Gibbs Oil Co. v. Collentro & Collentro, Inc.

I regret that I cannot join in the majority opinion in this case, for to do so, I would have to take impermissible liberties with the vast power the judiciary possesses in deciding controversies. In upholding the finding of the trial court, the majority has done just that.

Judges, by their very position as arbiters of contested litigation, have the power to ignore traditional and time tested principles of law, but it is axiomatic that they do not have that right. Appellate judges must not only instruct themselves concernedly when reviewing appeals, in order to apply correct principles of law…