Arbitration & Mediation

Good thing these legislators are on the ball.

By Christopher Annunziata

“TALLAHASSEE, Florida — The Florida Senate today debated and passed an amendment to impose a $60 fine on Truck Nutz, the novelty vehicle adornment attached to trailer hitches that resemble the dangling southern end of a northbound bull.” (Apologies for the bad pun and be forewarned, there is a picture of this lovely item so humorously described in the opening sentence of this new article.)

While I find these vehicular adornments tasteless, they are no more or less tasteless than say, “silhouettes of nude women on truck mud flaps or decals depicting a small boy relieving himself on another truck logo”, as pointed out by seemingly rational Florida State Senator Steve Geller. My inner Hugo Black believes that attempting to ban these delightful appendages would violate the First Amendment.  There is no right to be free from insult or offensiveness.

And to tie this in (somehow) to dispute resolution, it should be noted that one of the opponents to the bill, Sen. Jim King of Jacksonville, “said he had a set on one of his vehicles, which he described as ‘all pimped out.’ They are no more than ‘an expression of truckliness,’ he said, although he’d acceded to his wife’s request to take them off.” In the end, Sen. King proved he was, indeed, a smart and wise man.

Full post as published by CKA Mediation and Arbitration Services Blog on April 18, 2008 (boomark / email).