The real scandal in the accusations against Herman Cain is the corruption of the law.

Some people may think the fact that the National Restaurant Association reportedly paid $45,000 to settle a claim made by one of its employees against Cain is incriminating.

The figure $45,000 struck a chord with me because, some years ago, my wife (who is an attorney) was fervently congratulated when her client had to pay “only” $45,000 in a jury award when the plaintiff was demanding a million dollars, in as frivolous a lawsuit as you could find.

The person who was suing was a drunk driver, whose car went out of control and slammed into a tree. After the sheriff’s deputies arrested her, she sued them on dubious charges, and the sheriff’s department was glad it had to pay “only” $45,000.

The department was painfully aware of the uncertainty about what ruinous costs a jury might impose on the deputies.

The real scandal is that the law allows people to impose heavy costs on others at little or no cost to themselves. That is a perfect setting for legalized extortion.

The fact that neither judges nor juries always stick to the letter of the law means that people who have zero basis for a lawsuit, under the law as written, can still create enough uncertainty to extract money from people who cannot afford the risk of going to trial.

As for a $45,000 settlement, that is what an organization would pay to settle a nuisance lawsuit — if it is lucky.

If we had a legal system where judges threw frivolous cases out of court, instead of letting them go to trial, that would put a damper on legalized extortion.