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Say Whaaaat?? Award to Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions

By Joe Consumer

It has been way too long since our last ?Say Whaaaat?? Award, our own special recognition of those daring soles who say things that practically defy human comprehension.  Today, we are especially thrilled to bestow this prestigious honor to one of ThePopTort?s most, shall we say, confused civil justice opponents ? Senator Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III (R-AL), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

Now, I hope Sen. Sessions is more honored to be receiving this rare prize than one of those dime-a-dozen ?2009 Legislative Achievement Awards? from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for relentless efforts to immunize corporate and professional wrongdoers from liability.  I mean, we can think of boatloads of Congresspeople who might qualify for that.  

But it take a real hypocrite to get that Chamber award, and then turn around and ?extoll the virtues of litigation? just because the catastrophic negligence (which it denies) of some company (i.e. BP) is about to destroy the livelihoods of thousands of voters in his state.  Wrote Dana Milbank in the Washington Post, quoting Sessions, ??They're not limited in liability on damage, so if you've suffered a damage, they are the responsible party,? said Sessions, sounding very much like the trial lawyers he usually maligns.?

Now, we?re still a little unsure whether Sen. Sessions? new-found commitment to his constituents? legal rights will hold for very long, so here a few issues we?d like to explore further with him:

1. Will he back legislation just introduced by New Jersey Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg, and Florida Senator Bill Nelson, called the ?Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act,? that would correct a terrible law passed a few years ago and increase the liability cap for offshore oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion?   And, ?in addition to forcing oil-spillers to cover the costs of economic recovery, the legislation would require companies like BP to spend future revenues on cleanup and containment costs that exceed the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund's $1.6 billion. It would also eliminate the $1 billion cap on individual claims against the fund and allow community responders to access the fund for ?preparation and mitigation up front.??  The Associated Press wrote:

A law passed in response to the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska makes BP responsible for cleanup costs. But the law sets a $75 million limit on other kinds of damages.

Kenneth Baer, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, also noted that if BP were found to have acted negligently in the spill or to have violated federal laws, the damages cap under the Oil Pollution Act would be lifted.

Baer said BP could also be held liable under additional federal or state laws.

"You can be sure that BP will be held accountable to the full extent of the law," he said.

Nevertheless, the existence of the liability cap might complicate Obama's commitments to make BP pay for numerous costs anticipated in the Gulf such as shortened fishing seasons and lost tourism. It is not clear how high those costs could rise.

Since BP is denying the accident was its fault ("In terms of the responsibility, I want to be clear, this was not our accident ...") and will no doubt fight falling within these exceptions, passage of this law seems all the more crucial. 

2. Will Sen. Sessions join Alabama?s Attorney General in telling BP to ?stop circulating settlement agreements among south Alabamians? that ?essentially require that people give up the right to sue in exchange for payment of up to $5,000? and encourage people ?seek appropriate counsel to make sure their rights are protected.?

3. And the big hypothetical ? what if this calamity happened somewhere else and not in Sen. Session?s backyard?  My guess?  We?d be looking for another awardee!

Full post as published by ThePopTort on May 04, 2010 (boomark / email).