I had a letter published in the New York Times yesterday. I actually wrote it a couple of weeks ago. I continue to be upset by the enormous impact that money has on our legal system; it seems so very un-American. At the same time, in light of the massacre in Orlando this seems so trivial at the moment. We have so much to fix. Anyway, here it is:
To the Editor:
Re “PayPal Founder Is Said to Bankroll Hulk Hogan Suit Against Gawker” (Business Day, May 25):
It has been hard recently to get away from the stories about Peter Thiel’s funding of lawsuits against Gawker. The media coverage has focused almost exclusively on the threat that such lawsuits pose to freedom of the press. This, though, misses the much larger and more troubling story that deserves our full attention: that access to the legal system is so dependent on money that even a man as wealthy and famous as Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan) needs a billionaire sponsor for a lawsuit.
The knowledge that money buys access to the law is by no means new, but this case could serve to bring this systemic issue more to public attention. Perhaps, if the media would redirect its focus, there is an opportunity in this presidential election year to help to ensure equal access to the law for rich and poor alike.
MICHAEL SATLOW
Providence, R.I.