A little less freedom of speech

Boston Globe ^ | 1/25/04 | Jeff Jacoby

[RJCogburn]

IT DOESN'T take much to get slammed as a racist these days. Just ask Jennifer Cundiff.

Back in February 2001, the Southwest Airlines flight attendant was trying to coax passengers boarding a flight from Las Vegas to Kansas City to find their seats quickly so the plane could take off. "Eenie meenie minie moe," she said over the intercom, "pick a seat, we gotta go."

[goldstategop]

Sorry, Jeff but liberals do get offended - at the existence of conservatives. As far they are concerned we are pests who need to stamped out and naturlich the niceties of the First Amendment don't apply to our kind.

[baltodog]

"Every time a case like this occurs -- every time someone is sued or punished or forced to hire a lawyer just for expressing an opinion or making a comment that someone of a different color finds offensive, all of us are left with a little less freedom of speech."

Exactly. The plaintiffs should now be sued. Their lives should now be ruined.

[isthisnickcool]

We simply need "loser pays" in civil litigation. All costs incurred by the defendant are automatically borne by the plantiff. AND their attorney who brings the suit.

[Morgan's Raider]

A jury of eight deliberated for less than an hour before finding Cundiff and Southwest innocent of racism. Of course, the stewardess and the airline will not be reimbursed for the lost hours and legal fees this preposterous lawsuit has cost them.

And herein lies the problem. The system should be loser pays, and most of these frivilous lawsuits would dry up and die. It would also prevent special interest groups like gun grabbers and environazis from attempting to sue legitimate businesses out of existence.

[Radix]

I just finished reading this column a few minutes ago, and I came to FR in order to see if it had been posted yet.

Eenie meenie minie moe...

Although I grew up in a racially mixed neighborhood, until I saw the movie "Pulp Fiction" I had never heard of that version of the "eenie meenie minie moe" bit either. My goodness it is easy thing to be labeled a racist these days.

Ping for you MH, for comments, if you have an interest.

[cynicom]

In reality loser paying would not work. The American justice system is so skewed by the shysters/judges that own and operate this business that the very people it was intended to protect would end up the loser again.

The justice system is a "business" top to bottom and the shyster lawyers are milking it for every dime possible.

John Edwards is a fine example.

[meenie]

It has become a little less sense than freedom of speeech.

[Right_in_Virginia]

The system should be loser pays, and most of these frivilous lawsuits would dry up and die

EXACTLY!!

[RJCogburn]

Your cynicism is well placed on this topic!

[Lazamataz]

The

(interrupted by minority) I am incensed with your HATE SPEECH! The word 'THE' can be followed with the phrase 'colored person must be lynched', showing that you are a RACIST!!!

But....

(interrupted by minority) BUTT? Yes, colored people are the BUTT of all of your jokes, RACIST!!!

See,...

(interrupted by minority) C???? C???? Does 'c' stand for COLORED, which you HATE, or CAUCASIAN, which you LOVE?????RACIST!!!

[cynicom]

Rooster....In this case, not cynicism. I was involved in that corrupt business for many years. I saw good people destroyed, bad people rewarded, all in the name of "justice". Far too often it is good that justice is blind for if not she would be sickened at what goes on in her name.

[sweetliberty]

"Free people don't run to court -- or to the principal -- when they encounter a message they don't like. They answer it with one of their own."

I wish someone would pound that into these racist whiners' heads.

We had a local talk radio host feature this story a couple of days ago. He was taking about the fact that there are no consequences for these people who bring frivolous lawsuits and how there are so many people out there that just see it as an opportunity to make money because most of these kinds of cases are settled out of court and the plaintiff has nothing to lose, especially since most of the lawyers bringing these cases to court work on contingency. If there were serious consequences to the plaintiffs in the event of losing the case, there would likely be far less of this nonsense. If they were forced to pay court costs and make restitution for defendants' attorneys' fees and to compensate them for their loss of time, maybe these whiney *ss, litigious control freaks could be reined in and defendants would get bolder about taking cases to trial. This kind of crap is NOT freedom and we need to fight it.

[NCPAC]

I believe we need "loser pays" in civil AND criminal litigation: If the government loses its case against a defendant, the government pays the defendant for lost time and any legal fees incurred. "Loser pays" is not a standard which should be reserved specifically for the "private sector."

As for the story itself, it illustrates perfectly why I almost always initially doubt any charge of "racism."

[pabianice]

If American blacks spent the effort they waste on finding "racism" on becoming more self-reliant, they would have already surpassed Jews and Asians in accomplishment and wealth creation.

[observer5]

Outlaw all lawyers

[Dog Anchor]

once upon a time
a goose drank wine
a monkey chewed tobaccy
on a sweet potato vine

[MosesKnows]

Cute and harmless, right?

Of course, it is cute and harmless and of course, there is a version that may not be as harmless, but that version wasn't used. The racist version would have been a non-sequitur.

The fact that there are corrupted lame Judges is more the issue that the fact that there are corrupted Americans. The sisters were offended because they choose to be offended. The decided it was all about them and then decided to be offended. Greedy corrupted Americans such as the sisters and their lawyers exist because greedy corrupted Judges exist.

Jack and Jill went up the hill,
each had a dollar and a quarter,
Jill came down with two and a half,
do you still think they went up for water?

[knarf]

succinct.

(Oh $h!t ... you'll probably do something with that too.)

[jocon307]

"We simply need "loser pays" in civil litigation."

I used to think no, but with cases like this airline nonsense, I am changing my mind.