Worst Court Decision of 2012

What was the worst decision of 2012? 

Most conservatives would argue that the US Supreme Court’s decision on Obamacare; co-opting an argument the government had actually denied in order to find a way to make it legal, was the hands-down winner.

The day after the Supreme Court announced its bombshell health-care decision, Chief Justice John Roberts joked that he would be fleeing to Malta. It’s “an impregnable fortress island,” he quipped at a judges’ conference in Pennsylvania. “It seemed like a good idea.” He actually did fly to the Mediterranean nation to teach a two week course on the history of the court.

With the goal in sight, and closing on the finish line, Obamacare has been overtaken by a ruling from the Iowa Supreme Court that (while it may technically be legally correct) has Lady Justice wringing the tears from her blindfold as she runs screaming from the building.

That’s Melissa Nelson posing with her daughter on a happier day. 

Melissa is a former dental assistant from Fort Dodge, Iowa. After she had worked for the same dentist for ten years, her 53 year old employer, a Dr. Knight, apparently suffered a mid-life crisis. 

He began making inappropriate remarks and sending her suggestive texts.  Although she did nothing to reciprocate, actually did nothing wrong (except failing to report him) she got fired. The reason given was that he found her to be too attractive, making her a distraction at work and a danger to his marriage.

In a conference the next day with her husband and Dr. Knight’s minister, the dentist said that Melissa had done nothing wrong, and was the best dental assistant he had ever had.

After a two-year battle in the courts, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled this month that the firing did not constitute sexual discrimination as defined by Iowa law.