Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy
Class Action Fairness Act, S. 1751
October 22, 2003

I rise again to oppose S. 1751, the so-called “Class Action Fairness Act.”  This legislation would deprive Vermonters of the right to band together to protect themselves against violations of state civil rights, consumer, health, and environmental protection laws their own state courts.  This is simply unacceptable.

What does it say about our priorities that we are even having this debate right now?  Of the many pressing issues already on the Senate’s plate, awaiting action and awaiting precious floor time, the several appropriations bills that the Senate has not yet found time to debate are the highest priorities of the American people right now, in these waning days of this session.  And whose priority is this bill?  This bill is a top priority of special interests that include big polluters and big violators of the American people’s consumer rights and civil rights, past, present and future.  Class actions are one remaining tool available to the average American in seeking justice, and some special interests want nothing more than to weaken the public’s hand in class action proceedings. 

While the Senate is spending several days debating this bill, critical appropriations bills are languishing.  Within these bills are programs that would help millions of Americans at the national, state and local levels – such as funding for the Department of Justice to provide bulletproof vests for law enforcement officers, and grants to put more cops on the street and to implement the prevention programs of the Violence Against Women Act.  Despite the fact that the fiscal year began three weeks ago, we are dallying with this special interest legislation that benefits large corporate interests at the expense of individuals harmed by those corporations.  Instead of meeting our responsibilities to the American people, we are spending precious hours of this legislative session in debate on a bill that will do far more harm than good to the average citizen.

At its core, this bill deprives citizens of the right to sue on state law claims in their own state courts if the principal defendant is a citizen of another state, even if that defendant has a substantial presence in the plaintiffs’ home state, and even if the harm done was in the plaintiffs’ home state.  And less than a week ago, mass tort actions were included in the bill along with true class actions, despite the fact that such a provision was struck from the bill during mark-up in the Judiciary Committee.  This simply amplifies the harm done to citizens’ rights, and to the possibility of vindicating those rights in their own state courts. 

Some special interest groups are distorting the state of class action litigation by relying on a few anecdotes in an ends-oriented attempt to impede plaintiffs bringing class action cases.  We should take steps to correct actual problems in class action litigation, but simply shoving most suits into federal court with new one-sided rules will not correct the real problems faced by plaintiffs and defendants. 

Our state-based tort system remains one of the greatest and most powerful vehicles for justice anywhere in the world.  One reason for that is the availability of class action litigation to let ordinary people band together to take on powerful corporations or even their own government.   Defrauded investors, deceived consumers, victims of defective products and environmental torts, and thousands of other ordinary people have been able to rely on class action lawsuits in our state court systems to seek and receive justice.

Sometimes that is what cheaters count on, and it is how they get away with their schemes. Cheating thousands of people “just a little” is still cheating.  Class actions allow the little guys to band together, allow them to afford a competent lawyer, and allow them to redress wrongdoing.
 

Whether those little guys are getting together to force manufacturers to recall and correct dangerous products, to clean up after devastating environmental harms, or to vindicate the basic civil rights they are entitled to as citizens of our great country, they are using class actions.  And they should be able to continue doing so.

The so-called Class Action Fairness Act will leave many injured parties who have valid claims with no effective way to seek relief.  Class action suits have helped win justice and expose wrongdoing by corporate and government wrong-doers.  They have given average Americans at least a chance for justice.  We should not take that chance for justice away from the American people.   
 
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