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In this
column, Dan Pero provides insights about the political,
legislative and judicial dynamics at the state level
that shape the liability environment for employers.
Cliff
Taylor stands squarely in the crosshairs of a campaign
aimed by the Michigan Democratic Party to defeat his
2008 reelection bid. To encourage unbridled judicial
activism, they will spend millions to prevent Chief
Justice Taylor from keeping his seat on the Michigan
Supreme Court. As a rule-of-law justice and candidate,
Taylor is the only obstacle between the plaintiff’s bar
and their decade-long quest to control the Court and
overturn liability reform laws enacted during Gov. John
Engler’s three terms in office.
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By Dan Pero |
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President,
American Justice Partnership |
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Ultimately, Chief Justice Taylor’s defeat could cost
job-providers in Michigan billions, and the damage won’t
stop there. Another activist seat on the Michigan
Supreme Court would open the door for voracious
plaintiff’s lawyers eager to plunder companies in a more
liberal liability environment, an environment where
judges, not legislators make the laws.
In the
2006 elections, thanks to multi-million dollar
contributions by the Stryker family, the Democrats won
control of the Michigan House and nearly won control of
the Senate, missing a majority by just one seat. As
quid pro quo to their plaintiff bar supporters,
Democrats in the Michigan legislature launched another
major effort this year to repeal Michigan’s Drug Shield
Law and missed doing so only because a conservative
State Senate, under the leadership of Senators Mike
Bishop and Wayne Kuipers, stopped them. The current
law gives pharmaceutical companies liability immunity so
long as their drugs or devices were approved by the FDA
and no fraud was involved in their license application;
a repeal would enable plaintiffs lawyers to file cases
they have been stockpiling for years.
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Chief Justice
Cliff Taylor |
The
plaintiff’s bar will work tirelessly in 2008 to repeal
this and other key elements of Gov. Engler’s legal
reform legacy -- the same legacy which has reduced by
thousands the number of unwarranted product liability
lawsuits filed each year in Michigan. But remember, the
Republican majority in the Senate is holding out against
liability reform repeals by a very slim margin. And, if
unsuccessful at repeal in the legislature, the trial
lawyers will turn their full focus to the Supreme Court
hoping to elect a justice who is only too happy to make,
rather than interpret, Michigan’s laws.
Contributing to the significance and visibility of
year’s Supreme Court race so significant and so visible
is the fact that most statewide offices are not up for
election again until 2010, including governor, attorney
general, secretary of state and the Michigan Senate.
This leaves Taylor’s Supreme Court Seat as the highest
statewide seat open next year. Further, it is a year
when only one Supreme Court seat is up. Taylor, and the
principles he stands for, will be a very visible symbol
for both the plaintiff-activist coalition on the left
and the rule-of-law coalition on the right. Even now,
months before they pick his election opponent, Democrats
have signaled their interest in the race and are
engaging in coordinated, ongoing criticism of Taylor’s
distinctive 10 year record to undermine voter confidence
in him.
In
short, the 2008 Michigan Supreme Court will be one of
the most important state races in the country for the
business community and rule-of-law advocates. A loss for
Taylor would create a never-ending succession of court
challenges to Engler’s successful reform legislation.
An activist Supreme Court in Michigan would open the
door for billions in new litigation against business –
just look at the damage done by activist Supreme Courts
in West Virginia and Florida, two of the most
pro-plaintiff Courts in the country.
Every
CEO with operations in Michigan should make sure that
employees understand that Cliff Taylor’s reelection to
the Supreme Court is essential to maintaining the type
of fair legal climate in which companies can retain and
expand jobs. Taylor needs the support of rule-of-law
advocates starting now.
Read More on Cliff Taylor and the Michigan Supreme
Court:
Mike Gizzi, the
Human Events columnist who writes Gizzi
on Politics, has also written about the
importance of Taylor's candidacy.
Click Here
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