Friday Fun - Sesame Supreme

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

For debate: Did Justice Sotomayor come to the correct conclusion? Is this really a ruling, or more of a settled arbitration? Did Justice Sotomayor give enough attention to the fact that Goldilocks broke the chair while in the process of a B&E?

Was justice truly served?

Comments

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

Little Bear got screwed. He should've moved for a change of venue (seriously, streetside while the café was getting cold?) and issued subpoenas to his parents to testify to the pattern of reckless behavior that ended with his chair smashed and their food eaten. Proper restitution would've included some emotional damages (for the violation of their home) and costs. On the upside, I bet he's got an appeal here because Sotomayor had no original jurisdiction to hear this case.

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

Proper restitution would've included some emotional damages (for the violation of their home) and costs.

OTH, this case should have taken 2-3 years to resolve just like all other civil cases. DNA evidence should have been presented and lawyers costing $10⁴³² should have presented this case.

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

Wait until the Three Little Pigs really get at it. Those guys are a bunch of litigious bastards.

[blue-mangos.livejournal.com]

I think they have a right to that. What the Big Bad Wolf put them through was clearly deliberate and sustained harassment.

[onefatmusicnerd.livejournal.com]

Wolf was framed, they can't even pucker to blow...

Insurance fraud, blame it on the homeless wolf.

[blue-mangos.livejournal.com]

mmmm, good point. And a drug addicted homeless wolf at that with all his huffing and puffing.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Starving, not drug addicted. They built that pig housing right in the wolf's hunting grounds.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

Sort of like arm chair general-ing, I am going to assume she knows more about the correct ruling than I would. ;)

[jonathankorman.livejournal.com]

When offering nonbonding arbitration, it appears that Justice Sotomayor operates from principles of restorative justice, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_justice) though it's a pity that we do not see her proposed solution to the more challenging case of Pigs v. Wolf. (As blue_mangoes observes above, the Wolf has a much weaker claim to innocent motives than Goldilocks does, which makes a decision based solely on material interests less satisfying.)

I presume that this differs from her judicial philosophy when serving on the Court, though I hope that someone better versed in her decisions can clarify the point.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

the Wolf has a much weaker claim to innocent motives

Wolf has a family to feed and there had been lots of straw, wood, and even brick, development in wolf's hunting territory.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/02/hey-i-heard-that-there-was-supweem.html

Althouse's always valuable take.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

NaG (#comment-1381840):
Justice Sotomayor hears both sides of the case, easily recognizes that Goldilocks’ “I had no idea” defense is meritless, and searches for a way to not scold Goldilocks for being so thoughtless in favor of a collaborative settlement. The case is decided on extremely narrow, fact-based grounds, that will not carry to future cases. Chief Justice Roberts joins in full.


Justice Scalia would have declared Goldilocks to be in the wrong and directed her to make Baby Bear whole. Therefore, he concurs in the result, but not the reasoning, which he mocks. Justice Thomas concurs, noting separately that Baby Bear’s parents are the proper parties here, due to the parents’ ownership of minor children per the norms of 1798.


Justice Breyer would craft a four-part test to determine whether Golidlocks’ actions were (1) with knowledge, (2) intentional, (3) with malice aforethought, and (4) likely to lead to more chair-breaking in the future, with an optional fifth prong to determine the ability of Goldilocks to make Baby Bear whole. He files the longest concurrence.


Justice Kagan, joined by Justice Ginsburg, dissents. A distressed female lost in a forest is entitled to take reasonable refuge, under her reasoning, and Goldilocks’ incidental damage is unrecoverable. Laments that this decision will be a severe setback to the safety of women.


Justice Kennedy recuses. He likes bears.


Justice Alito dissents, recommending jail time for Goldilocks.

The winning comment, IMO, from over at Volokh Conspiracy.
http://volokh.com/2012/02/08/sesame-street-justice/#comments

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

LOL this is dated March 10. :-D

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Care to fix the date on this post? It's kinda funny but messes up with the monthly view (http://talk-politics.livejournal.com/2012/03/) on my comm page, sort of.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

I thought I fixed it before. Weird.