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From: testa-j%osu-20@OHIO-STATE.ARPA
Newsgroups: mod.politics
Subject: Courts and Advertising
Message-ID: <12240765164.25.MCGREW@RED.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Sun, 21-Sep-86 15:31:18 EDT
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Posted: Sun Sep 21 15:31:18 1986
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From: "Keith F. Lynch" <KFL%MX.LCS.MIT.EDU@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU>

>  Well, the "donations" are in a sense voluntary now.  You think the
>courts are NOT swayed by politics?  You think their opinions do NOT
>pretty closely match those of the general population?
 
No.  But their opinions would be influenced much more by popularity if
their existence depended on popularity.

> For the courts to be biased
>in a libertarian direction - if that even makes any sense - is not a
>bad thing.  

That's not the kind of bias i'm worried about.  I'm more worried about
the times where a popular lynch-mob movement (no pun intended) might
override due process rights for the accused ...  "aw, we KNOW he's
guilty, why bother with the technicalities of a trial??"

>    And convincing people to contribute drains resources.  A similar 
>    situation exists with the health-care industry today.  In Ohio, 
>    we are flooded with commercials on TV showing us pictures of 
>    helicopters flying around particular hospitals.  This is a waste 
>    of money; it doesn't cure a single disease; if they spent their 
>    time and money on health care, perhaps the cost wouldn't be so 
>    high.
>
>  Well, this is the classic dilemma of advertising.  Doesn't
>advertising a product increase its cost?  After all, the consumers
>are then paying the cost of the advertising as well as the cost of
>manufacture, distribution, and packaging.
>  The answer is no, not really.  To the extent that advertising
>increases purchases (or donations) it causes the unit cost to go
>DOWN.

Oh, come on now!  This makes sense for toothpaste and cars, but for
health care (or courts) ??  I can see it now -- Mr. X sitting home one
night watching TV, says to his wife "gee, i was thinking, after seeing
that ad from Mount Foo Hospital -- what do you think if i go have a
heart transplant next week?  They're having a special discount."


                                        -joe testa-
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