The Analytics of Emotion
Emotion, we are told, has no place in law, lawsuits, or legal analysis. Soft, fuzzy, imprecise––emotion is not only valueless, it’s detrimental, destructive. Just imagine the consequences if emotion were to assume even a small role. There are distinct advantages, we’re assured, to emotionless, analytical thinking: it promotes accuracy; it cuts through the irrelevant, the […]
Process and Substance
Contested tort-law cases implicate both process as well as substance. Process. Process encourages fair procedures so that all interested have notice and a right to be heard. Substance. Substance addresses the actual merits of what’s at stake. We navigate this split in all contested proceedings, and there’s some relationship between the two. The Due Process […]
It’s Time to Start Over
Transportation accidents, maritime accidents, aviation accidents––all within our society have the right to bring civil lawsuits to recover damages except one: those who serve in the Armed Forces. Our servicemen and women are prohibited from filing civil actions against the United States in Federal Court for accidental injury or wrongful death if such occurs within […]
Seeking Out the Absurd
The notion that “serious” results can only originate from “serious” thinking needs to be revised. Many breakthrough ideas, providing workable solutions to intractable problems, can be arrived at via distinctly unorthodox means. The Absurd. Problems that admit of no simple solution––too often they’re examined rationally, logically. But what if these problems were seen as an […]
The Invisible Primacy of Privacy
Does the right to privacy explain many, perhaps most, constitutional guarantees? Is the First Amendment nothing more than a privacy right to freely express ideas? Is the Second Amendment nothing more than a privacy right to keep and bear arms? Is the Equal Protection Clause nothing more than a privacy right not to be subjected […]
