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City employee hits her own car; sues city

For discussion and debate about anything. (Not a roleplay related forum; out-of-character commentary only.)

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Should she win? Should such suits be banned?

1. She should win, and such lawsuits should be allowed.
7
7%
2. She should lose because it is such a flagrant case, but similar lawsuits could be allowed.
30
32%
3. She should lose and similar lawsuits should be banned.
48
51%
4. The city can afford it; who cares whether they are at fault or not.
0
No votes
5. Whatever happened to governmental immunity?
2
2%
6. Other
7
7%
 
Total votes : 94

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Infected Mushroom
Post Czar
 
Posts: 39285
Founded: Apr 15, 2014
Corrupt Dictatorship

Postby Infected Mushroom » Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:27 pm

Galloism wrote:
Infected Mushroom wrote:
It's just a fact of real life that judges are biased. If they don't like you or if they feel it only makes sense to reach a certain conclusion, they'll try their best to make the facts and the precedents fit where they want to go.

Judgments are always written as though the end result is the objective, comprehensive analysis of all sides of the arguments and all of the key cases, but I've read so many cases where it is clear they just wanted a certain result from the start.

You can think of judges as real life NSG Moderators, they are people without accountability who can do whatever they want so long as they themselves don't break the law. Yes decisions can be appealed but can you remove a lower judge? Not really. Not if he's writing reasoned judgments, no matter how much it might be apparent to a higher court that they just wanted to justify changing the law. Justice Denning was a good example of this, he was on the English appeal court and he introduced a whole bunch of new concepts of law in equity and tried his best to change the common law. No one could get rid of him even though people were frowning and many of his attempts to use ''precedent'' were very transparent...

Lawyering just means that you're applying the letter of the law to reach a result that would offend the common sensibilities of the public (and more likely, of the sitting judge). For example, you CAN technically under the common law sue someone who punched you in the face after you troll him on the bus in front of a large crowd non-stop with verbal abuses that don't invoke the Human Rights tribunals ('ex, you just keep calling him a loser and wave your middle finger at him). Under the common law, he's liable for damages because of assault and battery, you are NOT liable (trash talk is not actionable).

This goes before the sitting judge? He's likely to consider this lawyering. You're just here to make a profit from the lawsuit from your own bad behavior or else draw attention/publicity. You think the court is going to reach a favorable result for you by just applying the letter of the law?

Chances are, you'll ''win'' a nominal damage award of a few pennies.

This is the sort of thing the OP's post falls under, what I mean by lawyering. It's when you don't really have a legitimate claim and your claim, if followed by simply applying the letter of the law, is likely to offend common sensibilities.

Well that's pretty fucking terrible that judges in Canada apparently quietly support assault and battery as an acceptable form of conversation.

Incidentally, "lawyering" means "the work of practicing law". You don't get to make up definitions.


They don't like the person who got punched because he was out there to cause trouble in the first place. And they don't want to encourage frivolous lawsuits in the future.

So the punching will be ''discouraged'' with a judgment officially saying punching people is wrong (it is assault and battery) but they'll use their discretion (pulling out hidden principles from the dark hat of Equity, using a hidden damage calculation system, or citing selective precedents) to make the damage awarded a joke (and basically an insult to the person who sued because they paid so much more to have this hearing in court).

See because courts don't want to encourage a string of people exploiting the legal system and loopholes by filling claims that fit the letter of the law but are really just there to profit from the system, perform publicity stunts, or satirize the system.

And with the common law, there is a ton of discretion.

So I just don't see the point of this employee starting this lawsuit. It's not going to pay off economically and she's not going to get good reference letters in the future...

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Galloism
Khan of Spam
 
Posts: 73175
Founded: Aug 20, 2005
Father Knows Best State

Postby Galloism » Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:31 pm

Infected Mushroom wrote:
Galloism wrote:Well that's pretty fucking terrible that judges in Canada apparently quietly support assault and battery as an acceptable form of conversation.

Incidentally, "lawyering" means "the work of practicing law". You don't get to make up definitions.


They don't like the person who got punched because he was out there to cause trouble in the first place. And they don't want to encourage frivolous lawsuits in the future.

So the punching will be ''discouraged'' with a judgment officially saying punching people is wrong (it is assault and battery) but they'll use their discretion (pulling out hidden principles from the dark hat of Equity, using a hidden damage calculation system, or citing selective precedents) to make the damage awarded a joke (and basically an insult to the person who sued because they paid so much more to have this hearing in court).

See because courts don't want to encourage a string of people exploiting the legal system and loopholes by filling claims that fit the letter of the law but are really just there to profit from the system, perform publicity stunts, or satirize the system.

And with the common law, there is a ton of discretion.

So I just don't see the point of this employee starting this lawsuit. It's not going to pay off economically and she's not going to get good reference letters in the future...

Well, first off, it's not a lawsuit. It's a claim.

And it's still pretty fucking terrible that you claim you can punch a person and injure them (leading to a monetary claim of damages) and the court essentially wag its finger at you, wink, then pat you on the back.

Nice message about assault and battery being legally approved.
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User avatar
Infected Mushroom
Post Czar
 
Posts: 39285
Founded: Apr 15, 2014
Corrupt Dictatorship

Postby Infected Mushroom » Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:35 pm

Galloism wrote:
Infected Mushroom wrote:
They don't like the person who got punched because he was out there to cause trouble in the first place. And they don't want to encourage frivolous lawsuits in the future.

So the punching will be ''discouraged'' with a judgment officially saying punching people is wrong (it is assault and battery) but they'll use their discretion (pulling out hidden principles from the dark hat of Equity, using a hidden damage calculation system, or citing selective precedents) to make the damage awarded a joke (and basically an insult to the person who sued because they paid so much more to have this hearing in court).

See because courts don't want to encourage a string of people exploiting the legal system and loopholes by filling claims that fit the letter of the law but are really just there to profit from the system, perform publicity stunts, or satirize the system.

And with the common law, there is a ton of discretion.

So I just don't see the point of this employee starting this lawsuit. It's not going to pay off economically and she's not going to get good reference letters in the future...

Well, first off, it's not a lawsuit. It's a claim.

And it's still pretty fucking terrible that you claim you can punch a person and injure them (leading to a monetary claim of damages) and the court essentially wag its finger at you, wink, then pat you on the back.

Nice message about assault and battery being legally approved.


it all depends on the context

But if the person was in front of witnesses, continuously lobbing unprovoked verbal insults (that don't trigger any legal consequences) and continuously doing his best to provoke the person and then gets punched (and then the person punched suffers no serious injury but takes it to court)...

it's putting the court in a very difficult position. They don't want to be seen as being firmly on the side of the person the public's likely to consider the bad guy here...

User avatar
Galloism
Khan of Spam
 
Posts: 73175
Founded: Aug 20, 2005
Father Knows Best State

Postby Galloism » Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:38 pm

Infected Mushroom wrote:
Galloism wrote:Well, first off, it's not a lawsuit. It's a claim.

And it's still pretty fucking terrible that you claim you can punch a person and injure them (leading to a monetary claim of damages) and the court essentially wag its finger at you, wink, then pat you on the back.

Nice message about assault and battery being legally approved.


it all depends on the context

But if the person was in front of witnesses, continuously lobbing unprovoked verbal insults (that don't trigger any legal consequences) and continuously doing his best to provoke the person and then gets punched (and then the person punched suffers no serious injury but takes it to court)...

it's putting the court in a very difficult position. They don't want to be seen as being firmly on the side of the person the public's likely to consider the bad guy here...

Typically, based on my observations alone, the courts will decide to award medical expenses, attorney's fees, and filing fees, but deny punitive damages and pain and suffering.

Which is the fairest result, IMO. It returns the injured party back to where he/she was before the batterer broke the law, but without profit.

Edit: also pretty fucking scary that you assert judges are slaves to public opinion rather than good law. I'd hope they'd have the guts to do what is legally correct, not what is popular.
Last edited by Galloism on Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Venicilian: wow. Jesus hung around with everyone. boys, girls, rich, poor(mostly), sick, healthy, etc. in fact, i bet he even went up to gay people and tried to heal them so they would be straight.
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New Kereptica: Since power is changed energy over time, an increase in power would mean, in this case, an increase in energy. As energy is equivalent to mass and the density of the government is static, the volume of the government must increase.


User avatar
Sun Wukong
Powerbroker
 
Posts: 9798
Founded: Oct 16, 2013
Ex-Nation

Postby Sun Wukong » Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:50 pm

Blazedtown wrote:And people wonder why city governments are broke.

Yes, I'm sure this is their main source of expenditure.
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Haktiva
Senator
 
Posts: 4762
Founded: Sep 18, 2010
Ex-Nation

Postby Haktiva » Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:13 pm

It's just a waste of taxpayer money. Stupid lady should pay to fix her own damn car since she's the one who hit it.
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Infected Mushroom
Post Czar
 
Posts: 39285
Founded: Apr 15, 2014
Corrupt Dictatorship

Postby Infected Mushroom » Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:22 pm

Haktiva wrote:It's just a waste of taxpayer money. Stupid lady should pay to fix her own damn car since she's the one who hit it.


I am sure that the courts will respond with a swift decisive judgment that is effectively in favor of the city (whether nominally so or not).

I expect nothing less from the honorable judges of North America... its not about the letter of the law, its about interpreting the law to reach just results all the time
Last edited by Infected Mushroom on Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Indira
Minister
 
Posts: 3339
Founded: Feb 02, 2012
Ex-Nation

Postby Indira » Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:24 am

The fact that it even makes it to court is just :palm:

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Sdaeriji
Powerbroker
 
Posts: 7566
Founded: Antiquity
Ex-Nation

Postby Sdaeriji » Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:31 am

Indira wrote:The fact that it even makes it to court is just :palm:


It didn't.
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Indira
Minister
 
Posts: 3339
Founded: Feb 02, 2012
Ex-Nation

Postby Indira » Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:35 am

Sdaeriji wrote:
Indira wrote:The fact that it even makes it to court is just :palm:


It didn't.


I stand corrected

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Sdaeriji
Powerbroker
 
Posts: 7566
Founded: Antiquity
Ex-Nation

Postby Sdaeriji » Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:38 am

Indira wrote:
Sdaeriji wrote:
It didn't.


I stand corrected


I figure her claim will be approved, because a city worker did hit her vehicle during the course of city business. That seems entirely appropriate. Then she'll be terminated for failing to report the accident.
Farnhamia wrote:What part of the four-letter word "Rules" are you having trouble with?
Farnhamia wrote:four-letter word "Rules"

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Ifreann
Post Overlord
 
Posts: 163860
Founded: Aug 07, 2005
Iron Fist Socialists

Postby Ifreann » Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:16 am

Sounds fair enough. If anything it would be sillier for the city or state to laws preventing this claim.


Purpelia wrote:
Galloism wrote:So there should be no such thing as full coverage on a vehicle?

As far as I am concerned. When a car accident happens the person that caused it should newer get any compensation. That should be his punishment for being bad.

Wow, that's one of the worst ideas I've heard in a while. Congrats.
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Norstal
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Founded: Mar 07, 2008
Ex-Nation

Postby Norstal » Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:20 am

Purpelia wrote:
Galloism wrote:So there should be no such thing as full coverage on a vehicle?

As far as I am concerned. When a car accident happens the person that caused it should newer get any compensation. That should be his punishment for being bad.

They call it an accident because it wasn't fucking intentional.
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