Mary Ann Summers and Gilligan.
Keep your eyes on the boat,
please.
In Norris v. Thomas, No. 05-0476 (Tex. Feb. 9, 2007), the Supreme Court of Texas held today that the boat-residence of Thomas Eugene Norris, Sr., and Karen Lynn Norris doesn't qualify as a homestead under the state constitution. Four justices dissented. The decision, which the court rendered on questions that the Fifth Circuit certified to it, largely rested on, well, whether the boat rested on land. It didn't.
Blawgletter can't help but wonder whether Gilligan -- he of Gilligan's Island (1964-67) fame -- could have earned homestead protection for S.S. Minnow, the tiny ship that a storm wrecked 40-plus years ago on a desert island nowhere near Texas. Unlike the Norris's vessel, The Minnow lacked electricity, running water, and other amenities of modern life. Plus nobody lived in it; Gilligan, the Professor, et al., dwelled in grass huts. But S.S. Minnow never got off of dry land (except perhaps for that one episode when the castaways tried to patch and sail it).
Blawgletter despairs at the court's homestead decision. But not because of the outcome. No, Blawgletter feels snitty because both majority and dissent fail to furnish the name of the Norris's craft-and-domicile.
The despair hasn't survived Blawgletter's research. According to the Norris's bankruptcy petition, available on PACER, their home consisted of a 1975 Chris Craft Roamer, and they christened it Cricket. Would providing these fun details have killed Their Honors? List Blawgletter as dubitante.
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