Pity the poor 19th century sea captain. Gone for three years, he returns home to his wife and a brand new bouncing baby boy. "You have a son," she says. And she's legally correct. For the law conclusively presumes that a child born to a married woman is a child of the marriage. No DNA required. No DNA allowed. Why? The English jurists pronounced a rule: "The law abhors a bastard." Maybe they knew the little bastard would be a ward of the state if daddy didn't support him. Whatever. And what was true in England of old has been dragged kicking and screaming into 21st century America. It's the law in 34 states. Justice? Perhaps. Hey, he married the wench.
Many a litigant has left the courtroom dazed and confused, impaled on some Latin phrase he can’t even pronounce. At the end of the day, the law is no more and no less than what nine people in black say it is. Any resemblance to truth, justice and the American way is purely coincidental.
Lawsuits aren't about justice. Lawsuits are about law.
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