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WASHINGTON - Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) released the following statement regarding his vote today to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to consideration of the Class Action Reform Bill (S. 1751). The motion to invoke cloture failed by a vote of 59-39.
“Although I have not yet reached a decision whether to support the class action bill, I voted for the motion to proceed for a couple of reasons.
“First, class action reform is an important concern and one that I think should be debated on the Senate floor. I support class actions and recognize their important role in resolving legal disputes. But there is general agreement that there have been significant abuses, including forum-shopping, of the state class action mechanism that need to be corrected. Versions of this bill have been around for years, and except for one change, the Senate Judiciary Committee considered and reported this bill on a bi-partisan basis. Although I don't think the bill is without problems, we should have a very high threshold for saying a bill is so wrong it shouldn't even be debated. I just can't say that about this bill.
“Second, I have brought a problem of particular concern to the attention of the bill's sponsors and they have negotiated in good faith with me to address that problem. As I have explained to them, my concern is with what I consider to be truly single state cases - cases in which the events at issue occurred primarily and uniquely in one state and the plaintiffs are primarily from that state.
“An example of this would be an oil spill in a river in Connecticut in which Connecticut residents want to sue those responsible for the pollution under Connecticut's environmental laws. Under the current bill, those cases can be sent to federal court if there are any out-of-state defendants in the case. In my view, the state courts have a right to adjudicate these truly single-state cases as long as there are legitimate in-State defendants in the case.
“I've been working with the bill's sponsors to address that problem, and although we have not yet reached agreement, I believe they have negotiated in good faith and I am hopeful that our negotiations will have a positive end. I also think it is very important that the sponsors will show equal consideration to others who have amendments aimed at improving the bill, especially those addressing concerns raised about the bill by the civil rights, consumer and environmental communities.” -30-
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