Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 23, 1993 TAG: 9309050320
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That guy probably f+iwaso embarrassed, getting ejected from the game that way, probably for nothin'. It's surprising that $4 million would even begin to make him feel better.
The ejection had deprived him, said his suit, of ``life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.''
This man suffered ``great mortification, humiliation, shame, vilification, exposure to public infamy, and injury to his good reputation,'' to which the judge was as blind as any umpire.
Willett's ruling is arbitrary, capricious and, worse, it pretty much crushes any hopes we might have entertained of seeking similar redress. For we've had to endure some pretty public humiliations ourselves, and now that we've given the matter judicious thought, we realize we haven't been able to pursue happiness, not to its fullest, anyway, ever since.
There was that high school yearbook picture, for starters. Now that was embarrassing, and it's forever part of the school memorabilia of every single person in the graduating class. The photographer should be sued for malpractice; alas, that avenue of justice may have been closed to us, given the court's hard-nosed attitude.
Thinking back on school prompts us to recall the times we were humiliated when the teacher called us down for making animal noises - and fairly authentic ones, too. It sounded kind of like a zoo in that room. This was in algebra and, truly, the noises were a form of political expression. A clear First-Amendment violation, yet we fear Willett has created an environment hostile to legal redress.
Since then there have been haircuts that subjected us to public ridicule. And a police officer pulling us over for turning right on red, in violation of the ``No Right Turn on Red'' sign.
There is nothing quite as debasing as sitting on the side of the road, a police car behind you with lights flashing and the officer calmly writing out a ticket while you sit meekly behind the wheel, pretending not to notice passing traffic. You know all those drivers are thinking: ``Ah-ah-ah. That person did something bad.''
Your reputation is ruined, and for what? A lousy illegal turn. But do you think Judge Willett would be sympathetic?
Come to think of it, what about the cruel and unusual punishment of getting thrown out of a ballgame, filing a lawsuit - then getting tossed out of court, too? That's gotta be double the humiliation. At least.
by CNB