Obama on Tort Reform: What is His Record?
What do we know of Senator Obama’s commitment to open courts for Plaintiffs? Obama is a democrat, and as such ought to be much more concerned for the rights of citizens to come to the courts with their concerns about unsafe consumer products and to challenge large corporations to keep our environment clean for generations to come. The Democratic Party understands that access to the courts in a foundational principle in this democracy, and Democrats in Texas know that nowhere is this principle more enshrined than in the Texas Constitution. But this access has been under fire from Republicans (Bush led the way as governor in Texas and for the last eight years as president). They use the same failed logic that underpins their economic policies to justify the idea of preventing consumers from suing large corporations. Apparently, if we force big corporations to produce responsibly this will hurt the American consumer. I call this trickle-down corporate responsibility. Everyone saves money when we do not hold corporate American responsible for its products. By that logic, we ought to continue to import cheap dog food and baby formula from China . . . we would all save a few dollars.
The Democrats have is right on this issue. But Obama’s record is mixed. On Fox News in April, 2008:
WALLACE: Some of your detractors say that you are a paint by the numbers liberal and I’d like to explore this with you. . . . As a president, can you name a hot button issue where you would be willing to cross the Democratic party line and say you know what, Republicans have a better idea here. . . .
OBAMA: . . . I would point out, though, for example, that when I voted for a tort reform measure that was fiercely opposed by the trial lawyers, I got attacked pretty hard from the left.
What Obama was referring to was a vote in 2005, where he voted for CAFA, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (the act was set to move most class action lawsuits, including civil rights, worker protection, product liability, and consumer fraud cases from state courts into the federal court system). Many of the more well-known democrats voted against it, including Hillary Clinton, Dick Durbin, Ted Kennedy, Pat Leahy, Joe Biden, Barbara Boxer, and Harry Reid. The Act was supported primarily by Republicans, including Trent Lott, Lindsay Graham, and Jeff Sessions. (To be fair, Democrats Joe Lieberman and Diane Feinstein also voted for it.)
Nonetheless, Bill Baxter of The American Lawyer sees Obama as Plaintiff friendly, telling the story of the residents of the Ecuadorian Amazon basin who are holding out for an Obama victory in their fight against Chevron. Chevron has brought on Trent Lott and even a John McCain aid to further curtail lawsuits against big multinational corporations. The hope is that an Obama administration will be more favorable to plaintiffs. This could not be more true. Obama might not be John Edwards, but he certainly is no George W. Bush. On this issue, Change is Good!