Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Kolender v. San Diego County Civil Service Comm'n (Cal. Ct. App. - Sept. 12, 2005)

I'll freely admit that the moral issues raised by this opinion have a fair amount of depth and complexity. Moreover, these moral issues are, to me, far more interesting than the legal matters at issue in the case; indeed, the latter don't really compel any extensive commentary at all.

But read the first three pages of the opinion and see whether you'd agree whether the underlying events would impart to most observers the following lesson: "Don't lie. And, if you do, don't thereafter tell the truth and admit that you lied. Because, as a practical matter, that's almost always the worst thing that you can do."