The Internet Edition- Vol. 1 Issue
27
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The Internet Edition- Vol. 1 Issue
27
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BOCA
OP-ED
Supreme Eminent Litigation
By Ron Hart
| "They
paved paradise and put up a parking lot/ With a pink hotel, a
boutique and a swinging hot spot Joni
Mitchell.
In my last column about how important George W. Bush s Supreme Court picks will be, I touched briefly on how the 5 to 4 decisions of yesterday are the 4 to 5 decisions of tomorrow.
They are eminent domain and the plaintiff attorneys' issues. First on Eminent Domain, the Kelo v. New London case scares us libertarians and should you. In this case, the High Court said (and they must have been real high) that the government can take your property if they can find a developer who will put something on your property that generates more tax revenue for them.In this case they allowed a private hotel and corporate offices to take homeowner s property. Prior to this ruling the only way you could lose your house is through divorce or, if you are a redneck, a tornado.Now I understand if a crazy old lady had a house worth $100,000 that was the only property needed to complete a major road for town and she wanted $1 million for it. Make the lady sell it for $125,000 and move on, that is ok and what the Founders intended. The liberals won this one and in his dissenting opinion Justice Antonin Scalia distilled it this way You can take from A and give it to B if B pays more taxes?Pet of
the Week
Tom is a mellow young boy who enjoys being held and brushed. Hed really much prefer an adventure where he could exhaust himself and enjoy a deep sleep. Tom has been caged with another male cat while at SHS, so he will make an easy adjustment to another cat. This and other pets are available for adoption at Suncoast Humane Society, 6781 San Casa Drive,
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The idea that a politically connected developer can use his influence with the land use control board or legislature (in which they are always cozy via contributions etc.) to take citizens' land is alarming. Sandra Day OConner in her dissent points out that developers have disproportionate disproportionate influence and power in the political process. The government already has legalized the confiscatory stealing that they do; it is called the death tax and income tax. Do they need more? Secondly, the Supreme Court must control their lawyer brethren in the plaintiffs ' bar.Lawyers have been an age old problem. I am reminded of when Diogenes went to look for an honest lawyer. "How's it going? someone asked. "Not too bad," said Diogenes. "I still have my lantern."America has become so litigious that it is engrained in us. My son recently bumped a lady going 2 miles an hour on the gridlocked Atlanta freeway. There was no damage to her car yet the lady immediately called her attorney and he instructed her to be taken off in an ambulance. They waited in traffic over an hour for an ambulance to come, further snarling traffic so this woman could claim that she was hurt. I repeat, 2 MPH bump to her car and no damage. I take on more trauma to my body when I snap my head around to check out a woman jogging. On litigation and the jackpot jury trend in America, the court must make a firm stand. Bush has been thematic about this and The Justice Department is looking at dubious legal practices such as the Milberg Weiss law firm that files shakedown lawsuits against corporations. Companies typically settle these suits rather than endure costly litigation and PR damage.Papers filed in this case state that this class action law firm made numerous illegal payments to plaintiffs. In short, the case surrounds a retired lawyer named Seymour Lazar who seems not to be very retired. He has found time to file more than 50 class action lawsuits, along with family members, and as we know a family that sues together stays together!
Englewood, 474-7884, www.humane.org Photo by Jim Hanushek |
According to prosecutors, Mr. Lazar was not doing it for the settlement money, which we know mostly goes to attorneys and is given out with an eye dropper to the purported wronged citizens like you and me. The indictments claims Milberg Weiss slid him and his family members some $44 million in attorney s fees that they made from the cases.Law in this country has become for the benefit of lawyers and not us citizens. Law and lawyers are to fix the problems in this country, not create them. It costs us untold insurance premium increases, and every time a business is burdened with a lawsuit with little or no merit, they raise their prices. Further, businesses move their plants and business to countries that do not sue as much. This costs us jobs and tax revenue. We need a loser pay system like England to end the more frivolous lawsuits. It would make the attorneys that file a suit more at risk than the 20 pages of paper it costs them to file one now.Science has proven that lawyers are different, if you do not want to take my word for it. Viagra did a study where in they gave doses to a group of doctors then a group of lawyers. The doctors gained sexual prowess, the lawyers just got taller.
Ron Hart is a private investor and columnist in Atlanta. He spends much of the winter in the Boca Grande area, and can be reached at RRonHart@aol.com or visit www.ronaldhart.com for past columns.
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| Page 6 The Boca Banner 7/15/05 |
