OPPOSE S - American Civil Liberties Union
COALITION TO PreservE Access to Justice
OPPOSE THE “CLASS ACTION FAIRNESS ACT”
PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF VICTIMS OF DISCRIMINATION, CONSUMER FRAUD AND TOXIC POLLUTION
JANUARY 26, 2004
Dear Senator:
We, the undersigned groups, remain strongly opposed to the proposed class action legislation that would undermine consumer, labor, and civil rights in class action lawsuits. When S. 1751 was brought up for a vote in October 2003 it failed to garner sufficient support. Since that time a deal has been cobbled together behind closed doors. The new deal, however, fails to correct the critical flaw of the original bill. We understand that the new deal has now become an amended version to S. 274.
The critical flaw of S. 274 is that citizens will be denied the right to use their own state courts to bring class actions under their own state law, even where every class member is from the same state. Under the provisions of S. 274, a defendant can have a class action case removed from state court into federal court if the defendant is not incorporated or does not have its principal place of business in that state. This means that regardless of how much business it does, how many employees it has, or how much damage it does in a state, the defendant is protected from the reach of that state’s courts even when its actions harmed hundreds of that state’s citizens.
The business lobby is pushing for this bill because corporations that violate state law are less likely to be held accountable for their wrongdoing when a federal court hears the case rather than a state court. Further, these same corporations now seek to avoid responsibility under state law at the very time the states are enacting laws expanding civil rights, consumer, and environmental protections to fill the void created through federal inaction. When the case is based solely on a violation of state law, no compelling reason exists for stripping state courts of the ability to enforce that state law. State courts should be given the opportunity to develop their own state law in emerging areas. Based on the principles of federalism, federal law discourages federal judges from expanding liability under state law.
We strongly urge you to oppose S. 274. Do not be misled – the new version of S. 1751 does not improve the class action system for all. Quite to the contrary, the bill will make it more difficult for victims of discrimination, consumer fraud, and toxic pollution to receive justice when corporations violate state law.
If you have any questions or need more information about the revised Class Action Fairness Act, please contact Nancy Zirkin, Deputy Director/Director of Public Policy, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, 202.263.2880; or Sandy Brantley, Legislative Counsel, Alliance for Justice, 202.822.6070.
Sincerely,
ACLU
ADA Watch/National Coalition for
Disability Rights
AFL-CIO
Alliance for Justice
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Association of University
Women
American Federation of Government
Employees
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee
Americans for Democratic Action
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Center for Justice and Democracy
Center for Women Policy Studies
Citizen Action of New York
Citizen’s for Consumer Justice
Civil Justice, Inc.
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
Communication Workers of America
Community Legal Services, Inc.
Consumer Federation of America
Consumers for Auto Reliability and
Safety
Consumers Union
Disability Rights Education and Defense
Fund Inc.
Earthjustice
Education Law Center
Epilepsy Foundation
Families USA
Federally Employed Women
Florida Consumer Action Network
Friends of the Earth
Georgia Rural and Urban Summit Group
Georgia Watch
Greater Upstate Law Project
Juvenile Law Center
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
Under Law
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Legal Aid Society of Texas
Legal Clinic for the Disabled, Inc.
Legal Services of New Jersey
Main People’s Alliance
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
Michigan Citizen Action
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
Fund
National Alliance of Postal and Federal
Employees
National Association of Consumer
Advocates
National Association of Human Rights
Workers
National Association of the Deaf
National Bar Association
National Committee on Pay Equity
National Consumer Law Center
National Consumers Coalition
National Council of La Raza
National Employment Lawyers
Association
National Fair Housing Alliance
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Law Center on Homeless &
Poverty
National Legal Aid and Defender
Association
National Organization for Women
National Women's Law Center
Natural Resources Defense Council
New Jersey Citizen Action
North Carolina Justice Center
North Dakota Progress Coalition
NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund
Ocean State Action (Rhode Island)
Pennsylvania School Reform Network
People For the American Way
Pride At Work
Project Equality
Public Citizen
Religious Coalition for Reproductive
Choice
Sargent Shriver National Center on
Poverty Law
Sierra Club
U.S. PIRG
UNITE!
United Food and Commercial Workers
Union
United Steelworkers of America
USAction
Violence Policy Center
Washington Citizen Action
West Virginia Citizen Action Group
Wisconsin Citizen Action
Women Employed
###
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.
Related searches
- american civil war reconstruction
- american civil war regiments
- american heritage credit union careers
- american civil war uniforms
- america s first federal credit union locations
- american eagle credit union payoff
- american first credit union locations
- american heritage credit union reviews
- american heritage credit union sign in
- american civil war organizations
- american civil war groups
- 2nd american civil war coming