Show THE READERS COURTROOM bum is no slander to tenant by will bernard Is it slander to call A man a bum an apartment house tenant had a strong dislike for or several of the other occupants As time w went ent by all of them moved out axce except pt one when he met this last holdout in the back yard one day the tenant exclaimed you are the last of YOU ara tha LASI OF ive bum 1 5 13 11 A the bum tenants in this buildt gi the other man sued for da damages ages saying laying that he had been slandered by being described as aa a bum however the court denied his claim the judge said that so long as an no tangible harm was done the word tum bum such a serious accusation after all may all children be forced to go to public schools A law was passed requiring all students between the ages ot of 8 and 10 to attend public sh schools I 1 A private school promptly filed a test case claiming that such a law was unconstitutional the state officials explained that they wished to give I 1 the same kind of education to however tho the court held the law unconstitutional violating the liberty ot of pare parents to to direct the upbringing and education of their children the judge said aid the state had no power to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public school teachers only if a cat kills a canary must tho the cats owner pay damages A womans comans cat took a strong dislike to a singing canary kept in tho the parlor of the house next door one evening the cat slipped into the neighbors house stole into the parlor and silenced the canary forever the neighbor sued the woman for damages claiming that she must pay evil deed done by her pet however the court ruled that the woman was not responsible the judge pointed out that this was an ordinary peaceful cat with no special tendency to be vicious ile he added that a cats owner should not be blamed just because the animal occasionally may revert to his wild nature after a convict serves his sentence may he bo be forced to loam leave the vicinity A convicted criminal served bis term in the state penitentiary ad aad was duly discharged lie he soon found a job in a gas station near near the prison one day he was waa arrested r again it seems there was a state law requiring discharged convicts to leave the county within in 24 hours atter after their release 5 rall N I 1 ilowe however ve r at the trial the court held the law unconstitutional and ordered the man reed freed the judge said it was unfair to impose this additional restraint on a man after alx lx u has ha paid his hl debt to io society |