And there is the larger question of what constitutes evidence in our society. There never was any evidence that breast implants were particularly dangerous, but the controversy went on for at least 15 years. The same is true for the autism/vaccine theory.

“No Name Guy” is right, judges are ignorant in many fields. It is strange that law students do well on SAT type logic, but not on quantitative questions. Mrs. Clinton did well as a lawyer, but is as dumb as a turnip.

I’ll challenge you to demonstrate WHY patent law must be complex. Is it a new machine or physical process that’s unobvious? Yes? Patent. No? Not. A new chemical compound that treats a disease? Yes. Patent. No? Not. It doesn’t need to be more complex than that. When founded on principle, law is simple and easy. When trying to massage the law to achieve a desired outcome in every case, it becomes stupidly complex, which is where we are today (see tax code & criminal code for further examples of needless complexity). Examples abound in unneeded complexity in patent law: Business method, “One click”, etc.

What are these delicite balancing of interests you speak of Ron? Patents are to protect innovators for a limited time, period (see….sticking to principle, it’s easy). Is it an innovation in machine or process? Yes. Great, tell the public exactly how it works, and you can exclusively use it for a few years. Not an innovation? You’re S.O.L. Or, keep it to yourself (as Kodak did with Kodochrome, KFC with their blend of spices, Coke formula, etc) and it’s yours until someone figures it out on their own, but you’re out of luck once they do (a simple principle: If I can keep my secret, I can use it and profit from it, forever, or tell everyone, not have to worry about letting it slip, but only keep it for a limited time – it’s a business decision at that point).

Ted: I’d suggest a shocking number of judges & lawyers are ignorant of mathmatics, physics, chemistry, medicine and engineering principals as demonstrated every day in the annals of this very site and similar ones (and not just economics). They’re taught to come up with so called innovative ‘blah, blah, blah, sounds convincing’ lines of argument that don’t need a basis in physical reality. If the lawyer can sell the BS to a judge (similarily trained, hence similarily ignorant) they can win. (“Ignorant”: lacking in knowledge or training, lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact, uninformed; unaware).

Judges can hire attorneys as their clerks to put their decisions into the proper framework and to help them with research.

It has come to the point in most States that a Governor won’t appoint someone to be a Judge unless the American Bar Association signs off on the appointment. It is a little too much like the fox guarding the hen house.

My gut tells me that non-lawyer Judges might be a little more unpredictable in their decision making and that bothers the legal profession who prefers everything to be neat and predictable.

A shocking number of judges have no understanding of basic economics, even as they make rulings based on faulty economic premises.

There are judges, like Frank Easterbrook, who recognize the limits of litigation and the role of lawyers in society, and rule accordingly, but they’re few and far between.

No Name Guy decries the complicated legal system. No one likes that it is so complicated. But you need a complex system so you are not fitting square pegs into a round hole. Let’s take an example that involves mostly corporate squabbles so we don’t fuse in trial lawyer politics. How about patent law? Is patent law complex? You bet it is. It has to be. There is a delicate balancing of interests that must be achieved. Regrettably, that is going to require a high degree of complexity.

1) Everyone can understand it (reduces the need for lawers and suits)
and
2) Therefore, anyone who is reasonably well educated (doctor, engineer, accountant, etc) COULD be a judge.

Law, being a creation of man, is only as complex as man wishes it to be, unlike the physical world that doctors, engineers, chemistist, etc have to deal with.