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FIRST-PERSON: Judicial system gone astray by Tim Ellsworth Date: Jul 15, 2004 |
MULKEYTOWN, Ill. (BP)--A New Jersey man attending a minor league baseball game was standing in line at a concession stand when a foul ball smacked him upside the head, breaking a bone in his face.The guy decided to sue -- after all, litigation is the American way. After a lower court rejected his arguments, the state appeals court this week overturned that decision and said he can sue. The court said that although fans at baseball games take certain risks of balls flying into the stands, they should feel more secure at a concession area. As usual, a court decision in this country is wrong. If you're anywhere at a baseball game with the potential for a foul ball to peg you, you ought to have enough sense to pay attention and get out of the way. A baseball team shouldn't be held liable for a fan's stupidity. Of course, a fast food restaurant also shouldn't be liable for serving hot coffee, but that's another matter. This case really isn't that big of a deal to me, other than it being another situation where a court allows even more lawsuits. How much better would we be in this country if there wasn't so much litigation all the time? But it did get me to thinking about the judicial system in this country as a whole. Talk about something that's messed up beyond all recognition. And yesterday's Senate vote on the proposed marriage amendment is compelling proof of just how far-gone our judicial system is. The U.S. Constitution established the judicial branch in this country as a way to check the power of the executive and legislative branches. It is there to interpret the law. But unfortunately, too many renegade activist judges in this country repeatedly overstep their authority. Rather than simply interpreting the laws, they're making their own. Left-wingers in this country have figured out they don't have the popular support for their policies to achieve them through legislation, so they've turned to the judicial system in an end run around the legislatures. Take the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Its ruling on same-sex "marriages" effectively made such unions legal in the state of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts legislature hadn't acted on the matter, and there should be no way of legalizing same-sex unions in that state without legislative action. But that's exactly what the judicial branch accomplished. President Bush, of course, addressed the issue in his latest State of the Union address. He cited the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, which protects marriage under federal law as the union of a man and a woman. "Activist judges, however, have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives," Bush said. The same-sex "marriage" issue isn't an isolated one. We read all the time about judges legislating from the bench, often thumbing their noses at a majority of the population who disagree with them. Recent cases involving the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments are just two examples. Part of the problem lies in the fact that many judges are appointed to their positions, and are not elected. While I understand the logic of keeping judges from being pressured politically, I think we've reached a point where judges need to be more accountable to the people and not allowed to hand down decisions with impunity. Judges have been given a lot of power in America, and they're proving the wisdom of an old saying as they display their absolute corruption. --30-- Tim Ellsworth writes this column from his home in Mulkeytown, Ill. Write to him at bpsports@sbc.net, or visit his web log at www.thewinningspirit.blogspot.com.
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