Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Accidental tort reform
News item:
This will be the best thing ever to happen to California.
All courts slowed down = Prosecutors will be unable to indulge their sadistic fetishes, unable to mount monstrously false Stalinist show trials against totally innocent people. They will be forced, grudgingly and reluctantly, to work only on real cases involving real crime. With luck some of them will find this drab chore so sexually frustrating that they will quit.
Divorce and custody proceedings impossible = More families will choose to stay together and find ways to make marriage work.
Civil lawsuits delayed many years = No way for plaintiffs to force settlements. When settlements happen through arbitration, they will have considerably more sense and fairness. Medical malpractice costs will drop significantly, pressure on other business will be eased.
I hope somebody like Walter Olson decides to keep track of this. Despite its worst and most evil intentions, Calif has been forced to enact the biggest and best tort reform project in American history, and the results need to be tabulated. ¶ 7:01 PM
The crisis results from the financially troubled state's decision to slash $393 million from state trial courts in the budget this year. The state also has been closing all California courthouses on the third Wednesday of every month, with employees unpaid for those days.
"It's unprecedented," said McCoy. "Even during the Great Depression we did not close down court operations. We kept the courts open."
What has emerged is a hobbled court system that is struggling to serve the public.
Custody hearings, divorce proceedings, small-claims disputes, juvenile dependency matters and civil lawsuits have been delayed amid the courtroom shutdowns in Los Angeles. Drivers who choose to fight traffic tickets now have to wait up to nine months to get a trial started.
Complex civil lawsuits involving business affairs could be stalled as long as four years, McCoy said, with a ripple effect in the business community.
This will be the best thing ever to happen to California.
All courts slowed down = Prosecutors will be unable to indulge their sadistic fetishes, unable to mount monstrously false Stalinist show trials against totally innocent people. They will be forced, grudgingly and reluctantly, to work only on real cases involving real crime. With luck some of them will find this drab chore so sexually frustrating that they will quit.
Divorce and custody proceedings impossible = More families will choose to stay together and find ways to make marriage work.
Civil lawsuits delayed many years = No way for plaintiffs to force settlements. When settlements happen through arbitration, they will have considerably more sense and fairness. Medical malpractice costs will drop significantly, pressure on other business will be eased.
I hope somebody like Walter Olson decides to keep track of this. Despite its worst and most evil intentions, Calif has been forced to enact the biggest and best tort reform project in American history, and the results need to be tabulated. ¶ 7:01 PM
