Quote:Flawed logic. You actually do NOT have the "right" to slap a lawsuit on anyone who looks at you the wrong way. The law protects all of us by DENYING that "right", and instead requiring the burden of proof.
Glad to see your post Roland. And while I agree with the rest of your post, here I must draw a line in the sand and fight to the death!:P
But in all seriousness, I don't think I'm wrong here. Certain laws, like those of verbal assault or the qualifications to get a restraining order demand to take into account the perception of the victim - I believe it's called 'perceived threat'. Take for example two people at the end of a very serious relationship. During a particularly messy breakup, man A gets in the face of woman B and starts yelling out of frustration. Even if the words remain relatively benign, that man can look forward to a restraining order and possible assault charges if she decides to take him to court.
The 'burden of proof' can become a very thin line in some circumstances. And although the above example is debatable, there are plenty of people out there pulling the 'assualt, restrain, sue' card over truly trivial matters. Yes, most of those cases do get thrown out of court, but there are also a fair number of cases that stick when they shouldn't.
I don't disagree with your evaluation of what the law states. But I disagree. There is a pandemic of absurd cases bogging our court systems - precisely because some weasels know how to win when someone looks at them the wrong way.
Cheers,
Munk