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Restraining Worldwide Pants
What is it with David Letterman?
Attorneys for television talk show host David Letterman want a judge to quash a restraining order granted to a Santa Fe woman who contends the celebrity used code words to show that he wanted to marry her and train her as his co-host.A state judge granted a temporary restraining order to Colleen Nestler, who alleged in a request filed last Thursday that Letterman has forced her to go bankrupt and caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" since May 1994.
My first reaction was, "restrain away", considering she's in New Mexico and he's (usually) in New York. As I read the article, and thought about it a bit, I realized if they don't stop this, it could easily turn into grounds for some sort of bizarre lawsuit.
What I hope is that the publicity from all of this will allow this woman to get the help she really needs. It's all well and good to make fun of people's delusions (lord knows people make fun of mine all the time), but folks with serious mental illnesses like this need treatment to ensure they don't become a danger to themselves or others.
Letterman is also a nationally syndicated talk show host, and most restraining orders also require that the restrained "no longer attempt communication or confrontation" with the harassed.
Since the judge who granted the order has already decided that Letterman's non-sequiter-laced monologues are actually coded communications intended to harass his victim, Letterman's continuing appearances on his own talk show could be considered a criminal violation of the order.
At best, she wants to control the phrases he uses on his show; at worst, her goal is to legally run him off the air.
Actually, what was granted so far is a *temporary* restraining order - the kind of thing that's rubberstamped, without actual investigation, and only lasts until a formal hearing on a real restraining order. They're meant to give you an immediate out so that the target of the order can't come and kill you while you're proving the need for a more permanent one.
The granting of a temporary restraining order really means nothing.
(And her demand is that he stop *thinking* about her, which is really impossible to prove.)
Posted by: John on December 22, 2005 08:03 AM"You may have heard this... Apparently, in New Mexico, there is now someone who has been granted a restraining order against... guess who, Paul."
"I couldn't begin to guess, Dave."
"Me."
"Is that right?"
"That's right. So much for that vacation I was planning!"
"You were going to see the Grand Canyon?"
"Grand Canyon? That's in Arizona, Paul. Try to get the right giant sand pit."
"All sand pits look pretty much alike to me, Dave."
"If it was a snow pit, you would have gotten it right."
"Yes, snow I know. So what were you going to see in New Mexico?"
"I dunno. Maybe a giant ball of twine."
"I thought that was in Minnesota."
"There, you see? You really DO know all your giant snow pits."
"I keep in touch with my Canadian side, Dave."