Jim Alesi (R-CountdownToStatuteOfLimitations, NY)
Claims to fame: Republican New York state senator (Perinton, 1996-); former New York state assemblyman; poster boy for frivolous lawsuits; genus hypocriticus ginormicus
Moral apex: Sued a constituent when he broke his leg after entering the constituent’s unoccupied home without permission.
Oh, but wait! We haven’t gotten anywhere near the best part.
The New York Daily News explains in the aptly-titled article “State Sen. James Alesi is suing constitutents when he should be apologizing for acting like an idiot” (January 24, 2011):
While house-shopping in January 2008, Alesi stopped by a development in his Senate district. Bypassing model homes that were open to visitors, he determined to enter one that had already been purchased but was still under construction.The front door was locked, but he managed to get in through a basement door in the back. Inside, he found that the stairs were not yet built.
Undeterred, Alesi tried to climb a ladder to get upstairs. He then fell and broke his leg.
“The owners and builder,” continues Wikipedia, “declined to press charges for trespassing. On January 18, 2011, the same day the statute of limitations for any potential trespassing charges expired, Alesi filed a lawsuit against the owners and the builder alleging an unsafe environment at the home site. After criticism from members of the public and other Republicans, Alesi withdrew the suit.”
Did you catch that? Three years Alesi waited to sue — until the day “the statute of limitations for any potential trespassing charges expired.”
“In fact,” WHAM tells us, “the homeowners had the option to press criminal trespassing charges against Alesi, who suffered serious injuries that required surgery when he fell from the ladder. But the homeowners tell us they didn’t want to make a bad situation worse for the Senator.”
As if this story couldn’t get any better, there’s actually a punch line: Watch the news video, and just wait for the last line from the reporter (groaning and/or eye-rolling and/or exclamations along the lines of “WTF?” almost guaranteed):
For the video- (or audio-) impaired: The reporter tells us Alesi is a co-sponsor of “scaffold laws… designed to do a better job assessing blame when a worker falls and gets hurt. … The last line reads that ‘a worker should be at fault if that worker is injured by his or her own culpable conduct.’”
Memorable quote:
“He had absolutely no right whatsoever to be in that home. He didn’t have permission. He was a trespasser. …“Look, it’s a job site. A home under construction. There was a ladder going from the basement to the first level of the home, and he slipped going up the ladder. The ladder didn’t break. There wasn’t a malfunction there. In fact, I still have the ladder if you want a photo of it. I suppose it might not have been safe for someone who is not familiar with operating a ladder, or for someone without proper footgear.”
— Homebuilder Louis DiRisio
WHAM
January 24, 2011
Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Alesi:
I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
— 1 Corinthians 6:5-8
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