Turning 14 Days Into Fortnightly, Lawsuit Style

The only previous time I recall hearing the term "fortnight" is when the Wimbledon tennis championship rolls around each summer. The Brits (and the Americans who report on the event) love the word instead of just saying 14 days. Who can blame them? It’s a chance to be different — except when everyone is doing the same thing.

I had the pleasure of attending matches at Centre Court at Wimbldeon a few years ago. My family was able to soak in many of the British traditions, as well as witness a streaker who was trying his best to impress Maria Sharapova. It seemed to take a fortnight to get him off the court and out of the stadium.

But I digress. The topic was fortnight and how it was rarely seen until the Heartland Institute’s development of the Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly. When I first became aware of this online reality look at just what’s wrong with our court system and why it costs us so much money, the updates were coming infrequently (at least not on a fortnightly basis). The British must have complained, because the 2009 updates have been appearing like fortnightly clockwork.

While I’m happy to see the time schedule aligned, it’s sad that the editors can so easily come up with enough cases of abuse to share on a biweekly basis — or every 14 days —  or fortnightly.

My favorite from the current edition is below. Read all the latest bizarre news.

A 78-year-old Wisconsin woman is suing the Monroe, Wisconsin senior citizens center after she was barred from it for violating the center’s code of conduct.

She alleges the center violated her right to free speech and its code of conduct is unconstitutional after the center wrote her saying she failed to treat others with respect, used abusive language, and physically threatened others. The center said they’d let her back in if she completed an anger management course.

“She, in my view, is entitled to [compensation], but her main goal is to be able to enjoy the senior center,” said her attorney.