Kia Franklin

Oops is right! Tort Deform Hypocrisy at its Finest/Worst

A recent blog by Ted Frank provides another example of the supremely disingenuous words and motives--which Justinian Lane pointed out recently--of a disingenuous "movement." The pro-deformers are at it again. Frank writes:

Perhaps one reason trial lawyers so frequently accuse reformers of manufacturing popular outrage is because such astroturfing is a common trial-lawyer tactic…

Wow, I’m thinking, this sounds juicy. So, I read on, and what’s the big evil “trial lawyer conspiracy"? A letter writing campaign. (A letter writing campaign!?! Not so juicy after all.) Frank describes the letters as “written at the behest of” the AAJ and “criticizing the Bush administration officials who dare to stand up to....attempted extortion.” According to Mr. Frank, it is "attempted extortion" to hold corporate financial advisors responsible for their role in corporate defrauding of investors. I suppose next I'll be told to believe that the Bush administration, with all of its tort reform ties, was not at all influenced by these corporate friendships. Okay. Well, the Supreme Corp. may very well agree with that, but I smell a rat.

But, back to Frank's complaint: What if tort "reformers" are accused so frequently because the accusation is true? I wonder why Frank forgot to mention that tort deformers have been doing the super-sized, super-funded, and super-secret version of this “manufacturing” for decades now, all on big businesses' dime (See here and here). But tort "reformers" did not waste their time on any small-scale, letter-writing campaigns. No, they helped fund state-level front groups (CALAs) to dispense deform-propaganda on bus and billboard ads; provided paid "experts" for news reporting on lawsuits; and generated skewed "polls" about Americans' perceptions about the civil justice system (Read more).

A Public Citizen and Center for Justice and Democracy study shows that:

Since 1991, "tort reform" advocates have set up dozens of tax-exempt groups in at least 18 states (currently there are 27 active groups) to plant their "lawsuit abuse" message in the media and the public consciousness, and to influence legislation, the judiciary and jurors. These groups claim to speak for average Americans and represent themselves as grassroots citizens groups determined to protect consumer interests. But their tax filings and funding sources indicate that they actually represent major corporations and industries seeking to escape liability for the harm they cause consumers -- whether it be from defective products, medical malpractice, securities scams, insurance fraud, employment discrimination or environmental pollution. These organizations hide their pro-business agenda behind consumer-friendly names like Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, Stop Lawsuit Abuse, Lawsuit Abuse Watch, and People for a FAIR Legal System.

So, let’s see if we can get this straight: Decades of disseminating propaganda, un-substantiated claims of a lawsuit crisis, and other distortions conveniently tailored to the interests of corporate entities, does not amount to “manufacturing public outrage.” But sharing factual information and then encouraging citizens to take action based upon their independent judgment about that information, does.

Tort "reformers" seem to have a problem with public expression of views, except when it is done from behind the curtain, or when it helps big business, or both. The stealthy, pseudo-“independent” tactics of tort “reformers” have been exposed time and time again, making their bold accusations against civil justice advocates' letter writing campaign laughable in light of their mammoth misdeeds.

But, since we’ve been given the opportunity, let’s take pause and ask: why are deformers making such a big fuss over a little letter writing campaign? Because its success, marked by genuine public support rather than propaganda and political influence, is threatening. It helped expose another simple truth about big tort-deform lies, reminding us that most Americans do not want to limit their rights so that businesses can keep their profits high, and be protected from having to pay from the harm they cause. (Read more). It reminds us that because of tort lawsuits, harmful yet profitable products have been taken off the market, and that without tort lawsuits, we'd have to rely on government regulation to do that. Did someone say Vioxx?

But tort deformers' attack on civil justice efforts, hypocritical as it is, is nonetheless exciting. It means that the American public may be on the verge of effectively expressing its outrage at the quiet success of corporate “just us” justice.

You can visit the website of People Over Profits, the organization that encouraged the letter writing campaign, to learn more about their efforts.

Posted by Kia Franklin at June 27, 2007 02:16 PM