Congress this year hopes to enact desperately needed legal reform legislation. One legal scholar finds, “Our lawsuit industry too often operates as an engine of injustice and as a drain on the economy,” while a Washington Post columnist states that our tort system is “an abomination.”
It wouldn’t be a new Congress if we didn’t hear the usual calls for an overhaul of the civil justice system. For federal legislation to sweep across all 50 states and considerably constrict a victim’s right to compensation when injured while at the same time passing along massive handouts to insurance companies, corporate interests and large pharmaceutical companies.
Three years ago, civil justice reformers described Mississippi as “the jackpot justice capital of America” and a “judicial hellhole.” One county with a population of just 9,740 had more than 21,000 plaintiffs. In only seven years, Mississippi experienced more than 50 verdicts of $1 million, 20 verdicts exceeding $9 million and six greater than $100 million. Eight medical malpractice cases produced $61 million in damages, and 12 cases against businesses dealt $893 million in punitive damages alone. In one week alone, 470 doctors were sued. From 1995 to 2003, juries awarded more than $1.8 billion in suits in Mississippi.
I am concerned about the disparate effects of the administration’s new tort reform laws on the minority communities. The first step in attacking this problem is to expose it.
When a so-called remedy hurts the very people it is supposed to help, you know it is time for reform. That is the situation we face with the class-action system today. Fortunately, we have a solution in S. 5, the Class Action Fairness Act, a modest, carefully balanced measure that addresses the despicable abuses of class actions in state courts.
One of the fundamental principles of our legal system is the right of consumers and everyday people to seek compensation if they are wronged.
