I was raised to believe that law is the glory of decent society; that the rule of law is the sine qua non of civilization; that international law is the greatest protector of human rights; that lawyers should be coupled with doctors as an elite profession to which a young person can aspire; that making laws is the great work of legislatures; that law schools are among the noble places of learning in society; that the title "judge" was perhaps the highest appellation in society; and that the jury system is an essential component of a just society.

Most of the preceding has become nonsense.

I have come to fear almost everything having to do with law. Though there are many fine people in the legal profession, and though law is necessary to protect society from descending into chaos, I now fear the legal profession more than I do Islamic terror. I am far from alone. I believe that more Americans rightly fear being ruined by the American legal system more than being killed by a terrorist.

Tens of millions of innocent Americans, and untold numbers of innocent institutions -- from schools to businesses -- stand a good chance of having their money legally stolen through litigation or even the mere threat of it.

Innumerable American children are terribly harmed by family lawyers who egg on their clients to destroy the other parent.

Parents fear allowing visiting children to play on their property -- in their pools or on their trampolines, for example -- lest they be sued in case of injury.

Airlines won't give passengers aspirin for fear of lawsuits.

Physicians prescribe unnecessary procedures, raising the national medical bill astronomically, for fear of being sued.

American hotel guests can no longer breathe fresh air because hotels are no longer built with windows that open lest they be sued if a hotel guest falls out of one.

Men and women fear speaking normally at work, lest they be sued.

The deprivation of freedoms in America because of laws and litigation has made this country less free than at any time in its history.

Law in America and internationally is no longer on the side of the decent. It is a weapon in the hands of the indecent.

Everything related to law has been corrupted. Continued...