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Blocking the Courthouse Door: How the Republican Party and Its Corporate Allies Are Taking Away Your Right to Sue (Hardcover)
By Stephanie Mencimer
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BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
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From an online reviewer:

"Stephanie Mencimer brings several things to light:

1) A civil trial by jury to redress wrongs is a constitutional right that is being eroded through tort reform, which now protects business more than the consumer or citizen.

2) Lawsuits are almost always the only way that corporate negligence ever receives public attention.

3) The companies that are being sued are the ones that require the most oversight, get the least, and are the most deserving of being sued.

4) Many of these corporations such as tobacco, asbestos, drug and auto companies are pouring billions of dollars into legislation that will cap awards, limit product liabillity, and limit lawyer fees making it nearly impossible for citizens to go to trial for their negligence or crimes.

5) Most of the outrageous cases we hear about never really existed e.g. a 400 lb. man who sued a ladder company when it fell apart, or the man who supposedly tried to trim his hedges with his lawn mower. All made up!

6) Lawsuits have actually decreased over the years as well as awards.

7) This is the real topper. The tort reform campaign has been hugely successful in getting Americans to vote in favor of legislation that will restrict or end their rights if criminal or negligent executives harm them. This massive lobbying effort has gotten mostly everyone to believe that it will not affect their day in court, when in fact they are voting their own rights away.

8) Guess which politician is one of the most industry and tort reform friendly. I won't say his name, but he's President of the United States.

9) There's always been a check on frivolous lawsuits. It's called a judge.

Thanks to lawsuits, we can now enjoy a company's coffee at 140-150 degrees. (After all, you deserve a break today!) We learned that certain drugs were dangerous, and that we now have auto recalls. Do you think any of these changes would have happened had there been limited liability?

There's one other very profound observation found in this book. How is it we can trust many un- or ill-informed Americans to vote in national and local elections, but want to restrict twelve fairly well-informed Americans from voting in a jury box?

Don't we trust our fellow Americans?

Please read this book."
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Other Reviews | back to top

An online reviewer notes:

"Most of us have heard of Stella Liebeck, the 79-year old lady who put a hot cup of McDonald's coffee on her lap, which spilled over and caused her third degree burns. If many respected publications did not make sure we knew, than John Stossel surely did. We "learned" that she was awarded $2.9 million. According to the author Stephanie Mencimer, those who favor "tort reform" (limiting personal injury and suffering) made sure we knew, but didn't make sure that we knew the whole story. The author elaborates.

It seems this retired retail sales clerk and life-long republican had never sued anyone a day in her life. Having stopped for coffee with her grandson, she attempted to negotiate the cream or sugar to the coffee between her legs as her grandson's car lacked cup holders. It spilled and she was scolded in her groin and thighs.

A few years and several operations later she appeals to McDonalds asking them if they could help her pay the $20,000 in medical expenses. Mickey D blew her off with a check for $800. That's when she retained a lawyer who offered to settle at $300,000, but McDonalds wouldn't touch it with a straw. They wanted to be taken to court.

That's when the jury, skeptical of Liebeck's claim at first, heard that McDonald's had more than 900 complaints of their coffee being too hot, that their executives knew that their coffee was served at 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, that Mickey D's Big Cheeses knew all along such temperatures could burn flesh off bone in seven seconds, and that a Cincinnati burn center had treated numerous people for coffee burns from McD.

The outraged jury awarded her $160,000 for pain and suffering and $2.7 million in punitive damages, which the judge, although sympathetic, knocked down to $486,000. Liebeck has since settled for less. (Had she received the 2.9, it would have cost the company one day of coffee sales.)

That's the part of this story we don't hear about. And this isn't even the author's icebreaker!"
Details | back to top

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Free Press (December 5, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743277007
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