Part of the reason I wrote the Sam McRae mystery series was that truly the law is an ass.
It’s no great secret that those with the money get better representation than those without. But the problem goes far beyond that.
So … just as a for instance, let’s take a look at one of the cases reported in the ABA Journal (as in the American Bar Association Journal, not the American Booksellers Association, okay?).
To wit, here’s a sample:
An Indiana cop may be on the verge of regaining his treasured 0INK [that’s a zero in front!] vanity plate.
The state’s top court heard arguments Thursday on a class action pursued by Greenfield police officer Rodney Vawter, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, after his renewal application for the 0INK license plate was denied, the Associated Press reports.
Solicitor General Thomas Fisher told the Indiana Supreme Court that the state has a right to reject offensive messages on license plates, pointing to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the right of Texas to reject specialty plates displaying a Confederate flag image. But in the complaint (PDF) Vawter filed in Marion Superior Court in 2013 he said the state’s vague standards violated the First Amendment right to free speech and the 14th Amendment right to due process.
Well, thank God for the ACLU! Maybe I could get a license that reads: WRITES4FUD.
Unfortunately, that’s too many letters. Unfair! I have a constitutional right to more letters!
When the state motor vehicles bureau denied his license renewal application in 2013, it cited a state law that prohibits plates that are “misleading” or carry “a connotation offensive to good taste and decency.”
However, a trial court judge agreed with Vawter and the ACLU last year that the state’s program of approving vanity plate messages was unconstitutional, as the Indianapolis Star reported at the time. The judge also told the state to OK an applicant’s requested UNHOLY license plate.
Awesome! That’s the one I’ll pick. UNHOLY really sums it up.
PS: Oddly enough, my SEO is great on this post. Even though here’s what I got when I was looking for Google keywords!
I have nothing to say about Mr. Bumble Oliver, whoever he is.
