Consumer Law

In Saying 'Bye to Bush, Tort "Reform" Gets A Nod

By Kia Franklin

Civil justice blogs aren't the only ones that "get it" when it comes to the failed rhetoric of tort "reform," and how this has affected far more than just the plaintiff's bar. Everyone around the web is reflecting on the inauguration--both as a celebration of the incoming pres and as a collective national hallelujah over the end of an era that has been marked by assault after assault on access to the courts, as well as other cherished rights and values. From OurFuture Blog:

On January 15, George W. Bush presented his valedictory, desperately seeking thanks and congratulations. So here goes: Thanks and congratulations, W, for showing the world that today?s conservatism is an abject failure...There are probably a hundred examples where Bush conservatism failed, but let?s stick with the top ten.

... 9. Utter refusal to protect the health, safety, and legal rights of Americans. Following the conservative business-is-always-right philosophy, Bush dismantled the agencies and rules designed to protect consumers from unscrupulous businesses, workers from reckless employers, and small companies from anti-competitive large companies. If conservatives didn?t like a federal law, they blocked, hindered, or defunded agency enforcement.

I point this out to remind those tort "reformers" who think that plaintiffs lawyers are the only ones they have to contend with, that the a growing number of activists engaged in social justice struggles, bloggers, and ordinary citizens who just care about what's going on in the world, are beginning to make the link between tort "reform" and other failed philosophies that have done nothing but enrich the very privileged and powerful. And they're beginning to demand some changes.

Full post as published by TortDeform.com on January 20, 2009 (boomark / email).