Will the increase in seemingly over-zealous lawsuits be the death of realistic change in this country?

2015-05-19T15:42:22-04:00

Every day, we read about what could be considered over-zealous lawsuits. Not that some lawsuits aren't justified, but the amounts involved for one person or relatively few people seem to be out of hand. Will the continuous suing of the VA or a hospital or Amtrack or car companies or pharmaceutical companies, etc. for huge damages bring about real change or will the amounts awarded in these suits, a lot of which are settled out of court and for less than the lawsuit, take away precious time and financial resources that could be spent implementing the needed changes?

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 19 at 2015 3:46 PM

2015-05-19T15:46:46-04:00

I think it is a symptom. The truth is that the entire justice system is an atrocity. We have wandered from a series of courts to uphold the rule of law and justice to a series of courts that persue or facilitate revenue. When money takes hold...

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made May 19 at 2015 4:02 PM

2015-05-19T16:02:25-04:00

I agree. The amounts awarded in some of these lawsuits is way out of control ...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/credit/woman-wins-dollar83-million-in-lawsuit-against-debt-collector/ar-BBjXI0E

Woman wins $83 million in lawsuit against debt collector

A jury found the collection agency guilty of "malicious prosecution"

Response by SrA Edward Vong made May 19 at 2015 4:26 PM

2015-05-19T16:26:34-04:00

Patent trolling is one of the most ridiculous things in the court system.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made May 19 at 2015 6:39 PM

2015-05-19T18:39:09-04:00

There's conflicts within the system itself.

A person absolutely has the Right to Sue to Correct a Grievance. I don't think anyone disagrees with that.

How we correct said grievance is the issue. That is Subjective. Can you put a value on Pain, or Life? Should there be a cap on that Value? I cannot in good faith say yes.

The issue with that however, is when you Sue the Government, you are Suing the People. You are Suing Yourself. You are hurting yourself.

When you sue a Corporation, the amount you have to take is so high, the publicity must be so large, that you must "kill" it, lest you only hurt other consumers.

You cannot actually correct a problem by suing either type of entity using monetary penalties at this point. The penalties are passed onto someone deeper in the chain. You don't hurt the person who needs to be corrected, which means that " (1a)...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" is flawed at its core.