Tort Reform

ALEC Corporations' Efforts to Escape Responsibility For Causing Death or Injury The bills on this page represent ALEC corporations’ efforts to escape responsibility for their wrongdoing and to prevent Americans injured or killed by corporate conduct from receiving just compensation. These so-called "tort reform" bills are drafted at American Legislative Exchange Council conventions with input from, and approval by, Big Business, then introduced in state legislatures to erode the rights of working Americans. Politicians are elected to represent the people, not corporations; through ALEC, corporations have both a VOICE and a VOTE on specific state laws. Do you?

READ the "Model Bills" HERE Click here to download a zip file of all "tort reform" bills. To see a full list of bills from this section and download them individually, click here. For descriptions of some of these bills, scroll down or click here. Join the Conversation! Who Is Behind ALEC? No id supplied for Twitter account! Corporations & politicians on ALEC's boards Who heads each ALEC "Task Force" Staff & "experts"

How YOU Can Expose ALEC & Share What You Learn SPREAD THE WORD. Share this information through FACEBOOK, EMAIL, AND TWITTER. Concerned groups and people in every state need this to investigate how ALEC corporations are rewriting laws for their own advantage. EXPOSE ALEC LEGISLATORS. Demand the truth about which politicians in your state are in ALEC. Uncover whether YOUR tax dollars are paying ALEC "dues." Expose politicians who accept “scholarships” from ALEC's corporate-funded coffers for fancy trips. EXPOSE ALEC'S ROLE IN YOUR STATE HOUSE. Read these corporate-backed "model bills" NOW and cross-check them with bills in your state legislature. Ask your local media to report on what you have found and write your local newspaper. SHARE YOUR DISCOVERIES. Tell us what about what you uncovered! Tweet what you learn with the hashtag #ALECExposed or join the "Community Discussion" or email a confidential tip via tipline AT ALECexposed.org. Act today to help your family, friends, and fellow Americans better understand how global corporations are trying to rewrite your rights. Get the Goods on ALEC's Agenda ALEC funding and spending (here) ALEC connections to David and Charles Koch, the oil billionaires (here) Proposals to change the rules for workers, including unions (here) Industry-specific agendas, like oil companies (here) and the health insurance industry (here)

Learn MORE about "Model Bills" that Limit the Liability of Corporations Accused of Injuring or Killing Americans The Center for Media and Democracy has annotated the "model legislation" politicians and corporations voted on, and we will be adding our analysis below and other publications, such as our sister sites, PRWatch and SourceWatch. Please bookmark this page. How are corporations avoiding liability in these bills? The bills corporations and their politician allies VOTED on behind closed doors through ALEC try to change American's rights by: Making it easier for corporations to get a judge to dismiss an injured American's case before it gets to a jury; Making it harder for injured people to use "class action" procedures which strengthen their negotiating power; Making it more difficult to introduce new scientific research in injury cases through expert witnesses; Limiting the liability of corporations by changing the rules for apportioning fault and thus limiting recover; Limiting the ability of Americans to sue for injuries where the cause or effect was not known until much later; Changing the rules about where an injured American can sue and the process for appealing a ruling; Limiting liability for injuries or death to Americans from defective products if a product is approved by the government (even though many regulatory agencies have been captured through the revolving door between government and the industries being regulated, many of the same industries pushing these bills); Limiting the power of Congress to create national rules to protect Americans, no matter their state residence, if injured by defective corporate products distributed nationally; and, among other things, Limiting the power of courts in personal injury cases. Other Helpful Resources Here are links to reports by reporters and advocates that have been challenging the ALEC corporate agenda: (CMD is not affiliated with these organizations. If you would like to be listed as a resource, contact us.) The American Legislative Exchange Council, on the Center for Media and Democracy's SourceWatch.org (wiki) and A CMD Special Report: Who Is the League of American Voters?, by the Center for Media and Democracy's PRWatch.org (March 2011) (PLACEHOLDER) Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America, by the American Association for Justice (May 2010) Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States: The Untold Story Behind the American Legislative Exchange Council, by the Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council (March 2002) ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures, by People for the American Way (May 2011) Wisconsin's Cronon Affair: The Power of a Simple Fact, by The Nation (March 2011) Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, by Common Cause (August 2006) Conservative Corporate Advocacy Group ALEC Behind Voter Disenfranchisement Efforts' by the Center for American Progress and Campus Progress (March 2011) Did You Know about these Bills? Some of this Corporate Agenda Has Already Become Law Wisconsin Governor (and ALEC alum) Scott Walker’s first action upon taking office was to push “tort reform” measures from the ALEC corporate wish list to protect corporations from lawsuits. Wisconsin Act 2, passed on a party line vote and signed by Walker in January 2011, bore a strong resemblance to several “tort reform” bills supported by ALEC corporations. For example, Wisconsin Act 2: Adopts parts of the ALEC "Punitive Damage Standards Act," limiting the ability to hold corporations accountable for outrageous acts of negligence or recklessness causing injury or death. Draws liberally from the ALEC "Product Liability Act," giving corporations free reign to manufacture shoddy products that can wound or maim. A corporation can now escape liability in Wisconsin by showing that the product it manufactured complied with existing regulations, even if the corporation knew the product was dangerous, a standard also reflected in the ALEC "Regulatory Compliance with Liability Act." Draws from elements of the "Comparative Fault Act" and "Joint and Several Liability Act" in changing the standards for apportioning fault in a product liability lawsuit. Extends liability protections to the nursing home industry (which supported him in the election), using ALEC bills such as the "Non-Economic Damages Act," limiting awards in cases involving for long term health care providers to $750,000 (an increase from the ALEC $250,000 cap) or the amount awarded in economic damages. Adopts the ALEC “Reliability in Expert Testimony Standards Act” verbatim, adopting the Daubert standard for the qualifications of people testifying as experts when they give court testimony. After Governor Walker changed the rights of injured Wisconsin residents as ALEC corporations had called for, ALEC publicly applauded Walker's actions. To learn more about this story, click here (PLACEHOLDER) (Have any of these bills been introduced or enacted in YOUR state? If so, please add that information to the ALEC Exposed page on your state by searching for your state's name in the search engine at the top of this page.) Limiting Damages for the Loss of Your Child, Spouse, or Parent One of the corporate-politician proposals of ALEC would limit the ability of a family to recover for emotional damages due to the death or injury of a loved one. (LINK) This type of legislation basically makes working class or poor people's lives--as well as the elderly--worth less to their families because any damages for pain and suffering due to the death of a child, spouse, or parent would be limited to an amount equal to twice their loved one's lost earnings and medical expenses. These kind of corporate provisions try to prevent a jury of YOUR peers from awarding you damages for all you have lost or suffered AFTER a jury finds that your loved one's death was the result of corporate negligence, misconduct, or greed. Is a local legislator who was elected to represent YOU actually protecting the profits of global corporate wrongdoers through such legislation instead of YOU and YOUR FAMILY? ALEC Exposed is a project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). CMD does NOT accept donations from for-profit corporations or government agencies. More information about CMD is available here. You can reach the publisher of ALEC Exposed, CMD's Executive Director, Lisa Graves, via editor AT alecexposed.org. 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