POLITICS: Bush Pushes to Limit Class-Action Suits, page 1
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Topic started on 10-2-2005 @ 10:01 PM by soficrow
Bush is pressuring Congress to quickly pass a bill to shift class-action claims from state to federal courts, which are seen as friendlier to business. Called the "Class Action Fairness Act," the bill has been denounced by consumer groups including the AARP, environmental groups, labor and civil-rights groups, including the AFL-CIO and the NAACP, and a number of Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. Also fighting the measure are a coalition of 15 attorneys general, and state and federal judges. The bill is expected to pass.







President Bush pressured Congress on Wednesday to act swiftly to pass legislation restricting class-action lawsuits, arguing that "frivolous" claims harmed economic prosperity.

On Capitol Hill, senators debated and defeated a number of suggested amendments to the bill, known as the Class Action Fairness Act. The measure would move a significant number of consumer-protection suits and other class actions from state to federal courts, which are considered friendlier to business.

The bill, which came close to passing Congress last year, is on a fast track for Senate approval by the end of the week.

Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, strongly support the class-action legislation, which they claim will help prevent settlements in which lawyers collect huge fees while consumers get little or nothing.

Opponents say the bill would make it harder for ordinary citizens with limited resources to take on corporations with unfair business practices.

"In its current form, this bill is just another example of the administration's misguided priorities - putting the interests of big companies ahead of America's working families," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who offered an amendment, which was defeated, that would have allowed civil rights and labor lawsuits to stay in state court.

latimes
...

...critics claim the bill would make it too difficult for wronged citizens to have their day in court and see justice meted out. On Monday, attorneys general of 15 states sent a letter to the Senate leadership arguing that the bill as it stands would "result in far greater harm than good."

"If you're a community that's suffering from groundwater contamination or an oil spill or a tank explosion or air contamination from nearby factory farms, you may have to wait for years to even get your case heard, much less be given a fair chance from an unbiased judge to have your injuries redressed."

Mulhern argues that the Bush administration is rigging the judicial system so it's harder for citizens to hold corporate culprits accountable on the full gamut of civil concerns - not just environment and public health, but also consumer protection, civil rights, and labor issues. "It's that sweeping," she said.

Howls of protest are being heard from environmental activists, labor and civil-rights groups, including the AFL-CIO and the NAACP, and a number of Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, including Sen. Richard Durbin (Ill.), who said during a hearing on the bill last week, "This isn't the Class Action Fairness Act - this is the Class Action Moratorium Act."

Class Action Moratorium




Please visit the link provided for the complete story.


This bill takes legal power away from states, gives it to the federal courts, and makes federal big government bigger.




The National Conference of State Legislatures said the proposed civil justice reform "undermines our system of federalism, disrespects our state court system, and ... sends a disturbing message to the American people" that state courts cannot be trusted.

For some months, a coalition of 13 attorneys general, including New York's Eliot Spitzer, has been hammering away against the move as unfair. Also fighting the measure are state and federal judges, and a host of consumer groups, including the AARP.

A Serious Misnomer: The Class Action Fairness Act




The so-called "Class Action Fairness Act" passed the Senate today, and now is going back to Congress. Bush has asked Conress to move it through quickly.

At one time, Republicans valued the autonomy of individual states and fought against the federal government usurping state powers. No longer. The Republican party has changed. Now it supports big government and international corporations instead of freedom for ordinary people.


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[edit on 10-2-2005 by soficrow]


reply posted on 10-2-2005 @ 11:05 PM by WyrdeOne
I'm not against class action lawsuits in general, but they should be limited to $100 billion NET per plaintiff, after the $9.50/hr the lawyers deserve. I think that's fair considering products and byproducts of corporate America kill more people every year than terrorism does..by a factor of ???? The figure is enormous, and entirely unknowable until money and the influence of powerful people are removed from our medical insitution and product safety watchdogs. The list of their crimes is long and I won't go into it, the victims are precious to us and I will mention them because sometimes we forget. Our soil, our air, our children, our sacred institutions and ideals. The powerful junkies who rule our land have defiled just about everything that made it great. Even our economy, the last bastion of the capitalist ego, is flying third class and eyeing the escape hatch at 50,000 feet.

There is a tide coming. It will sweep away all that was built in error, or it will lap harmlessly against the strong walls of a new, responsible society that cherishes logic and fairness. I think it's pretty much up to each and every one of us to be a part of that change, one way or another. This country MUST change, because in its current state, it is unsustainable. Maybe it was ever since the foundation was poured, so to speak. I don't know. What I do know; this country was rich in resources, stocked with game, had clean water, and arrable soil as far as the eye could see in every direction. Look around you. Do you want to live in hell or heaven?


reply posted on 12-2-2005 @ 11:32 PM by soficrow
Originally posted by JoeDoaks
Gimme more- more

I still don't get the prion thing.

I'm slow, help me out.



Oh shoot! Don't ask me hard questions at the end of the day!

For more info on prions, go to:

Mad Cow Madness


...after you read that and have a chance to think about it, you will see that this so-called "Class Action Fairness Act" will work to protect international drug and chemical manufacturers from liability lawsuits - because they created prions and released them into our environment. ...That's how they got into our food and water - and why so many people are sick.

...Of course, that's not the whole story - but it's enough for now.



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[edit on 13-2-2005 by soficrow]
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