When a person hears the phrase ‘Tort Reform’; the first thing to come to mind is, ‘what the hell is a tort’!? A pastry?
Well put it this way. A ‘tort’, is a bad thing that is not a crime, and not a contract. In other words, “a wrongful act or an infringement of a right (other than under contract) leading to civil legal liability”. (Direct quote from Bing search.
‘Tort Reform’ on the other hand, is not at all to do with Torts. It is to do with stopping you from complaining about them. Shut up, be a good lemming and let the lawyers handle this.
Ah, no.
Wikipedia puts ‘Tort Reform’ this way:
“Tort reform refers to proposed changes in the civil justice system that aim to reduce the ability of victims to bring tort litigation or to reduce damages they can receive. Tort actions are civil common law claims first created in the English commonwealth system as a non-legislative means for compensating wrongs and harm done by one party to another person, property or other protected interests (e.g. physical injury or reputation, under libel and slander laws). Tort reform advocates focus on personal injury common law rules in particular.”
Notice the focus: “reduce the ability of victims to bring tort litigation or to reduce damages they can receive.”
Exactly like the defense lawyers want it to be. Their idea of ‘tort reform’ is cutting off your ability to catch their clients and reduce your ability to do anything about it. They seek to make their jobs easier.
That is exactly the OPPOSITE thing needed to actually bring Tort Reform to reality.
The problem is not that victims complain and that Judges or Juries award damages; it is, that defense lawyers have to fight against civil violations and it would be a lot easier if you couldn’t reclaim much, and you could not even complain much.
So what is the solution to civil litigation? The same as the solution to criminal litigation.
STOP THE LIES.
The law specifically (wonder which defense lawyers got this passed*) exempts TRIALS and court proceedings from the codified requirement that people must tell the truth. Yes, you can lie in court and get away with it. Seriously.
18 U.S. Code §1001. Statements or entries generally, literally makes courts a lie-free zone.
Read (b): “Subsection (a) does not apply to a party to a judicial proceeding, or that party’s counsel, for statements, representations, writings or documents submitted by such party or counsel to a judge or magistrate in that proceeding.”
Stated a different way: Inside the place where American Justice is supposed to take place, you do not have to tell the truth and you do not have to even have to pretend to tell the truth. BY LAW! Notice (a) includes the judicial branch!
So what is subsection (a)?
“(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1)
falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;(2)
makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or(3)
makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not more than 8 years.”
So investigating a crime requires you to tell the truth and you can go to prison if you lie, but when you get to court. No prob. Lie all you want to.
Unless you are under oath.
So the law states it applies to the Judicial branch but then removes anything taking part inside the Judicial branch proceedings. Subsection (c) handles the Executive:
“(c) With respect to any matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, subsection (a) shall apply only to—
(1) administrative matters, including a claim for payment, a matter related to the procurement of property or services, personnel or employment practices, or support services, or a document required by law, rule, or regulation to be submitted to the Congress or any office or officer within the legislative branch; or
(2) any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee, subcommittee, commission or office of the Congress, consistent with applicable rules of the House or Senate.”
No prob. Get to court, you can lie your ass off.
And there is the problem. To solve civil AND criminal litigation make the playing field even. Would it not violate the 5th and 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law for you to be charged with lying to an investigator but when you got to court that lie is used against you but all you have to do is lie again and unless they put you under oath. HOME FREE! Not to mention the prosecutor can lie all they want to. You have to catch them. If you don’t. HOME changes to either bankruptcy or prison.
Yep defense lawyers wrote that law. Here it is directly from the House, YES THIS IS A LINK.
If this rule (law) is not changed there can never be Tort Reform, and defense lawyers will forever lie, cheat and steal their way to your demise. And they know it too. They will keep calling for you to stop filing cases that are ‘frivolous’. They will keep demanding that your being made whole is not relevant to their client’s not being hit too hard for being bad.
(Yes it is possible to get a lawyer in trouble for lying but you have to catch him at it and she then has to do it again. Don’t count on that happening very often. Most lawyers are not personally desperate for their client’s sake.)
NO! How much you can recover should never be capped. If you live in Arizona, defense lawyers pretending to be public servants have created an environment that if you file a medical malpractice law suit BY LAW you are not permitted to ask for a specific amount of recovery. BY LAW! Unless they catch you at it. This state is a disgusting defense attorney’s heaven. The entire professional board system in Arizona is run by the targets. To hell with the victims.
And yes, there are frivolous laws suits. But the determination of frivolous, IS A JUDGE’S CALL.
Victims of other people’s infractions, SHOULD NOT BEAR THE WEIGHT! of doing the defense attorney’s job.
* The featured image in this article is slightly modified. It was intended to show legal protection of corporations, not courts. But it is now, really true.