THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 23, 1995 TAG: 9505200005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Tuesday was lawsuit day in The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star. The only section that lacked a lawsuit story was the Daily Break. Americans seem to feel that it can't hurt to sue someone, because they might win. Or as carnival barkers like to say, ``You can't win if you don't play.''
The front section Tuesday had a story on Page 10 about four brothers from El Paso, Texas, who served in the Vietnam War. They are suing former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara for $100 million in the wake of McNamara's statement in his new book that the war was ``terribly wrong.''
Rick Bolanos, 44, the youngest of the four brothers, said, ``What he has done is the epitome of repugnancy, and it's lamentable that he stands to gain from the misery that he brought upon the true patriots of America.''
The Bolanos brothers allege that McNamara failed to perform his duty as defense secretary when he failed to speak out against a war he opposed.
Now if four survivors collect $100 million, imagine what the spouses of many of the 58,000 Americans killed in the war would seek? What might you get if you'd lost a limb or a mind?
Long-shot suits are filed because some are won. On Page 3 of the MetroNews section Tuesday was a story about a Roanoke jury awarding a former railroad brakeman $2.6 million because the noise of locomotives and train whistles left him with a hearing problem that supposedly drove him crazy.
But work drives everyone crazy. It's supposed to. That's why they call it work and not play. Play, with the notable exception of golf, makes you mentally healthy.
The front page of Tuesday's sports section had an article about baseball player Glenn Davis suing a bouncer and Virginia Beach bar for $5.35 million. Davis says the bouncer punched him twice in the face outside the club. In criminal court in 1993, the bouncer was acquitted of assault charges. But Davis still might win his suit. If he doesn't try, he'll never know.
On the business section front was a story about a dispute over who will build a second bridge across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. An attorney for one of the parties said that no matter what the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission decides, the case might end up in court. Might? Of course it will. This is America!
Americans sue at the drop of a dime if it lands on one of our feet, causing physical or emotional distress, or possibly pain and loss of locomotion.
Loss of locomotion ought to be good for $1 million or more. Painful loss of locomotion should fetch even more.
It's no wonder congressional Republicans seek to restrict punitive damages so as to discourage frivolous suits. by CNB