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.

Year in, year out, politicians struggle to undermine or repeal the state and local term limits that apply to them.

Sometimes they pull it off. But more often it’s the citizens who succeed in defeating their representatives’ often-dishonest efforts.

In Lansing, Illinois, a measure to repeal local term limits didn’t even include the words “term limits.” It just innocently inquired whether officials should be allowed to serve as long as voters keep electing them. Thanks in part to loud objections from local official Bob Ryan, Lansing voters saw through the ploy.

In Arkansas, recent attempts to weaken term limits died in committee. Politicians complained that TV ads criticizing their attempt continued to air after the bills had expired. I can only invite enemies of term limits to better coordinate their plans with the friends of term limits.

In Canyon Lake, California, Dawn Haggarty is fighting an attempt by Canyon Lake politicians to undo term limits. After recounting all the cronyism, misspending, bad faith and other corruption she fought when she was in local government, she notes that term limits law “doesn’t keep good people away. . . . [It] gives more people a chance to experience the position, and it is really the only way to assure being able to get rid of a bad Director.”

More electoral competition. Less entrenched corruption. That’s why voters passed term limits to begin with. And why they’ll fight to keep them.

Congratulations! You did it! And I mean you, listening to the radio in your car, or peering through your email inbox or surfing the Web to SamAdamsAlliance.org.

If you were one of the thousands who called or wrote the Target Corporation or took a flyer to your local store, asking Target not to be part of any eminent domain abuse, well, you won. We all won.

I’ve talked several times about the Arlington Heights, Illinois, government using eminent domain to push out small businesses at the International Plaza shopping center. You see, the village had a deal with Target to build a $19 million Super Target on that property.

But the owner and tenants of International Plaza fought. And people rallied ‘round them. The folks at the new Sam Adams Alliance began to publicize the issue nationwide, and so did this commentary program. There are a lot of good neighbors across this country. We urged folks thousands of miles from Arlington Heights to speak out to Target as customers.

It worked. Target received thousands of letters, emails, flyers and phone calls. And Target pulled out of the deal. According to comments made by the mayor when the village board also voted to terminate the deal, it was the public response that moved Target. For now, International Plaza is safe.

So, let’s shop ‘til we drop. At International Plaza. At Target. Wherever free citizens so choose. Thanks to you.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Show Target your appreciation - and remind them to continue to respect property rights in the future! Download and print this letter, and take to the manager at your local Target branch.

Summer’s coming, and soon it will be time to hit the pools for a swim.

Unfortunately, a huge number of America’s public swimming pools are government projects, not community- or club-based.

Why do I say “unfortunately”? Well, when governments run such institutions, then funding become a nasty problem, with a lot of local governments finding themselves strapped for cash, pitting citizen against citizen in their attempts to keep such great services open.

Grand Rapids experienced something like this. Tight budgets had forced the Park and Recreation bureau to announce that only three of the city’s six pools would be open this summer.

So that’s when Roosevelt Tillman stepped in. Not into the pool, but into funding the pool. He set up a community group called “Making Great Waves,” which has so far raised $250,000 to fund all six swimming pools. Which will be open this summer.

The donation program was a wide community effort, with strong business participation. Tillman himself got involved because of his fond memories of swimming in those pools when he was young. Apparently others, too, had fond memories.

This is just more proof that all sorts of good things can be supported by people without necessitating increased taxes. I bet quite a few of the people who gave generously would have objected to a tax increase, even if the extra tax amount was less than they ended up giving.

What’s the difference? Volunteerism. Control.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

A lot of people work what are called “regular hours.” And for these people, it’s not always easy to “interface” with government.

You probably just winced. “Interface” is such an ugly word. But you know what I mean: “to interact or coordinate harmonoiusly,” as Merriam-Webster puts it. It’s hard to interact with government if it means taking time off work and driving down to City Hall, or some obscure bureau miles and miles away.

Which is why it’s great to see the everyday business of government go online. Everywhere. But as the Boston Globe recently noticed, it’s happening more and more in the state of Massachusetts. On March 15, Common Cause Massachusetts honored 73 cities and towns within the state for their e-government efforts. At a state house ceremony the group praised governments for putting key municipal records onto their websites.

As more and more of the world goes online, such stories may seem old hat. But wait until you have to take time from your busy day just to get some information about your government. You begin to appreciate pretty quickly the info that can appear, as if by magic, on your computer screen.

And with information a few clicks away, it becomes easier for citizens to understand.

And what citizens understand, they can better control.

This is a very old idea, popular government. Now the idea is made more practicable — and, I hope, more popular — by new technology.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.