Fred Thompson Gets It Right on Tort Reform

Former Senator and past Republican Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson has written a must-read column on KnoxNews.com titled, “Tennessee Justice System ‘Ain’t Broke.’” (You can read it by clicking here.)  Some salient points from the article:

I am certainly aware of the ideological boxes that advocates like to put folks in when it comes to “tort reform.” Republicans and conservatives are supposed to be for anything called tort reform. However, I’ve never subscribed to these boxes. Not when I was in the Senate faced with these issues and not now.

Some argue that the Legislature should tell Tennessee juries that they can award only so much compensation in certain types of cases against certain types of defendants – regardless of the facts and circumstances of the case. I don’t agree with this approach, and I don’t think it’s “conservative.”

To me, conservatism shows due respect for a civil justice system that is rooted in the U.S. Constitution and is the greatest form of private regulation ever created by society.

Conservatism is individual responsibility and accountability for damages caused, even unintentionally. It’s about government closest to the people and equal justice with no special rules for anybody. It’s also about respect for the common-law principle of right to trial by jury in civil cases that was incorporated into the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Fred Thompson gets it – there is nothing conservative about big government laying down broad, absolute, over-reaching legislation that caps the damages juries of common citizens can award in independent, particular cases.  More:

As someone who practiced in the courts of Tennessee for almost 30 years, I believe that a Tennessee jury of average citizens, after hearing all the facts, under the guidance of an impartial judge and limited by the constraints of our appellate courts, is more likely to render justice in a particular case than would one-size-fits-all rules imposed by government, either state or federal.

On this issue, many conservatives suddenly ignore their belief in limited government.  There are many legitimate ways to decrease the burden of our large number of lawsuits upon our legal system, but capping damages is simply not the answer.  Let’s talk about other forms of tort reform – not the form that merely benefits major medical corporations and insurance companies.