what do you think is the dumbest law ever

[actsnoblemartin]

I vote for h.i.p.p.a., the dumbest law ever.

where nobody knows anything, and cant tell anyone anything.

oh yeah, thanks clinton!

[Psychoblues]

I think any law that ever allowed you to post on the internet was a really dumb law.




I vote for h.i.p.p.a., the dumbest law ever.

where nobody knows anything, and cant tell anyone anything.

oh yeah, thanks clinton!

JK, martin!!!!!!!!!! Keep on truckin', my friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PostmodernProphet]

any, that permits punitive damages......

[Nukeman]

Any law that allows Senators and Congressmen to serve longer than the President!!!


TERM LIMITS PEOPLE!!!!

[Hagbard Celine]

any, that permits punitive damages......

Yeah, God forbid corporations should actually have to endure punishment for breaking the law or ruining someone's life. :rolleyes:

I think blue laws are ridiculous and stupid.

[PostmodernProphet]

Yeah, God forbid corporations should actually have to endure punishment for breaking the law or ruining someone's life. :rolleyes:


ruining someone's life?.....getting a chance to go for punitive damages is a better way than the lottery to become a millionaire.....

[Gadget (fmr Marine)]

There was a law on the books in Wyoming the prohibited "exhibition of exhilartion" It was misspelled, and they meant to outlaw "acceleration."

[darin]

Dumb Laws:

Laws preventing businesses from hiring whomever best can fulfill their needs. (EO, type laws).

Laws granting special rights to some concerning who they can and can't marry. Along those lines, laws mandating insurance coverage and other benefits or homosexuals and NOT heterosexuals living together.

A San Fran law allowing people to take sick leave for their pet.

Hands-free Cell phone use while driving. Every one of those laws sucks becaue it does NOTHING to enhance 'safety'. They are feel-good laws with no real affect on anything but the coffers of State government.

This thread could go on for years.

[nevadamedic]

I vote for h.i.p.p.a., the dumbest law ever.

where nobody knows anything, and cant tell anyone anything.

oh yeah, thanks clinton!

The HIPA Privacy Act is a great law, no one has business knowing anything about someone elses medical condition without their consent at all.

The dumbest law is the Statutory Sexual Seduction law that makes the people a sex offender when they are 18 or 19 and have a 17 year old girlfriend.

[Hagbard Celine]

ruining someone's life?.....getting a chance to go for punitive damages is a better way than the lottery to become a millionaire.....

The textbook case of punitive damages is the McDonald's coffee case. The plaintiff in that case received third-degree burns. That's not something you just get over. It's a debilitating injury that leaves disfiguring scars. There are cases like this all the time where businesses are liable for maiming and accidentally killing their own workers and/or innocent and/or stupid people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The threat of punitive or (punishment) damages is what gives businesses the incentive to protect their own liabilities. And if they do so properly the public at large as well as their employees will be safer as a result. Conservative pundits who piss and moan about "activist judges" and greedy ambulance-chasing lawyers would like you to think that all the evils of society like inflation, the high cost of energy and medical care, etc. would all magically disappear if we suddenly abolished punitive damages, but the truth is that lawyers and the threat of being sued and punished with paying damages is the only reason car companies put airbags and seatbelts in cars. It's why you won't find parasites in the meat you buy at the supermarket. It's why your baby's crib doesn't cave-in and smash your child at night while it's sleeping. It's why ad infinitum. :)

[dan]

The textbook case of punitive damages is the McDonald's coffee case. The plaintiff in that case received third-degree burns. That's not something you just get over. It's a debilitating injury that leaves disfiguring scars. There are cases like this all the time where businesses are liable for maiming and accidentally killing their own workers and/or innocent and/or stupid people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The threat of punitive or (punishment) damages is what gives businesses the incentive to protect their own liabilities. And if they do so properly the public at large as well as their employees will be safer as a result. Conservative pundits who piss and moan about "activist judges" and greedy ambulance-chasing lawyers would like you to think that all the evils of society like inflation, the high cost of energy and medical care, etc. would all magically disappear if we suddenly abolished punitive damages, but the truth is that lawyers and the threat of being sued and punished with paying damages is the only reason car companies put airbags and seatbelts in cars. It's why you won't find parasites in the meat you buy at the supermarket. It's why your baby's crib doesn't cave-in and smash your child at night while it's sleeping. It's why ad infinitum. :)

The McDonald's coffee case is a terrible example, that woman was a dunce. All the money in the world can't buy you common sense.

[darin]

The textbook case of punitive damages is the McDonald's coffee case. The plaintiff in that case received third-degree burns. That's not something you just get over. It's a debilitating injury that leaves disfiguring scars.

absolutely - most folk I know have little understanding of the kinds of pain that woman went through. Most, without any knowledge of the facts of the case, simply dismiss it as the lady winning a jackpot.

[Hagbard Celine]

The McDonald's coffee case is a terrible example, that woman was a dunce. All the money in the world can't buy you common sense.

That may be, but anybody can spill coffee in their lap. It's another thing entirely when the business selling the coffee purposely keeps it at an unsafe temperature in order to save money. That's what came out in the legal proceedings. McDonalds put the public in danger of third degree burns so that they could sell old coffee to people. They did a study that showed if you kept the coffee at a temp that made it too hot to drink until people had driven down the road, they could sell old, bitter coffee to people without them trying to return it. Now they label their coffee as "caution very hot" and they keep it at a reasonable temperature and they sell a better, fresher product. The consumer benefits. You can thank lawyers.

[Nukeman]

The HIPA Privacy Act is a great law, no one has business knowing anything about someone elses medical condition without their consent at all.
.


Your kidding me right!!! Do you know or do you have knowledge of the problems this assinine law has caused?

This is one of the DUMBEST laws the government enacted.

Most and by most I mean almost EVERY healthcare facility out there already practiced confidentiality.

You dont seem to understand how this law works or WHO has access to your information. You would be very surprised who the government has allowed to be exempt or be granted unfettered access to your information.

Do us all a favor and at least attempt to read the law "you think is great":slap:


That may be, but anybody can spill coffee in their lap. It's another thing entirely when the business selling the coffee purposely keeps it at an unsafe temperature in order to save money. That's what came out in the legal proceedings. McDonalds put the public in danger of third degree burns so that they could sell old coffee to people. They did a study that showed if you kept the coffee at a temp that made it too hot to drink until people had driven down the road, they could sell old, bitter coffee to people without them trying to return it. Now they label their coffee as "caution very hot" and they keep it at a reasonable temperature and they sell a better, fresher product. The consumer benefits. You can thank lawyers.Dont you think the woman had any contribuatory neglegence on her part. She was after all attempting to drive, put sugar in her coffee, stir her coffee, and than place the lid back on. All while DRIVING.

If the workers at McDonalds had accedentaly poured the coffee on the woman than they would have been neglegent but since SHE SPILLED IT ON HER SELF she has a high amount of PERSONAL RESPONSIBLITY. Don't you think???

[Hagbard Celine]

Dont you think the woman had any contribuatory neglegence on her part. She was after all attempting to drive, put sugar in her coffee, stir her coffee, and than place the lid back on. All while DRIVING.

If the workers at McDonalds had accedentaly poured the coffee on the woman than they would have been neglegent but since SHE SPILLED IT ON HER SELF she has a high amount of PERSONAL RESPONSIBLITY. Don't you think???

Like I said, anybody can spill coffee in their lap, but it's different when the business purposely keeps it and serves it at an unsafe temperature without putting a warning on the cup. Everybody knows coffee is hot, but it's not supposed to be hot enough to boil your flesh.

[PostmodernProphet]

absolutely - most folk I know have little understanding of the kinds of pain that woman went through. Most, without any knowledge of the facts of the case, simply dismiss it as the lady winning a jackpot.

/shrugs.....pain is compensated for by actual damages.....punitive damages ARE jackpot, by their very nature......tell me with a straight face you wouldn't let somebody scald your balls for two million dollars......

[Nukeman]

Like I said, anybody can spill coffee in their lap, but it's different when the business purposely keeps it and serves it at an unsafe temperature without putting a warning on the cup. Everybody knows coffee is hot, but it's not supposed to be hot enough to boil your flesh.
But everyone also knows you shouldnt be "putting sugar" in your coffee while attempting to DRIVE. This is where PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY comes into play. I understand where your coming from with the coffee temp. but come on the lady was doing something that anyone with common sense wouldn't do!!

[dan]

That may be, but anybody can spill coffee in their lap. It's another thing entirely when the business selling the coffee purposely keeps it at an unsafe temperature in order to save money. That's what came out in the legal proceedings. McDonalds put the public in danger of third degree burns so that they could sell old coffee to people. They did a study that showed if you kept the coffee at a temp that made it too hot to drink until people had driven down the road, they could sell old, bitter coffee to people without them trying to return it. Now they label their coffee as "caution very hot" and they keep it at a reasonable temperature and they sell a better, fresher product. The consumer benefits. You can thank lawyers.

Hey, lawyers, thanks for forcing every product I buy to regard me as a complete moron because of the retarded actions of very, very few people! Anybody who needs to have 'Caution, product is hot!' on the side of a coffee cup should probably stick to milk from a sippy cup.


Like I said, anybody can spill coffee in their lap, but it's different when the business purposely keeps it and serves it at an unsafe temperature without putting a warning on the cup. Everybody knows coffee is hot, but it's not supposed to be hot enough to boil your flesh.

Anybody can spill their coffee, and I'm certain plenty of people have, the point is, not everybody runs out and sues for millions when they do, they just go "damn, I'm an idiot" and move on. Sure, in her case, she messed herself up good, but I still have no sympathy for her. If she'd said, "look, pay my medical bills and put a caution on the cup", that might've been fine, but no, she said "give me as much as I can possibly get". Eff her. And, now when people get upset over anything, the first reaction is lawsuit. Thanks again, lawyers!

(Present company excluded, Avatar!)

[darin]

/shrugs.....pain is compensated for by actual damages.....punitive damages ARE jackpot, by their very nature......tell me with a straight face you wouldn't let somebody scald your balls for two million dollars......

That'd be insurance fraud.


Here are a few links to some relevant facts about this case. A summary with some links is here, which makes the following points:


But the damage to the plaintiff in Liebeck was by no means insignificant. The woman, who was 79 years-old at the time of the accident, received third-degree burns requiring skin grafts on much of her inner thighs, buttocks, and genitals. Is this what people ordinarily expect from spilled coffee?

Nor was the defendant unfairly penalized. McDonald's kept its coffee much hotter, about 40 degrees hotter, than the coffee you drink at home. The higher heat improves the aroma and avoids customer complaints of lukewarm coffee. But McDonald's had already received nearly 700 complaints about the danger of the hot coffee prior to the Liebeck accident. And coffee at that temperature, around 185 degrees Fahrenheit, is unfit for human consumption until it cools down. McDonald's needed to be curbed.

Moreover, the court system in Liebeck operated fairly to McDonald's. The judge in the case reduced the punitive damages awarded by the jury, down to three times the actual damages, and in fact reduced the plaintiff's actual damage award as an offset for her own contributory negligence in spilling the coffee. In fact, the plaintiff later settled with McDonald's for an amount below what the judge awarded her.

So what's all the fuss? McDonald's was truly blameworthy, Ms. Liebeck was harmed beyond the level of reasonable expectation, and the court prevented an emotional situation from leaving the plaintiff with an excessive award. You might still worry about the punitive damages, and argue that Ms. Liebeck, herself, should not benefit financially from the attempt to punish McDonald's. But unless courts in America are to become something besides a forum to resolve individual disputes, punitive damages will remain the most effective way to curb reckless corporate behavior.



More: http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/001070.html

[Abbey Marie]

Punitve damages for the "victim" are at least arguable. But there is no way in Hades that lawyers should be getting a piece of the punitive damages pie.

Think about it.

[jackass]

Funny thing is I always thought that Dunkin Donuts had the hottest coffee. I never used to be able to drink it for a 1/2 hour after buying it!!

Hey DMP...is that LiberalNation with her new gun in your avatar?? :laugh2:

[darin]

Hey DMP...is that LiberalNation with her new gun in your avatar?? :laugh2:

lol! Nice! :D

I made that from scenes of this video!

http://www.zanyvideos.com/videos/poor_girl_gets_owned_by_a_desert_eagle

[PostmodernProphet]

But unless courts in America are to become something besides a forum to resolve individual disputes, punitive damages will remain the most effective way to curb reckless corporate behavior.

that's it in a nutshell.....if we permit punitive damages then the courts of America HAVE become something more than a forum to resolve individual disputes....

if you are going to permit punitive damage, then at the very least that portion of the judgment award needs to be paid to society at large, not given as a bonus to the party bringing the action......

[dan]

Funny thing is I always thought that Dunkin Donuts had the hottest coffee. I never used to be able to drink it for a 1/2 hour after buying it!!


My parents always used to say that, as we were living in NJ when this case was going on.