Just watched a Documentary on it for some random reason and was wondering what other's opinions were.
No on Tort reform. People should be legally allow to sue a corporation that has ruined there lives. Tort Reform is designed to make that kind of justice against the law. You would not be allowed to sue.
If anyone, Corporations, Government has caused damage and ruin to ones lives in any form or shape should be held accountable. Therefore, anyone should be able to use the justice sytem to get retribution.
Tort reform usually means limiting the amount someone can be awarded for "punitive damages." It doesn't limit damages for pain and suffering. This stops someone who is injured by someone with deep pockets (a doctor, say) from suing for $1,000 for pain and suffering, and then adding on millions for "punitive damages." Juries are notorious for wanted to punish the rich guy or punish the corporation. Does it hurt the corporation? Nope. They just raise the price of their goods and services and pass it on to their customers (you and me.) You get injured, fine. You should get justly compensated for your injuries, your pain and suffering. But tort reform laws usually limit punitive damages to $250,000. Seems reasonable enough to me. It also generally includes a "loser pays" provision. If you sue, and lose, you have to pay both attorney's fees. This is to stop people from just suing everybody in town hoping to get lucky with a jury. (Believe it or not, there are some people who just go through the phone book looking for companies and corporations to sue, hoping that the company will settle out of court to make the case go away. It's like "Sue Exxon and get free money!")
I used to think lawsuits were rampant and needed to be curtailed somehow. Then I watched the documentary Hot Coffee (http://www.hotcoffeethemovie.com/) and it completely reversed my opinion. I highly recommend everyone watch it to see what the situation really is, and to see the true stories behind the stories you hear like "woman spills hot coffee all over herself and sues mcdonalds"; sounds ridiculous when all you get is the one liner from mainstream media. The devil is in the details, believe me.
These jury awards are I believe, un-taxed. Let Gov. tax these awards up-front. This is a tax I can believe in.
Where are those who constantly complain that corporations should not be considered as people? I believe tort law needs reform, and at the same time I think that the people who run the corporation, not the stock holders and the consumers of their products and/or services, should bear most, if not all of the financial responsibility. If only something could be done about the worlds largest corporation, the U.S. Federal government, where those who run it avoid any and all financial responsibility for their mistakes or harm inflicted on the citizens, leaving the working taxpayers to bear full financial responsibility.
Having worked in the healthcare industry for a while, tort reform is really needed in that sector. It's sticky, because doctors are fucking up all the time- and it's like BrotherHobo said, most of the time the victims don't get paid a lot- the company just charges more. In the case of doctors, a lot of small offices have to take out so much insurance against tort legislation that they have to charge a ton extra to their clients, and people like me, who don't have insurance, get the fallout. Still, I can't help but thinking that if doctors didn't overbook themselves like crazy to make the most money they can, they wouldn't need to pay so much for tort insurance. Kind of a scorpion eating its own tail kind of thing. Money! Feh
there is probably considerable need for some. whatever sort the economic intrests are proposing is most likely and certainly most often, exactly the wrong reforms in the wrong direction, which is the direction of letting them get away with everything short of premeditated murder, and that too, if they can pretend it was an axident.
Looks like we might as well be discussing dark matter in this thread, nearly 74% of those responding seem to have no idea of what the topic is, and the OP question is poorly worded.
Tort reform is a code word for the protecting of business from the very victims of abuse by business. In other words it is designed to hurt the victims. It is another example of what is stinky about America.
Doctors are employers, lawyers are employers. They tend to vote Republican, just to protect their cash-cow. They want to hurt people, without having to be accountable for their actions. What we need is something like what is found in other countries. That is the "People's Advocate" system. A people's advocate is a person who is a state employed lawyer who represents the poor while being paid by the state. Right now in this America, justice for the poor is only a by-product of what is good for the lawyer. You see that in every contingency fee agreement. You get justice, if the lawyer makes enough money. If you have a small case and the lawyer is not interested in it, you have to pay up front. If you don't have any money, you don't get justice. America is really a terrible country when it comes to equal justice.
