Judges: they're not on your side, they're on their side

James Buchanan won a nobel for public choice theory.  The notion that all humans are selfish and self serving (I think Jesus Christ actually should have won the prize) and that so called 'public servants' serve themselves at the expense of their customers just as much as 'private' ones do.  The upshot is that we should limit as much as possible those areas where 'public servants' can exercise power outside of markets, because markets are the only reliable way to limit abuses by the powerful.

For the legal system, the only way is to minimize the number of things that are against the law.  But even if you do so, you get travesties like this:

OF COURSE IT DOES: New Hampshire Judge Caught On Video Ordering False Arrest: Incident sparks court order banning cameras in courtroom. Blame the messenger, not the abuse of power.

I just reread The Godfather, which I had previously read back in college. It’s easier to understand Don Corleone’s contempt for constituted authority now than it was then.