02-14-2005, 04:48 AM
Okay, we're fucked. On Friday, the House passed a law that says that class-action lawsuits can only be tried in federal courts, which tend to favor big businesses. What does this mean? It means that the following types of cases will likely fail:
- Reparations lawsuits (i.e. lawsuits wherein descendants of slaves sue the descendants of slaveowners for compensation for their ancestor's suffering)
- Class-action lawsuits against state defense-of-marriage laws
- Class-action lawsuits against major corporations for faulty or unsafe products
The list goes on. The new law will also kill off most trial lawyers, who tend to provide a lot of financial backing for the democratic party. The government says that this law is necessary because it will cut down on so-called "lawsuit abuse", and to quote Bush, "keep America the best place in the world in which to do business." Now, I addressed this earlier in this topic. There were much better ways to cut down on "lawsuit abuse" that didn't require screwing over the common people.
- Reparations lawsuits (i.e. lawsuits wherein descendants of slaves sue the descendants of slaveowners for compensation for their ancestor's suffering)
- Class-action lawsuits against state defense-of-marriage laws
- Class-action lawsuits against major corporations for faulty or unsafe products
The list goes on. The new law will also kill off most trial lawyers, who tend to provide a lot of financial backing for the democratic party. The government says that this law is necessary because it will cut down on so-called "lawsuit abuse", and to quote Bush, "keep America the best place in the world in which to do business." Now, I addressed this earlier in this topic. There were much better ways to cut down on "lawsuit abuse" that didn't require screwing over the common people.