere after the Fox News host called the Joint Chiefs of Staff general “stupid” and followed that up by describing him as a “pig.”
Continue readingPublic Defender Advocate Still Lives On!
Walter Mondale, the Minnesota resident and former candidate for president of the United States, was a staunch advocate for providing legal services to poor people charged with crimes, and I firmly believe that his legacy will live on.
Continue readingLet’s boycott Georgia firms to save the vote
Condemn Veterans who Attacked Capitol
Any veteran who took part in the January 6th Insurrection at the US Capitol should be stripped of his or her VA benefits and labeled a “traitor.”
Continue readingJustice demands a guilty verdict for Trump
I look forward to eventually reading the news of an indictment against the former president and/or an update on all of the civil lawsuits against him.
Continue readingUniverse says: ‘All roads lead to Georgia’
Today, I am a Georgia Boy once again. And if we try hard enough, all of us could be Georgians!
Continue readingSoldiers I knew were no ‘Losers’ Mr. Trump
First Lieutenant Victor Lee Ellinger was no ‘loser’, Mister Trump.
He was shot and killed by an enemy sniper during the Vietnam War, and I forced marched my platoon to come to his aid, only to find out we got to him too late to help.
Continue readingThe Masking on America’s Streets Today
I want to unmask my true feelings about the Masking of America and how to get people to care enough for one another to be a little more considerate while walking outdoors.
Change Confederate generals’ names now
- As a veteran of several military bases, I would vote to change the names of all the facilities named for generals who fought for the Confederate army during our nation’s Civil War. I offer such action with a heavy heart because of the link I still have with the facilities that helped to create the soldier I had become, and the lessons learned in the US Army.  Continue reading
Making History with my own Mail-in Vote
I voted at home today, and I can’t wait to put the written ballot in the slot opening at my local Post Office.  Continue reading
Contempt of Court Trials & Tribulations
I was held in contempt by two different judges during my illustrious career as a Defense Attorney.  Continue reading
No ‘Pardon’ for any War Crime Criminals
I was so proud of the Secretary of the Navy for his resignation in protest of a hideous act to cover up the atrocities of those in the military charged with war crimes.  Continue reading
Court antics from young Abe Lincoln & me
I never realized I had anything in common with Abraham Lincoln until I re-watched a movie about the president’s early life as a trial attorney. Yes, Honest Abe served as a lawyer who once worked for the railroads as well as those charged with criminal offenses.
Henry Fondaplayed a young Abe Lincoln in a classic movie on Turner Classic Movies in which the Springfield, Illinois,former rail-splitter pulled a stunt in a courtroom convince a jury that his client not guilty of murder. A young man for whom Lincoln represented pro bono was charged with killing a man at night in a wooded area.
Continue reading‘False in One, False in All’ never failed me!
“False in One, False in All.”
That’s the jury instruction I’d request a judge to provide when a witness at a trial said one thing one time and another thing at another time. Also, when one or more witnesses said something different than what the first witness had sworn to tell the truth about while sitting on the witness stand. Continue reading
Standing up for (and with) the News Media
While editorials from dozens of newspapers throughout the country are expected to be offered about the attacks on the First Amendment on August 16, I figured I’d get my two cents worth in as a former news reporter.  Continue reading
The ‘printer’s life’ for Ben Franklin and me!
“Here Lies Ben Franklin — a Printer.”
That is the message gracefully displayed at the gravesite of my favorite Founding Father in the City of Philadelphia. He was an ambassador to both England and France, as well as a signer of the Declaration of Independence and contributor to the US Constitution. He was also an inventor, a philosopher, and the creator of the first library, the first zoo, and the first fire company in the New World.
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My Atticus Finch Moment in Philadelphia
- She stared at me as I walked from the courtroom, and I felt her hate bore into me. Her whole posture seemed to drip with contempt, and what I could only feel at that moment was a curse from her whole being.  Continue reading
