I may have an unusual idea of what is beautiful...

Abandoned, old, farm, dusk
Originally uploaded by Christina G. Grigg

One day in ’09 my daughters and I were going for a drive, exploring new parts of Bella Vista, Arkansas and beyond. Listening to music with the top down on the convertible, daydreaming and enjoying a lovely summer day when we came upon this building.

I suppose it may be the combination of my personal interests that make this scene special to me, as I love history and architecture.

Sometimes I have come across old structures that were clearly used for business purposes by design but since their days of glory having long ago expired, the owners have either let the buildings lay abandoned or they are used for other purposes.

Interestingly, many of these structures stand with their original signs intact, although somewhat off kilter and faded. As one might imagine, over the years weather has beaten these buildings often.

The buildings are positioned in such a way to accommodate what was likely used as the main street during that time.

As I stand amongst history, whether it be an abandoned town, the Smithsonian museum or a battlefield…my mind escapes to what life must have been like then. These are the moments I enter a state of calm.

When touring a museum where a war took place, looking at the type of currency they used, the types of guns they used the food the people ate, it is amazing how much more difficult life was then.

I walk the trail through the woods leading to the battlefield. Reading the names on the plaque that is displayed there and running my fingers across what are now only words but represent those who gave their lives here.

Then, looking up across the field…

Electronic Medical Records? Not if I have anything to do about it...

I was born in 1979. I can recall when the VCR first came out and when the microwave oven was introduced to society; two inventions impacting the family and making life more convenient for generations to come. I remember getting an electronic type writer for one of my birthdays and this was the most exciting thing ever! Prior to receiving the typewriter, I wrote all of my stories by pen and paper. Oh, and lets not forget when Nintendo was developed.




Society has only continued to progress in the electronic/technology industry over the years, adapting to popular culture. In my opinion, progress for the greater good in general is always in the best interest of society.



On the other hand, considering the “Health Information Technology” (HIT) aspect of the health care reform involving our personal medical records, I am opposed to implementing more technology. Claims for more effective transcription and documentation of information, safer record retrieval, scheduling, coordination of care, improved communication, reduced medical errors due to adverse events in prescriptions and medication instructions and reduced admin costs through electronic claims adjudication only translates to one thing to me: my personal medical information is going to be all over the internet and this violates my rights according to the U.S. Constitution.



Yes, technology has its benefits…but I won’t be brain washed into believing it’s better than human beings.

The Ten Commandments vs. Rule of Law

The Ten Commandments are the best Rule of Law to go by. Having said that, society as a whole has accomplished manipulation of the system in such a way that determining the Rule of Law is not a straight forward process.




When we speak of the “law” we are really talking about the combination of a sum total of the constitutions, statutes, ordinances, executive orders, treaties, regulations, and judicial decisions. The sum total of all these elements as they coexist at any point in time is therefore, extremely complex, somewhat uncertain, always dynamic, and sometimes self-contradictory. All of these matters are occurring all over the nation in multiple jurisdictions simultaneously and sometimes one judge may rule in favor of the plaintiff on a matter when another judge rules in favor of the defendant on a very similar matter by comparison.



Laws are re-visited and modified on a consistent basis due to new circumstances that arise in accordance with events never before seen.



In the first year of law school studies are based primarily on case law and debate. Case law is an effective way to research history and develop judgment for what the “Rule of Law” is. Researching “Authority” is part of developing a case brief before any trial and part of representing a client in general to gain an understanding for the case. There are several different types of Authority an attorney must research including, actual, apparent, constructive, express, general, implied, incidental, inherent, naked, special, supervisory, constituted, adverse, imperative, persuasive, primary and secondary. I won’t go into details about each, but each different type is relative to specific evidence/facts. This is why attorneys choose specialty area’s of business to work in, because it is hard work just doing the research portion on each matter. Additionally, this is an excellent way to AVOID basing justice on society’s belief system because we look at the facts set forth by decisions previously made establishing “case” law. The research of all points of Authority does not stop until all facts are pointing to the same core Rule of Law because along the way, one will find many facts contradicting their case.



Here is a case study in point to provide an example for what I mean:



Dennis is a 10-year-old boy who is always getting into trouble. Everyone in the neighborhood knows Dennis; they’ve actually nicknamed him “The Menace.” Mr. Wilson lives right next door to Dennis and has posted a large “No Trespassing” sign in his front yard to keep Dennis out. He also yells at Dennis to “Stay out!” whenever he sees Dennis walk by his house. All of the other neighbors have fences to keep Dennis out of their yards, but Mr. Wilson never put one up. Mr. Wilson decided to build a pool in his backyard. The pool builders, Pools R Us, came and dug a 20 foot long, 8 foot deep hole for the pool. After the workers went home, Dennis decided to investigate the new project. He walks over but then trips over a shovel one of the workers mistakenly left in the yard and falls into the hole. Mr. Wilson hears Dennis yell for help and puts a ladder in the hole so he can climb out. Dennis has a couple of bruises and minor cuts, but otherwise seems to be unharmed.



So, let’s look at this from a Ten Commandment perspective. Who is liable for damages? Is there anyone liable?



ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.' – This doesn’t apply here.



TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.' – This doesn’t apply here.



THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.' – This doesn’t apply here.



FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' – This doesn’t apply here.



FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.' – Mr. Wilson is not Dennis’ father or mother.



SIX: 'You shall not murder.' – This doesn’t apply here.



SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.' – This doesn’t apply here.



EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.' – Dennis didn’t steal anything.



NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.' – Dennis was not witnessing to Mr. Wilson.



TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.' – This is the commandment that does apply. According to this, Dennis should not have trespassed to begin with. Sounds pretty simple, right?



What about the contributing factors though…should Dennis’s parents want to sue Mr. Wilson and Pools R Us for their son’s medical bills and emotional distress caused by the accident? Mr. Wilson didn’t have a fence up like all of the other neighbors do.



First, although Dennis was trespassing on private party, because he is a minor his parents DO have legal standing to sue Mr. Wilson.



Second, the court will need to determine if it was Mr. Wilson’s negligence or the construction company’s negligence that caused the injury. After all, had the shovel not been laying there for Dennis to trip over he may not have fell into that hole, right? According to common law doctrine (Contributory Negligence) providing a plaintiff’s own negligence contributed to the harm suffered by the plaintiff then the plaintiff cannot recover damages against the defendant for that harm."



Third, there are laws that can hold parents responsible for their irresponsible children - who generally have learned to be irresponsible due to irresponsible parenting. Those laws may come into play on these facts, but only if the jurisdiction has such laws. If those laws do come into play the court will need to establish whether or not the parents, child, neighbor, Construction Company, and possibly a neighborhood organization committee were acting in a manner a “reasonable person” would be expected to. I quote “reasonable person” because this is a legal standard for a hypothetical person. A person who exercises the degree of attention, knowledge, intelligence, and judgment that society requires of its members for the protection of their own and of others’ interests. The reasonable person acts sensibly, does things without serious delay, and takes proper but not excessive precautions.



Note, Mr. Wilson is adding a swimming pool and it is common to have a legal requirement to fence in a pool. The reason for such a law is to protect the general public from harm. This same reason - if not similar laws - cause construction sites to be roped, fenced, or otherwise guerdoned off so as to protect the pubic. Here, Mr. Wilson's yard was the construction site.



As you can see, Dennis should have stayed away, as told and in accordance with the Ten Commandments. But Mr. Wilson and Pools R Us may have been under a legal duty to secure the construction area where the pool was being installed. If under such a legal duty, then the breach of that duty would cause Mr. Wilson and/or Pools R Us to be liable for harms resulting from that breach of duty.



In summary, an Attractive Nuisance is property that is inherently dangerous and particularly enticing to children. The pool that Mr. Wilson was having built was attractive to Dennis. Children are very curious. Mr. Wilson should have taken the appropriate measures to prevent accidents. Whether it would have been Dennis or someone else that would have been on his property even with permission. He should have had a fence built around the pool area where he was building the pool.



Dennis parents can in fact sue for Damages. Damages is money awarded by the common law courts for civil wrongs. In both contract and tort law damages are the courts calculation of what it would cost to put the Plaintiff back into the position he/she would have been in but for the wrong. The Damages in this case would be the Medical bills that the family had to incur unrepentantly due to the physical injuries their son incurred.



The Tort involved here would be a civil claim for the wrongful act of Mr. Wilson, which constituted negligence that resulted in the harm of Dennis. Negligence would be the failure to do what a reasonably prudent person would ordinarily have done to prevent foreseeable harm to another under the circumstances.