Surely common sense is being violated when a $67 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner for losing a pair of pants is not dismissed immediately and with extreme prejudice.

The plaintiff is Roy Pearson of Washington DC, who happens to be a judge. In the lawsuit Pearson bemoans his “mental suffering, inconvenience, discomfort,” yadda yadda yadda. Why $67 million? Who knows. ABC News says that according to its Law and Justice Unit, “for $67 million Pearson could buy 84,115 new pairs of pants at the $800 value he placed on the missing trousers in court documents.”

According to my calculation, $67 million can buy only 83,750 pairs of $800 pants. But maybe ABC is assuming there would be some kind of discount.

Phillip Howard, author of a book about runaway litigation called The Death of Common Sense, says such arbitrary assaults are making us scared to death of each other. He says, “That’s why teachers won’t put an arm around a crying child, and doctors order unnecessary tests, and ministers won’t meet with parishioners. It’s a distrust of justice and it’s changing our culture.”

The dry cleaners found the pants a week after they went missing and tried to return them to Judge Pearson. Pearson shook his head. They offered $12,000 to settle. He declined. The case, scheduled for June, seems to be going forward. The owners of Customs Cleaners could use all the help they can get to defend themselves. Check out customcleanersdefensefund.com.