PROBATE BATTLE ILLUSTRATES VALUE OF CONSTITUTION’S FULL FAITH & CREDIT CLAUSE

Is fame hijacking justice with full faith and credit given to the misdeed? The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution demands that sister state courts give deference to one another. Specifically, Article IV states that “Full Faith and Credit (hereafter, “FF&C”) shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records and judicial Proceedings of every other state.” This Clause is intended to further principles of federalism on which this country was founded, and specifically, the notion that we are a civilizedsocietywithrespectforthelawanddisdaintowardsabuseofourlegalsystem. Forumshoppingis an example of such abuse. When a party dislikes the judge or jury in a particular place, said party is prohibited by law from shopping for a new forum to receive a more favorable outcome in a different court. See Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 472 U.S. 797 (1985) (FF&C demands state’s interest is significant) If the discontented party attempts to forum shop, then our courts must give deference to the court with original jurisdiction. Moreover, the Constitution requires that all powers not specifically designated to the federal United States, such as bankruptcy, taxes, naturalization, copyrights, and treaties, are reserved to the sister states. See Babcock v. Jackson, 12 N. Y. 2d Read More …

Picking the Deep Pocket: The Lunacy of Misplaced Responsibility

A long time ago people were allowed to protect their property. Homeowners could even place traps in their homes to kill trespassers. And then there was a big change in the law and it was no longer acceptable to use deadly force to stop a burglar. Now we have experienced another big shift in the law: if you are committing a crime and breaking into a house and injure your hand while breaking the plate glass, then you get to sue the person who owns the property. The message is that “[t]hieves are people too, and they are entitled to a safe working environment like everybody else.” Ninth Circuit Judge, Alex Kozinski, addressed the Southwestern community at an event sponsored by the Federalist Society, on Tuesday, December 9, 1997. Judge Kozinski repeatedly used the term “lunacy” to describe the process of misplaced responsibility. It is lunacy that our legal system has come to “subsidize behavior that is irresponsible or self-destructive, and it is precisely this kind of behavior that any rational legal system should try to suppress.” When a person assumes the risk and does something criminal or attempts suicide in front of a moving train and gets their legs Read More …