Law and chance

By: Law is Cool · October 2, 2009 · Filed Under Legal Reform · Add Comment 

The boy who would be mayor

Anna Mehler Paperny writes for the Globe and Mail:

Mr. Coombs, who lives with his parents in Paradise and commutes to Memorial University in St. John’s, won the first round of ballot-counting in Tuesday’s municipal election by a hairsbreadth. But a recount Thursday put him and incumbent mayor Ralph Wiseman in a dead tie. The standoff was solved, in accordance with provincial rules, by drawing the two names out of a hat – or, in this case, Mr. Coombs said, a recycling bin. Mr. Wiseman won.

Drawing names out of a hat sounds like an arbitrary law. Even making both candidates take LSAT and giving the job to the one with a higher score sounds fairer .

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