Texans Still at Odds Over Bush's Legal Reforms (most anti-consumer state)

[papau]

http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/ejLy0H5DEY0G2B0GC3O0Au
THE RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE
Texans Still at Odds Over Bush's Legal Reforms



By David G. Savage, Times Staff Writer


BELLAIRE, Texas — On his first day as governor of Texas, George W. Bush declared that limiting lawsuits was an "emergency issue" for his state.

"We must put a stop to the frivolous and junk lawsuits which clog our courts," he said in January 1995, a popular line he has repeated often since then. Getting rid of "frivolous" suits — or even defining them — proved difficult, but the new governor won limits on how much money could be awarded in the biggest cases. For example, punitive damages were capped at twice the amount of a victim's loss.

But the legal-reform movement Bush launched in Texas has gone far beyond questions of monetary awards. Among other things, it has led to limits on the right to sue in the first place.

"Texas has gone from one of the most friendly states for consumer protection to one of the most anti-consumer states," said University of Houston law professor Richard M. Alderman, an expert on consumer rights. "It all began in 1995. Bush oversaw a significant retreat for consumer protection, and it was all done under the guise of attacking 'frivolous' lawsuits."<snip>

[qazplm]

1. well, i took a class once from Alderman

on consumer law when i went to law school at UH.

He was kind of a jerk, but he is right, Texas sucks for consumer protection.