preferences conflict with mine. Thernpoint, however, is that despite the existencernof imprudent or unjust local andrnstate laws that restrain liberty, there arernmany legitimate, just, and prudentrnreasons why communities might wishrnto enact legislation that reflects localrncircumstances and conditions—for thernprotection of public health, morality,rnsafety, etc.—and these may well circumscribern”economic liberties.” Again,rnunlike Mr. Bolick but more like thernFramers and most Americans today, I dornnot subscribe to the notion that economicrnrelationships determine politicalrnand cultural relationships or that theyrnare the principal or sole criterion byrnwhich the public good should be measured.rnNor, finally, do I agree with Mr. Bolickrnthat “the judiciary is the last refuge forrnindividual rights against governmentrntyranny.” The proper function of therncourts is to protect, not “individual liberties,”rnbut the rule of law, which is notrnalways the same thing. The judiciary,rnMr. Bolick might someday discoverrn(most Americans to their rue have alreadyrndone so), is part of the governmentrnand the least representative andrnresponsive part of it. When the judiciaryrnis empowered by ideologues to enforcerntheir private obsessions, it is at leastrnas great a danger to communities andrnpersons, to law as well as liberty, as anyrnother organ of the state.rnCULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnP O O R DENNY’S. The South Carolina-rnbased company, with 1,600 “always-rnopen” family restaurants, has beenrnblindsided. After years of serving cheap,rndecent meals to working Americans, itrnis under a politico-racial attack. Thernaggressors are the usual suspects: therncentral government, the national media,rncivil rights leaders, and a lawyer, GuyrnSaperstein, from Oakland, California.rnA New Age nephew of HarlemrnGlobetrotters founder Abe Saperstein,rnGuy consults a psychic on his formerrnlives as a woman, according to the WallrnStreet Journal, which otherwise likes him.rnHow thrilling, in the eyes of the journal,rnthat Saperstein is a legal legend (whichrntells us all we need to know about thernAmerican Bar). He’s become rich andrnfamous by draining millions from middle-rnclass, mostly Southern and Midwesternrnbusinesses through civil rightsrnlawsuits.rnSaperstein claimed Denny’s was racistrnin a class-action suit earlier this year, andrnthe search for plaintiffs began. Accompanyingrnit was an anti-Denny’s pressrncampaign, stoked by our media mastersrnbecause Denny’s is Southern and a littlernold-fashioned and features charming ifrncranky waitresses, mostly white, who callrnyou “honey.”rnThe first publicity stunt involved arntable of uniformed Secret Service police.rnThey claimed they’d gotten slowrnservice at a Denny’s in Annapolis, Maryland,rnbecause they were black. Whenrnthey complained loudly, the waitress isrnsaid to have “rolled her eyes.” Haterncrime! Most customers would respondrnto poor service—if it was that rather thanrncrowding caused by a presidential visit tornthe Naval Academy—^by leaving no tip orrnavoiding the restaurant in the future.rnMost people wouldn’t sue. But that’s exactlyrnwhat the federal cops did.rnThere’s no law telling restaurants tornserve blacks within a certain time spanrn(yet). So the agents used a familiarrnnightstick: the Civil Rights Act of 1964.rnThis law, which legalizes trespassing onrnother people’s property and rewards therntrespasser if the owner protests, turns everyrnrestaurant into a federally supervisedrn”public accommodation.”rnWith the cross burning before theirrneyes, the Racism Industry went to threernshifts. In Glen Burnie, Maryland, a blackrnwoman brought a federal discriminationrncharge against a Denny’s because shernfound a foreign object in her hashbrowns.rnAnother human rights violation.rnThen a 130-member black children’srnchoir, plus sponsors and otherrnadults, rolled up in three buses to a Denny’srnin northern Virginia at 11:00 p.m. onrna Sunday night and demanded service.rnThe manager politely explained thatrnthere would be a long wait, since he hadrnonly one cook and two waitresses on dutyrnat the time. He suggested that a biggerrnDenny’s down the road might bernable to help, but it was in the same situation.rnRacism! “We feel like if we hadrnbeen a huge group of white people onrnbuses, they would have done whateverrnthey could . . . [to] accommodate us,”rnsaid Anita High, executive director ofrnthe choir, who promptly filed a suit.rnAt the same time, the Justice Departmentrnwas induced to investigate a CaliforniarnDenny’s for supposedly makingrnsome young black men pay in advance.rnIf so, did this have anything to do withrnthe restaurant’s actual experience? Whornknows? Who cares? Kill the manager.rn”These charges against Denny’s arernescalating,” said Jesse Jackson at an anti-rnDenny’s rally. “They say they aren’t happening,rnbut they are lying. . . . Wherernthere’s smoke, there’s fire.” And wherernthere’s fire, there’s Jackson with a gasolinerncan.rnIn an attempt to appease its attackers,rnDenny’s fired the manager of the Annapolisrnrestaurant and hired the NAACPrnto check its branches for slow service tornblacks. (A problem: such checkers willrnhave an incentive to act obnoxiouslyrnso as to discover “racism.”) “We’re in arnvery competitive business,” Denny’srnvice-president Coleman Sullivan triedrnto explain. “Any thinking person wouldrnrealize that we would not want to dornanything to discourage anyone fromrncoming to our restaurants.”rnOf course, but the civil rights apparatusrnmust generate stories of white infamyrnto justify its existence. That’s whyrnJackson and his ilk always suggest there’srna conspiracy, that Denny’s management,rnfor example, secretly tells its employees:rn”We don’t want any paying black customers,rnso let’s harass them.” Naturally,rna federal judge would agree with Jackson.rnJudge Kenneth Hoyt called it “racism”rnwhen he and his wife had to wait “an inordinaternlength of time for service” at arnEureka, California, Denny’s. Other discriminationrncomplaints have come fromrnGreenbelt and Gaithersburg, Maryland;rnRichmond, Virginia; Tampa and Ocala,rnFlorida; and Shelby and Raleigh, NorthrnCarolina. As of this writing, Sapersteinrnhas signed up 32 black plaintiffs. Pressrnaccounts never mention it, but thesernOCTOBER 1993/5rnrnrn