Sue Me

Where does it all stop? No one is sure actually. I feel that there is an on going dilemma in the U.S. that really needs to be addressed at one point. I'm talking about frivolous lawsuits.How do they even get the time of day?

Case in point...In 1995, Robert Lee Brock, a Virginia prison inmate, sued himself. He asserted that his civil rights and religious beliefs were violated when he allowed himself to get drunk. After all, it was inebriation that created his cycle of committing crimes and being incarcerated. He wanted about $5 million from “himself”. However, since he didn’t earn an income behind bars, he felt the state should pay. The case was thrown out. Stupid huh?

In 2002..Lawyers filed a class action lawsuit against McDonald’s on behalf of New York kids, blaming the fast food restaurant for the their’ obesity. A 13-year-old boy from Staten Island, who was at the time 5-foot-4 and 278 pounds claimed he didn’t know that eating three to four fast food meals a week would add to his bigger than life gut. Way crazy huh?

In 1999....Rickey Higgins was thrown off his high school basketball team when he was caught driving under the influence. It was in fact his second alcohol-related offense. He sued his high school under the Americans With Disabilities Act seeking $100,000 in compensation and reinstatement to the team. I guess his family felt that since he was diagnosed as an alcoholic and that is a recognized disability under federal law, it was time to get paid. I don't make this stuff up.

Last but not least....the biggest case of them all. In February 1992, Stella Liebeck ordered a cup of coffee to go from McDonalds. She was sitting in the passenger seat of her nephew’s car, which was pulled over so she could add sugar to her coffee. While removing the cup’s lid, Liebeck spilled her hot coffee, burning her legs. It was determined that this woman suffered third degree burns on over six percent of her body. In the beginning, Liebeck sought only $20,000 in damages. McDonalds refused to settle out of court. However, they should have. Liebeck was ultimately awarded $200,000 in compensatory damages, which was reduced to $160,000 because she was found to be twenty percent at fault. She was also awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages.

December 21, 2005 Jews For Jesus, a Christian evangelical group, sued Google Inc., claiming the search engine has failed to respond to requests that it drop from its Blogger service a bolg that uses the group's name.

I say that “It is shameful that people have to fear being sued all the time. It is sinful that Bloggers might have to beware of sharing a thought. If Jews for Jesus wins a case like this,you can be sure our service providers will have to do things differently and it wont be for the better. In the U.S.,it has been the American religious organizations who has gained most benefits of free speech provisions. Yet, over time many these conservative groups that preach states rights and want smaller government look to government courts to attack people they don't agree with. I suppose next Microsoft® will attack Google because of my blogs opposition to their Windows XP Starter Edition being pasted off to poor people in other nations as something wonderful.”