Moon Trauma
And now for something . . . completely different.
I briefly interrupt my possibly incoherent discussion of the pursuit of happiness to say four things.
First, the student in that news story should get what he got, and not go crying like a baby to his parents or some judge because he acted "suddenly and without about the consequences." Oh, does this mean every idiot who does something wrong should get off the hook if the act was done without thinking about the consequences? After all, isn't that part of what makes a bad person bad--they act according to their own good pleasure, little caring for effects and consequences?
Second, the litigiousness we see in this country is idiotic. I don't know who to blame: the lawyers? the judges? the people who bring suit? I blame judges most, but I think all three have a huge amount of blame. I was with a ton of lawstudents and attorneys the other day, and I mentioned that there were way too many law students graduating, and suggested that we might flood the market. An attorney who has been practicing for about ten years said, "Don't worry. The more attorneys there are, the more work there will be for attorneys to do." (I take this to mean that a good attorney can manufacture lawsuits for himself--any time someone asks, "can I sue about X or Y or Z," your immediate response, "OF COURSE!"
Third, the teacher was traumatized? Give me a break! Talk about serious issues.
Four, due to the state of the law, this lawsuit might implicate some complicated issues. I wonder what the plaintiff will allege . . . that his due process rights have been violated? I believe that, depending on the severity of the punishment, schools are required (by the Constitution, so says the Supreme Court) that certain steps must be taken by the school before exacting the punishment. For instance, an informal hearing may have been required, and maybe it wasn't given to the student, so he'll win. Will he claim that this is cruel and unusual punishment? He better have something good, because normally, a school can do ALMOST anything it wants with its students so long as it is rationally related to the educational purposes of the school.
I briefly interrupt my possibly incoherent discussion of the pursuit of happiness to say four things.
First, the student in that news story should get what he got, and not go crying like a baby to his parents or some judge because he acted "suddenly and without about the consequences." Oh, does this mean every idiot who does something wrong should get off the hook if the act was done without thinking about the consequences? After all, isn't that part of what makes a bad person bad--they act according to their own good pleasure, little caring for effects and consequences?
Second, the litigiousness we see in this country is idiotic. I don't know who to blame: the lawyers? the judges? the people who bring suit? I blame judges most, but I think all three have a huge amount of blame. I was with a ton of lawstudents and attorneys the other day, and I mentioned that there were way too many law students graduating, and suggested that we might flood the market. An attorney who has been practicing for about ten years said, "Don't worry. The more attorneys there are, the more work there will be for attorneys to do." (I take this to mean that a good attorney can manufacture lawsuits for himself--any time someone asks, "can I sue about X or Y or Z," your immediate response, "OF COURSE!"
Third, the teacher was traumatized? Give me a break! Talk about serious issues.
Four, due to the state of the law, this lawsuit might implicate some complicated issues. I wonder what the plaintiff will allege . . . that his due process rights have been violated? I believe that, depending on the severity of the punishment, schools are required (by the Constitution, so says the Supreme Court) that certain steps must be taken by the school before exacting the punishment. For instance, an informal hearing may have been required, and maybe it wasn't given to the student, so he'll win. Will he claim that this is cruel and unusual punishment? He better have something good, because normally, a school can do ALMOST anything it wants with its students so long as it is rationally related to the educational purposes of the school.
posted by Jaired B. Hall at 4:37 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home