On December
8, a coalition representing Florida's consumers, environmentalists,
children, seniors and attorneys filed a constitutional challenge
against the state's new pro-business lawsuit limits, stating that
the law unfairly limits public access to the courts, removes certain
jury protections, violates separation of powers and equal protection,
and discriminates against minorities and the elderly.
AAJ's Legal
Affairs Department, under the lead of Senior Director Robert S.
Peck, is co-counsel with Florida attorneys W.C. Gentry, Wayne
Hogan and Joel Perwin on challenging the Florida law, and hopes
this challenge will follow the recent successful challenges to
tort "reform" laws in Ohio, Illinois,
Indiana, and Oregon.
"[T]he courts
have found that the power over the court resides in the courts
themselves," said Mr. Peck.
"These powerful
interest groups bought this bad legislation and sold out Floridians
and their constitutionally guaranteed rights," said Charlie Roberts,
spokesman for the Coalition for Family Safety, a consumer group
which is part of the lawsuit. His group is just one of 11 in the
People First coalition suing Florida and Governor Jeb Bush in
Circuit Court, the first stop for a case likely to wind up in
the Florida Supreme Court.
Other groups
in the coalition include the Florida League of Conservation Voters,
AFL-CIO, Association of Flight Attendants, DES Action USA, NAACP,
National Organization for Women, Children's Advocacy Foundation
and the Florida State Council for Senior Citizens.
Among the
claims The People First coalition made in the suit:
The law
violates the right to trial by jury because it limits the authority
of the jury by dictating how much a jury can award a plaintiff.
The law
violates the right to equal protection because different classes
of people are treated differently. For example, an injured corporate
executive could recover enough from economic losses (e.g., lost
salary) to pay his long-term medical bills in spite of the caps
on other damages, while an injured bus driver, who earns far
less over a lifetime, could not.
The law
violates separation of powers because it tells the court what
rules to establish.
The law violates access to the courts.
"It creates
not just an uneven playing field, it creates a virtual mountain
for consumers to climb if they want to get into the courtroom
and protect their rights," said Pat Kemp of the Florida Consumer
Action Network.
In response,
a coalition of Florida industry groups is focusing on the legal
defense fund it established five months ago in anticipation of
the lawsuit, and has announced that it is looking to raise $1
million to help defeat this challenge.
