WSJ: Of Torts and Taxes -- State voters have a chance to discipline the political class

Wall Street Journal ^ | November 1, 2004 | Editorial

[OESY]

...Voters will consider 163 initiatives and referendums in 34 states....

Gay Marriage: This is the social issue du jour, and measures to ban it will appear on ballots in 11 states, including the battlegrounds of Michigan and Ohio. Proponents have their work cut out; ballot measures defending traditional marriage have never lost and tend to be approved by wide margins.... [W]hat's important is that the decision is left to the electorate and their representatives, not dictated from the bench by activist judges....

Tort Reform: The medical liability reform initiatives on the ballot in no fewer that four states -- Wyoming, Oregon, Nevada and Florida -- could be a sign that more voters are starting to connect ambulance chasers and lottery lawsuits with rising health care costs. Measures in Wyoming and Oregon would cap non-economic damages in malpractice cases. The Nevada measure would limit contingency fees and mandate more transparency in contingency fee arrangements.

It's the Florida initiative, however, that seems to have the trial bar most worried (as measured by the millions that personal injury lawyers...). Amendment 3 not only puts constitutional limits on the amount of contingency fees that lawyers could charge. It also guarantees that the injured victims, not the lawyers, get the lion's share of any award. Imagine that.

In California, Proposition 64 would change existing law to allow only government lawyers and people who have suffered an actual injury or loss to sue proprietors over unfair business practices....

Taxes: More than a third of this year's initiatives are in some manner related to taxes and state budgets. Voters in Montana, Oklahoma and Colorado will decide whether to hike tobacco taxes....

Education: In Washington state, where half of all black and Latino students don't graduate from high school, the teachers unions continue their assault on education reform....

[sr4402]

"I will champion Tort Reform in every state. Trial lawyers, like my running mate Senator John Edwards, needs more money, and I will make sure that they get it from every Doctor, Nurse and Gynecologist in the Nation"

/sarcasm off