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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2005 Contact: Paul Lyon, Executive Director, (570) 574-3089 CJA Decries
Senate Vote on Joint & Several Liability,
KINGSTON, PA (December 9, 2005) – The Committee
for Justice for All today urged members of the Pa. House of
Representatives to vote down an anti-consumer bill that would leave
victims of negligence “out in the cold.”
Next week, the House is expected to consider its
own version of the so-called “Fair Share Act,” which was
approved earlier this week by the Senate. The bill provides that any
defendant in a lawsuit found to be less than 60 percent liable only
has to pay their percentage share of damages, as determined by a
jury.
“This draconian pro-business, anti-consumer
legislation adds insult to injury by unfairly shifting the burden of
compensation away from negligent parties and onto the backs of
injured victims,” said Paul Lyon, Executive Director of The
Committee for Justice for All. “It means that many people injured
by someone’s else’s negligence will be left out in the cold
because they won’t be able to collect 100 percent of the damages
justly awarded them by a jury of their peers.”
The doctrine of joint and several liability,
which has been part of the common law for centuries, is intended to
make sure that victims injured by someone else’s negligence are
fully compensated in a timely fashion. It holds that any party found
to be negligent in a lawsuit can be held responsible for paying 100
percent of the damages.
“The law as it exists today says, 'Compensate
victims first, then let the negligent parties duke it out over who
pays what.' It puts the
interests of the injured party first,” said Lyon. “The
deceptively named ‘Fair Share Act’ is only fair to the people
being sued, not the people injured through no fault of their own. It
turns fairness on its head.”
Legislative restrictions on joint and several
liability are part of a longstanding pro-business agenda to
undermine the role of the civil justice system as a regulator of
reckless corporate behavior. The Pennsylvania bill is being pushed
by Rep. Mike Turzai, Senator Jake Corman and other pro-business
politicians in the House and Senate.
“In the final analysis, this bill would result
in a greater burden on injured victims and taxpayers, and allow big
corporations to walk away scot-free,” said Lyon. “If victims of
negligence cannot be made whole by seeking redress through the
courts, the burden ultimately will be shouldered by society, as
injured people and their families are forced to seek public
assistance. Once again, the rich and powerful leave the rest of us
holding the bag.”
Lyon urged citizens to contact their state
legislators and ask them to oppose the so-called “Fair Share
Act.”
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