"Peter Clark" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 03:34:38 -0000, Marty Shapiro
wrote:

Has anyone ever taken the Massachussetts to court about keeping the
tolls?

This is Massachusetts... Trust me, you really don't want to go there.


....sorry, I was laughing so hard I couldn't type. Massachusetts courts? I
suppose you mean the same one that found out that a 300-year-old state
constitution written by THE PILGRIMS actually required the state to permit
gay marriage. Whether gay marriage is right or wrong is an entirely
different issue, but if they can find it in our constitution (which
pre-dates the US one and is rooted in the Massachusetts General Court formed
in 1691), then the constitution clearly means whatever they want it to mean,
which is to say that it means nothing at all. I in fact narrowly favor gay
marriage, but I am also opposed to gun control, and the Massachusetts
constitution clearly endorses the right of the people to keep and bear arms
(with no reference to the militia, and in fact legal scholars increasingly
agree that the Founders intended the 2nd Amendment as an "individual
right"). But in order for me to get a pistol permit in this state, I need to
prove that I have a uniquely compelling need for it. The fact that I live in
a neighborhood that is openly patrolled by a violent street gang with links
to Al Qaeda is not by itself sufficient. So like I said, clearly the
Constitution means whatever the legislature and courts, who are largely on
the same side, want it to mean.

-cwk.