There’s a story in the Gazette about a Janesville resident who’s looking for a litigation fund to support lawsuits against the City of Janesville. See, subscription req’d, Citizens group wants to mount legal offensive against City Hall.
The story’s too funny – it’s part overwrought idea, and (I would guess) part effort of the Gazette to troll readers over a bogus, straw-man threat to local government (to which that paper’s editorial board routinely grovels).
Litigation against a city – or anyone, really – isn’t a game or sport. It’s a serious undertaking that requires huge amounts of behind-the-scenes work for each pleading, each moment of speaking in court, or each moment advancing one’s position with the public.
There’s no sudden victory in something like this – there’s no point in counting on the supposed shock of a lawsuit, alone. Looking for a reaction is an immature, and likely ineffectual, approach.
(That’s why one should advance along a deliberate set of steps, and why it’s bad form to sue a city without that deliberate approach.)
One doesn’t sue a city or government agency to get a rise out of someone, for goodness’ sake.
One sues to protect one’s rights of liberty and safety, to redress injustices, or for broad policy reasons like a defense of one’s environment, for example.
Everything one does should be supportive of accomplishing that objective, with a practical, favorable, concrete outcome. Before one begins, one should say: I’ll commit fully and completely to this task, prepared not for today’s headlines, but years of effort ahead, each day, so much as might be needed.
Respite and momentary relent along the way would serve principally to bolster and refresh one’s energy for even more ahead.
An outlook like that is worthy of the seriousness of the effort, and has another advantage, too: a person who sees things this way is the sort of man or woman who will litigate with poise and sangfroid.
Only in this way, by approaching an effort seriously beforehand, can one be, as FDR once described Gov. Al Smith of New York, a ‘happy warrior.’ The best and most enjoyable expedition – with engaging, spirited moments for a good cause – comes with preparation and commitment.
Happy warriors, so to speak, begin as thoughtful ones.