[net-gold] UNITED STATES: POLITICS: POLITICAL PARTIES: REPUBLICAN PARTY, TEA PARTY : INDUSTRIES: PETROLEUM INDUSTRY : POLITICS : POLITICS: PRESSURE GROUPS: ALEC : LAW: LEGISLATION: ALEC Targets Laws Holding Corporations Accountable
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Net-Gold -- Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Net-Gold <Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K-12ADMINLIFE <K12ADMIN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K12AdminLIFE <K12AdminLIFE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, MediaMentor <mediamentor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Platinum <net-platinum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Sean Grigsby <myarchives1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <NetGold_general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple Gold Discussion Group <TEMPLE-GOLD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple University Net-Gold Archive <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Health Lists -- Health Diet Fitness Recreation Sports Tourism <healthrecsport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Health Diet Fitness Recreation Sports <healthrecsport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, HEALTH-RECREATION-SPORTS-TOURISM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 10 May 2012 07:56:00 -0400 (EDT)
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UNITED STATES: POLITICS: POLITICAL PARTIES: REPUBLICAN PARTY, TEA PARTY :
INDUSTRIES: PETROLEUM INDUSTRY :
POLITICS :
POLITICS: PRESSURE GROUPS: ALEC :
LAW: LEGISLATION:
ALEC Targets Laws Holding Corporations Accountable
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ALEC Targets Laws Holding Corporations Accountable
Media Matters for America
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201205090002
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Although the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has been in the
spotlight in recent weeks for promoting legislation similar to the Florida
"Kill at Will" law at issue in the Trayvon Martin case, for decades the
organization has been quietly "ghostwriting the law" to the benefit of its
big business funders and the detriment of consumers, investors and victims
of corporate wrongdoing. Increased attention on the shadowy organization
is revealing that ALEC's now-notorious and since-disbanded foray into gun
rights and voter suppression was a tangent from a massive, concerted
campaign to set aside laws that hold corporations accountable when they
pollute the environment, sell dangerous products or defraud consumers. All
the more effective for its stealthy nature, ALEC's war on corporate
accountability has received only a fraction of the scrutiny the media has
focused on the Kill at Will controversy.
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snip
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ALEC shapes state law by drafting and promoting "model legislation," and
the Civil Justice Task Force actively engages in this effort, as
illustrated by two documents. The first, recently brought to light by the
public interest organization Common Cause, is a spreadsheet titled "ALEC
State Tracking: Good Legal Reform Bills." The spreadsheet tracks 160
pieces of legislation relating to "tort reform" from 38 states in great
detail. Among the categories of information collected in the spreadsheet
are the sponsor of each bill, his or her political party; the title of the
bill, the related ALEC model bill, any hearings held on the bill and its
status. Thus, when the Civil Justice Task Force took this snapshot in
2011, 160 pieces of legislation, each of them inspired by an ALEC model
bill, had been introduced in the state legislatures of 76 percent of the
states. The "Good Legal Reform Bills" document is proof of the sweeping
scope and sophisticated nature of ALEC's campaign to limit corporate
accountability.
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A second document gets at the equally ambitious substance of the campaign.
Titled The State Legislator's Guide: Tort Reform Boot Camp, the 44-page
document sets out 13 pieces of model legislation, along with "talking
points" in support of each provision; tips on "gauging your opposition;"
and "steps in the right direction" that a legislator might pursue if
political or legal barriers prevent full adoption of the proposal. The
document is "tort reform" in a box, equipping corporate-friendly
legislators to introduce, promote and enact the Civil Justice Task Force's
agenda. The effectiveness of ALEC's techniques, as represented by Tort
Reform Boot Camp, is illustrated by the organization's claim that between
1999 and 2011 43 states "enacted legislation based on ALEC Civil Justice
Task Force legislation."
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Much of the legislation outlined in Tort Reform Boot Camp deals with
important but highly technical changes to the mechanics of the litigation
process such as rules on where cases can be tried and how interest on
judgments should be calculated. But one set of proposals gets at the heart
of ALEC's campaign to limit corporate accountability for wrongdoing: caps
on damages. Economic damages compensate for direct, measurable monetary
loss (for example, doctors' bills resulting from a physical injury).
Non-economic damages compensate for more subjective harms (for example,
disfigurement or paralysis following an injury). ALEC's Non-Economic
Damages Awards Act caps these damages at $250,000.
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Damage caps are explicitly about limiting corporate accountability for
wrongdoing. They have nothing to do with "frivolous lawsuits," because
they only apply in cases where a judge and jury have determined that a
case has merit, and that the victim has suffered serious harm. By
establishing a low, one-size-fits all limit on damages from even
horrendous injuries including permanent disability, disfigurement,
blindness, loss of a limb and paralysis, damage caps shift the
consequences of wrongdoing from perpetrators to victims, helping "ALEC
corporations escape responsibility for wrongdoing."
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The complete article may be read at the URL above.
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Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne@xxxxxxxxxx
http://workface.com/e/daviddillard
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- » [net-gold] UNITED STATES: POLITICS: POLITICAL PARTIES: REPUBLICAN PARTY, TEA PARTY : INDUSTRIES: PETROLEUM INDUSTRY : POLITICS : POLITICS: PRESSURE GROUPS: ALEC : LAW: LEGISLATION: ALEC Targets Laws Holding Corporations Accountable - David P. Dillard
