Tort Reform

ALEC's Efforts to Limit the Rights and Remedies of Americans Injured by Corporations Through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, both global corporations and politicians actually VOTED FOR changing laws to limit the rights and remedies of Americans injured by corporations. These bills affect the substantive and procedural rights of an injured person, or that person's family, who files a complaint alleging that a corporation or other defendant is liable for causing injury or death. Below, you will find the "model" bills VOTED on by corporate-politician "task forces" to limit corporations' liability for injuries they may cause. We also provide links on global corporations involved in ALEC's "task" of rewriting almost every aspect of these "tort" or "personal injury" rules. We also note companies that have served in ALEC's "leadership" and contributed undisclosed sums to access politicians to advance their agenda. ALEC describes its "reforms" as promoting "civil justice." But, in general, these proposed legal changes -- VOTED on by corporations and politicians -- would obstruct Americans harmed by corporate negligence from obtaining "justice" by making it more difficult to get jury verdicts for injury or death. According to documents the Center for Media and Democracy has helped reveal, corporations had "both a VOICE and a VOTE" in the specific changes to the law described below. Did you? Of course you didn't, because you didn't buy a seat at the ALEC corporate-politician table by paying it more than you could give a politician. What can you do about it? A lot of things. You can start by sharing the link to this article right now.

Bills to Change Americans' Legal Rights that ALEC Corporations VOTED For Corporate-Politician Bills Here are the bills the Center for Media and Democracy has analyzed that corporations on ALEC's "Civil Justice Task Force" VOTED for. (add file links here) Summary of ALEC's Effort to Rewrite Americans' Personal Injury Rights The bills VOTED on by corporations and their politician allies through ALEC try to change the law by: Making it easier for corporations to get a judge to dismiss an injured American's case before it gets to a jury; Making it harder for injured people to use "class action" rules to strengthen injured Americans' negotiating power and cut costs; Making it more difficult to introduce new scientific research in injury cases through expert witnesses; Limiting the liability of corporations by changing the rules about apportioning who is at fault; Limiting the ability of Americans to sue for injuries where the cause or effect was not known until later; and Changing the rules about where an injured American can sue and the process for appealing a ruling; ALEC corporations and politicians also VOTED to change the legal rules by: Limiting liability for injuries or death to Americans from corporate products if a product is approved by the government (many regulatory agencies have been captured through the revolving door between government and the industries being regulated); Limiting the power of Congress to create national rules to protect Americans, no matter their state residence, if injured by defective corporate products distributed nationally; and, among other things, Limiting the power of courts to issue certain kinds of rulings in personal injury cases; ALEC also advanced the agenda for particularly industries through its tort "reform" legislation. For example, its corporate-politician groups VOTED for: Limiting litigation over cancer and other deadly diseases caused by exposure to asbestos; Limiting the power of state Attorneys General to protect dying Americans in tobacco litigation and other cases; and Limiting the liability of health insurance companies and doctors by changing the rules for suing for medical malpractice, when a doctor's negligence causes injury or death, and changing the rules for injured Americans who have health insurance through an HMO. The role of these three industries -- the asbestos industry, Big Tobacco, and the health care industry -- are addressed in more detail here (link), here (link), and here (link), respectively. ALEC also sought to change personal injury law for people injured on the job. Its "model" legislation to change the rules in workers compensation cases is discussed in the article about its efforts to limit or eliminate workers' rights (including the right to unionize), which is discussed here (link). Did You Know? One of the corporate-politician approved bills via ALEC would limit the ability of a family to recover for emotional damages due to the death or injury of a loved one. This type of legislation basically makes working class or poor people's lives worth less to their families since they would be limited primarily to recovering the cost of lost earnings and medical care and not able to recover for the emotional damages caused by a traumatic injury or loss. These kind of provisions seek to prevent a jury of your peers from awarding you damages for all you have lost or suffered as a result of corporate negligence, malfeasance, or greed. Is a politician elected to represent and protect you actually protecting corporate profits through such legislation? In addition to limiting the rights of people injured by corporations, under the guise of limiting "frivolous" litigation one of the proposed bills would make it harder for you to obtain any compensation from a company whose negligence killed your family pet. In 2009, Americans learned that many U.S. pet food companies had shipped the production of food for their four-legged companions overseas and that Chinese contractors had contaminated the pet food with melamine in order to increase profit margins, resulting in the death and serious injuries of numerous dogs and cats in the U.S. ALEC's corporate-politician bills would make it very difficult for a person to recover any damages for the loss of their beloved pet due to negligence in safely manufacturing pet food. Ways You Can Help ALEC Exposed Titles of "Model" Bills to Check for in Your State You can help your fellow Americans understand ALEC's corporate-politician agenda by creating or filling out articles on which of these bills was introduced in your state's legislature and by which politicians. You can also help by documenting the corporations that donated to those politicians as well as the corporate- or CEO-funded "non-profit" groups that run so-called "issue" ads in your state during elections to support those politicians. Were any of the bills in this link introduced in your state legislature to repeal the rights of people injured in your state? Link to list of bills goes here. Link to states goes here. Helpful Information on the Tort "Reform" Agenda link Add information about corporate ghostwriting here. Related ALEC Exposed Articles Add links to workers compensation and industry loopholes here Here are some of the other substantive issues VOTED on by corporations via ALEC that affect the rights of injured people: our article on workers comp changes is linked here, our article on other corporate loopholes goes here.

ALEC Corporations Involved in Limiting the Rights of Injured Americans Corporations that VOTED FOR Bills Through ALEC's "Civil Justice Task Force" The following corporations are known to have been on ALEC's "Civil Justice Task Force" that VOTED FOR the changes to personal injury laws. (This list is incomplete; if you know of additional corporations that have been involved in this through ALEC, please add that information to this section.) ALEC Connections to David and Charles Koch and Koch Industries Short summary of Koch connections and links go here. Did you know Koch Industries chaired ALEC's "Private Enterprise Board?" ALEC "Alum" Governor Scott Walker Is Pushing ALEC's Corporate-Politician Agenda on Tort "Reform" Short summary of 2011 legislation and links go here. Spotlight on Tobacco Lawyer Victor Schwartz and the ALEC Agenda Short summary and links go here. In 2011 (and for an unknown by long period), Victor Schwartz has been actively pushing his corporate agenda and the corporate agenda of his clients through ALEC. Who is Victor Schwartz? Do You Know Which Corporations Have Served as Leaders of ALEC? Links to corporations that have sat on ALEC's "Private Enterprise Board" go here. Corporate Politicians on ALEC's "Civil Justice Task Force" Here Is a List of Politicians Who Served on the "Civil Justice Task Force" This list is incomplete. (If you know of other politicians who have served on this ALEC Task Force, please add that information.) Here Is a List of Politicians Who Have Introduced or Supported Bills from the "Civil Justice Task Force" This list is incomplete. (If you know of other politicians who have served on this ALEC Task Force, please add that information.) Is This Agenda Really "Conservative?" A Corporate Agenda Masquerading as "Conservative" You can share the link to this page on Facebook, Twitter, or via email to help your family and friends better understand how global corporations are working to rewrite your rights under the guise of supposed "conservative" ideals. There is nothing genuinely conservative about re-writing long-settled laws that were created to compensate ordinary people who are injured by the negligence of corporations or other defendants or by greed-based disregard for the safety of consumers. There is nothing in the founding principles of our nation that justifies elected officials in our democracy serving as handmaidens to global corporations rather than serving the citizens who elected them to "establish justice" and "promote the general welfare" of We the People, not the corporations.

What's Wrong with Rewriting the Law to Help Corporations that Injure Americans?? Here's what people are saying about ALEC's agenda Add select quotes here or swap in different section. Placeholder text: You can also share the link to this page on Facebook, Twitter, or via email to help your family and friends better understand how global corporations are working to rewrite your rights under the guise of supposed "conservative" ideals. There is nothing genuinely conservative about re-writing long-settled laws that were created to compensate ordinary people who are injured by the negligence of corporations or other defendants or by greed-based disregard for the safety of consumers. There is nothing in the founding principles of our nation that justifies elected officials in our democracy serving as handmaidens to global corporations rather than serving the citizens who elected them to "establish justice" and "promote the general welfare" of We the People, not the corporations.

ALEC Exposed is a project of the Center for Media and Democracy. You can contact the publisher of ALEC Exposed, CMD's Executive Director, Lisa Graves, via editor AT prwatch.org.

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