| Is anyone else out there as tired as El Cabrero and the critters at Goat Rope Farm of the ceaseless barrage of commercials from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about what a terrible legal climate we have here?
They love to harp on a survey of the corporation-backed American Tort Reform Association that claims to show that WV is a "judicial hellhole." Most likely, they surveyed members, corporate defendents and their attorneys.
Scientifically, methinks it's almost as good as asking eighth graders whether algebra sucks and using the results as a basis to evaluate that branch of mathematics. Here's an evaluation of the "judicial hellhole" rankings from The Center for Justice and Democracy. |
| The latest wave of commercials has a bizarre history. During the last regular session of the legislature, the WV Chamber of Commerce agreed with some traditional opponents on a compromise bill limiting out of state access to WV courts. Apparently, this wasn't good enough for the U.S. Chamber.
The State Journal covers the controversy here. According to state Senator Jeffrey Kessler (D-Marshall):
"The U.S. Chamber agreed to this bill and reached a compromise on the House (of Delegates) side. Then they wanted to change the bill, but they had already reached an agreement," Kessler said.
"Where I come from, your word is your bond. The greatest legal minds in the state of West Virginia and from out of state worked on this bill, and they all said there was an agreement. They committed to it. ... If you sign off and agree to it, I expect you to stick to your word."
The U.S. Chamber urged Gov. Manchin to veto this bill after it unanimously passed both houses. To his credit, Manchin signed the bill, leaving open the possibility of making adjustments to the law in the 2008 session.
Kessler, who along with Delegate Carrie Webster (D-Kanawha), is the target of the ads was quoted in the State Journal as saying
"I'll be the first one to say that if this is an imperfect bill that opens up the floodgates (to out-of-state litigants), I'll go back and fix it. ... But these advertisements are false innuendo and propaganda. These ads are phony baloney.",
El Cabrero's last word...I think the fine people at the U.S. Chamber are a little confused about what a hellhole really is. When I think of hellhole, I think of the dark places where too many of our state's miners died last year.
A West Virginia court is something else entirely. |
