District Judge Franklin R. Theis is what we call a judge out here in the real world.
He made the news because he dismissed the lawsuit that was brought against Jared and Lindsay Rowley, the Topeka couple who were taken hostage back in 2009.
Oh, year, it was their kidnapper who filed the suit.
That’s right.
Jesse Dimmick “contended that he had a legally binding oral contract with Jared and Lindsay Rowley that they would hide him from police in return for an unspecified amount of money,” according to the Associated Press.
“Dimmick was a fugitive facing a murder charge on Sept. 12, 2009, when he burst into the Rowley’s Topeka-area home and confronted them at knife point. The Rowleys gained Dimmick’s confidence and were able to escape when he fell asleep. Police stormed the home and detained Dimmick, shooting him in the back during the arrest.”
He got better and sued the very people he’d terrorized — it gets complicated with each side suing the other.
The important thing is the decision by Judge Theis.
It’s understandable that he has to work within the confines of the legal system, and that he has to administer a set of, what we hope, are good Kansas laws, but he also made a good choice.
Our justice system needs more of those choices being made. It needs more decisions to throw out senseless actions that are inappropriate.
There certainly are serious, complicated legal issues that have to be considered in our courts on a regular basis and sometimes there are decisions that are best for society as a whole that many citizens are not happy with, but that doesn’t mean that every nonsense suit that gets filed deserves to be heard.
This is clearly one of those examples.
Way to go, Judge Theis.
— Chuck Smith