The Committee for Justice for All is a Northeastern Pennsylvania advocacy group dedicated to preserving the Constitutional right of all Americans to have a jury of their peers hear their cases and decide what's fair.

We believe the right to a jury is as fundamental to American freedom as the right to vote. The American jury system is the only way average citizens can take on the rich and powerful, and be assured justice. It is what separates Democracy from tyranny. 

We must keep asking the

question: If a jury is capable of deciding whether a man lives or dies, why isn't a jury capable of deciding fair damages in a liability case?

The answer to that question is that tort reform, under the guise of lowering doctors' malpractice insurance premiums, is part of a much broader pro-business, anti-consumer political agenda to take power away from average citizens and hand it over to wealthy corporate interests. Pro-business lawmakers in Harrisburg want to arbitrarily limit damages in all types of liability cases, including lawsuits over environmental contamination and product liability. (See "Pressure called key to lawsuit limits" / See Press Release from Pa. Citizens for Fairness) We say those decisions should be left up to juries.

Karl Rove, the political mastermind behind President Bush, and other right-wing ideologues have been talking about tort reform for decades as a way to pay back their wealthy corporate contributors. The malpractice "crisis" has simply given them a reason to move tort reform to the front burner. (See The Washington Post, "The Political Mind Behind Tort Reform")

Americans should be extremely concerned about this attack on their rights, and alarmed that politicians are proposing to severely limit their access to justice for the financial benefit of some of the wealthiest members of our society.

We, and other groups like us, urge you to support our efforts. The coalition of forces pushing for tort reform is exceptionally powerful and well-funded. It includes the medical lobby (including the American Medical Association and state medical societies across the country); the insurance industry (the most profitable business in America); corporate lobbying organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce; and Big Business, including the Tobacco Industry and corporate polluters.

To find out more about how you can help, visit the CJA Action Center. To contact CJA, click here.

And thank you for your interest and support.

MORE CJA NEWS
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Now More Than $14,000 - Oct. 5, 2005
CJA Supports Bills To Fight Hospital-Acquired Infections - June 22, 2005
Statistics refute claims of lawsuit 'crisis' - April 13, 2005
CJA Decries 'Double Standard' in Schiavo Case - March 23, 2005
CJA: Bush's real agenda is legal immunity for big business - Jan. 5, 2005
CJA Calls for Piccola's Recusal - Pa. Senate Republican Whip Jeffrey Piccola should recuse himself from the caps issue because he serves on the boards of two insurance companies.
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