Jury Reform


Many times, civil cases in our legal justice system end with juries awarding millions of dollars to the plaintiff, somtimes for reasons undiscernable to anyone but them. While this happens across the country, Alabama stands out for awarding what some consider to be ridiculous sums of money. For instance, a butcher in Alabama cut his hand on a saw he claimed was defective. The outcome: a jury award of $12,000 for medical bills, $654,784 in compensatory damages, and a "mere" $22,750,000 in punitive damages. Some feel that this case alone shows the present problems with jury decisions. They argue that there needs to be reform measurements taken to protect corporations who apparently do nothing wrong but are sorely penalized by juries. Opponants of jury reform feel that by limiting the amounts that a jury can award, consumers are losing an important safeguard on the ensured quality of products they buy. The most famous case study examined in discussions of tort reform is probably the 1995 incident where a woman spilled extremely hot coffee on herself and was awarded a handsome sum of $2.7 million dollars. The case was later re-evaluated and cut to a more reasonable $480,000.

What do you think?


Do you think there should be limits on jury awards in product-defect cases?


Do you think there should be limits on jury awards in medical malpractice cases?


Do you think that the loser in a civil case should be forced to pay both sides' attorneys' fees?



You can write to us with your views!


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