Making our Courts More Fair
Good laws are only part of the equation. We must also have good courts that uphold and apply the law as written. Not too long ago, Texas courts were among the worst in the nation, attracting junk lawsuits from around the world and exposé stories by 60 Minutes. Personal injury lawyers pumped millions of dollars into judicial campaign coffers and bragged about their ability to win outrageous jury awards in certain Texas courts. Today our courts are much improved, but there is still work to be done.
Good Judges Matter
Judges make decisions that affect many aspects of our lives. Yet our judiciary is the least understood branch of government. Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse is committed to helping voters learn more about statewide and local judicial candidates. While few of us will spend significant amounts of time in the courtroom, we all are affected by the judges elected to our courts. In addition to administering justice for the truly injured, judges can spare us all the cost and consequence of lawsuit abuse by tossing baseless cases. In short, good judges matter.
Judicial Hellholes
Civil courts in the Rio Grande Valley and the Texas Gulf Coast – long considered Judicial Hellholes – are inching out of infamy as the nation’s worst judicial jurisdictions with a slight improvement to “Watch List” status, according to an annual report from the American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF). Despite the move to the “Watch List,” these areas are prone to unpredictable decisions that could easily result in backsliding. In fact, after a Texas judge offered no reason for ordering a retrial after a defendant won a case, a local newspaper explained, “Even when defendants win in Jefferson County, the scales of justice somehow turns them into losers, it seems.” (Source: Editorial, Our Settlement Machine, Southeast Texas Record, July 26, 2008, at http://www.setexasrecord.com/arguments/213909oursettlementmachine)
Encouraging Jury Service
Our justice system doesn’t work without people to serve on a jury. The right to a trial by jury is one of the most important freedoms Americans enjoy. Yet in some parts of Texas, as many as 80 percent of those summoned to report for jury duty simply don’t show up. At Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse we believe jury service is one of the best weapons we have against lawsuit abuse. Not only is jury service a responsibility, it is a privilege we want to encourage all eligible citizens to embrace. By returning an impartial verdict, jurors make sure our courts are used for justice, not greed.
