WHO'S ENTITLED TO INTERPRET THE LAW

The Era of Entitlement: What Alabama Judge Roy Moore, File "Sharers," and the Catholic Church Have in Common (Marci Hamilton, FindLaw's Writ, 8/28/2003)

This is the Age of Entitlement. I do not mean entitlement only in the sense of the belief that one is entitled to a government handout. I also mean entitlement in the simpler sense of the belief that one deserves to get exactly what one wants - regardless of the law and despite the public good.

Four examples drawn from recent legal controversies illustrate this point....

I went to bat for the Recording Industry Association of America.... In response, I received numerous emails from individuals who hold the belief that they have an entitlement to free music on the web....

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and his followers have insisted on Justice Moore's supposed entitlement to keep the huge, stone rendition of the Ten Commandments he personally had installed in his courthouse....

Fortunately, the Entitlement Era may be coming to a close. With more and more institutions inclined to call lawbreaking just what it is ... entitlement is under siege. Lawbreaking is lawbreaking no matter who the perpetrator is - whether a church, or a state Supreme Court justice, or a college student - and increasingly, some have come to insist on that very truth.

Ms. Hamilton is absolutely right. The Entitlement Era has infected even the federal judiciary, who think they are entitled to issue edicts not clearly founded on either Constitutional or statutory law, and which others must obey. But this era of judicial entitlement may be coming to a close, as more institutions call judicial lawbreaking just what it is. Lawbreaking is lawbreaking, even if the perpetrator is a federal judge, and increasingly, some have come to insist on that very truth. Posted by Paul Jaminet at August 28, 2003 3:27 PM