Lawsuits & Judgments

Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers of Omaha, has filed a lawsuit against God in the Douglas County District Court. And if you think this is a simple play on words, its not. The State Senator is actually trying to sue God, yes, the God The Almighty, He is Who is, The Creator…

State Senator Chambers claims to be filing the suit to demonstrate that there are no controls in the American legal system and that anyone can sue virtually anyone else for any reason. Now the logistics of suing a deity have yet to be clarified. For example, who one would serve papers or enforce a judgment against God is still to be determined. However that has not stopped this suit from being filed.

An article on the KPTM, Fox 42 website states that Sen Chambers is seeking a permanent injunction against god for making terroristic threats and for causing “fearsome floods, horrendous hurricanes and terrifying tornadoes” . We assume the threats made are the ever present possibility of more disasters. Sen Chambers is seeking a default judgment, apparently assuming that God will not offer a defense of any kind.

However the whole situation could raise some interesting legal questions. Assuming the Senator is not subject to plagues or other forms of Old Testament-ish divine retribution, we would expect the court to dismiss the case. However two of the courts options are to award the default judgment or allow the case to proceed. The question is would either of these (judgment or trial) set a legal precedent for the existence of God. Would the burden of proof shift from the faithful to prove there is a God to the Faithless who would then have to prove there isn’t, at least in Nebraska. And if this is the result, can Sen Chambers be elected without the Atheist vote?

Of course the more realistic legal question is what is the Senator trying to accomplish. We can assume that he would like to place controls on the nature and types of lawsuits that can be filed. We all know there a frivolousness and even false suits filed that should never be heard but is the greater good served by limiting the peoples access to the courts.