http://themiddleclass.org/taxonomy/term/111 The taxonomy view with a depth of 0. en http://themiddleclass.org/bill/civil-rights-act-2008 <div class="field field-type-legislation field-field-legislation"> <h3 class="field-label">Legislation</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-number-integer field-field-position"> <h3 class="field-label">The middle class</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-video-cck field-field-video-summary"> <h3 class="field-label">Video Summary</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-injustice-facts"> <h3 class="field-label">Injustice Facts</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-summary"> <h3 class="field-label">Overview/Summary</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-middle-class-position-ana"> <h3 class="field-label">Middle Class Position Analysis</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-related-blog-header"> <h3 class="field-label">Related Blog: Header</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item">The Discussion on DMIBlog</div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-quotes"> <h3 class="field-label">Quotes from Experts</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-related-blog"> <h3 class="field-label">Related Blog: Text</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-beyond"> <h3 class="field-label">Beyond this Bill</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-link field-field-related-blog-link"> <h3 class="field-label">Related Blog: Link</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-additional-resources"> <h3 class="field-label">Additional Resources</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> Arbitration Capping damages Civil Justice Class action lawsuits Due process Employment discrimination Government Accountability Immigration Legal immunity Public employment Workplace &amp; Job Creation Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:04:56 -0400 hmoroz 131 at http://themiddleclass.org http://themiddleclass.org/bill/class-action-fairness-act-2005 <div class="field field-type-legislation field-field-legislation"> <h3 class="field-label">Legislation</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-number-integer field-field-position"> <h3 class="field-label">The middle class</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item">Opposes</div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-video-cck field-field-video-summary"> <h3 class="field-label">Video Summary</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-injustice-facts"> <h3 class="field-label">Injustice Facts</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"><p>Minimum ratio of federal judges in district courts to state judges in general jurisdiction courts as of 2003: <strong>1:13</strong><br /> Number of cases pending in U.S. District Courts for three years or longer as of September 2003: <strong>34,067</strong><br /> Minimum number of consumer groups signing on to a letter of opposition to S. 5: <strong>68</strong><br /> Number of lobbyists retained by corporate interests to ensure a class action bill favorable to their interests, according to Public Citizen: <strong>475</strong><br /> Number of such lobbyists from the insurance industry alone: <strong>193</strong><br /> Likelihood that a class action case against a life insurance company will be certified and allowed to go forward in state court vs. in federal court:<strong> 2:1</strong></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-summary"> <h3 class="field-label">Overview/Summary</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-middle-class-position-ana"> <h3 class="field-label">Middle Class Position Analysis</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"><p><strong>The Middle Class Opposes.</strong> While moving lawsuits from state to federal courts may seem harmless enough, in effect it will prevent many middle-class Americans injured by defective products, manipulated by deceptive marketing, or discriminated against by unfair employment practices from ever being able to hold corporate wrongdoers accountable. As a result, the threat of lawsuits will be less of a deterrent to corporations that engage in deceptive or discriminatory practices or seek to cut corners by skimping on product safety. Moving state cases to the federal courts is particularly harmful because it is state judges, not the federal judiciary, that are most familiar with the state consumer protection laws under which wrongdoers are sued. As a result, federal judges usually won’t certify cases based on state law, which effectively prevents even the most legitimate cases from ever being heard if they are forced into federal court. That means ordinary citizens have lost an important means of getting recourse to the laws their democratically-elected state legislators passed. To make matters worse, the federal courts are increasingly stacked with judges hostile to consumer and workers’ rights. What’s more, the federal courts are already overburdened, struggling to cope in a timely manner with the caseload already before them. Further clogging the federal system with state cases may slow down everyone’s access to justice. Finally, the “rights” guaranteed to plaintiffs by this Act, such as greater scrutiny for cases in which settlement terms cause plaintiffs to suffer a net loss, don’t actually provide as much new protection as it appears because they primarily duplicate already-existing provisions of the rules of civil procedure. Although provisions reining in low-value coupon settlements are positive, they don't warrant the bill's other very harmful provisions.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-related-blog-header"> <h3 class="field-label">Related Blog: Header</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-quotes"> <h3 class="field-label">Quotes from Experts</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-related-blog"> <h3 class="field-label">Related Blog: Text</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-beyond"> <h3 class="field-label">Beyond this Bill</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-link field-field-related-blog-link"> <h3 class="field-label">Related Blog: Link</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-additional-resources"> <h3 class="field-label">Additional Resources</h3> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"></div> </div> </div> Civil Justice Class action lawsuits Corporate Accountability Product liability Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:25:55 -0400 jon 3 at http://themiddleclass.org