The Law: Toward Greater Fairness for All

WHEN a Pennsylvania woman got into an argument about rent, her landlady quietly acquired a court order to sell off the apartment's contents if she did not pay $1,375 within five days. A teacher in the Peace Corps was dismissed after he admitted smoking one marijuana cigarette. A West Point cadet was unceremoniously expelled when he piled up five more demerits than academy regulations allow. For all three individuals—and for many more like them—such penalties were apparently unavoidable; someone in authority had decided that they had broken the rules. Nonetheless, all three went to court—and in each case, the judge...