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news & Commentary
Common Good's Society Watch is a collection of recent news and commentary illustrating how law is undermining
our common institutions and our freedom to use common sense.
CG in the News is your source for recent news about Common Good and our efforts to restore
common sense to American law.
The most recent articles from each section appear below. SocietyWatch Common Sense on Punitive Damages
L. Gordon Crovitz, Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2008
“We should cheer when the Supreme Court issues clear, transparent and common-sense rules,” writes L. Gordon Crovitz for the Wall Street Journal. These rules give “judges jurors and citizens [a] new understanding about how the legal system should work.” Crovitz is referring to the recent Supreme Court decision reducing the amount of punitive damages in the Exxon Valdez suit from $2.5 billion to $500 million. Crovitz hails the court’s use of actual numbers to determine the appropriate ratio of punitive-to-compensatory damages: 1 to 1. Crovitz opines that for years, out-of-control jury awards and frivolous litigation has rendered the legal system in America “less a system than a series of random results.” Agreeing with Justice Souter’s identification of the “stark unpredictability of punitive awards,” Crovitz observes that there has been no consistent rubric for determining punitive damages. He, however, predicts that it will require further litigation to determine if this 1:1 rule becomes the bright-line for determining the appropriateness of punitive damages in the future. » article
Go and Play
Editorial, The Buffalo News, June 4, 2008
A Buffalo News editorial argues that there needs to be an “official recognition that recess has both a human and an educational purpose,” lamenting that New York State “has no rule requiring recess” and that across the country “too many schools seem to have forsaken it.” The piece shares the national Parent Teacher Association’s sense of “appropriate alarm” that a “combination of factors” including No Child Left Behind “has knocked recess out of as many as 40 percent of elementary schools nationwide.” The editorial notes that it is “realistic” to recognize that recess will improve kids’ performance in school, as “the attention span of children is limited…a dose of fresh air and a rise in heart rate is often just the ticket to keeping young minds sharp and receptive.” » article
Lawsuits That Benefit Only Lawyers
Stuart Taylor, Jr., National Journal, May 17, 2008
According to Stuart Taylor’s column in National Journal, a $400 billion lawsuit against 50 companies for doing business with the South Africa’s Apartheid government “remind us how often plaintiffs’ lawyers pervert our lawsuit industry for personal and political gain.” Taylor is highly critical of the Supreme Court for allowing this case to proceed to trial. The post-Apartheid South African government agreed with Taylor’s analysis, “warning that the case could discourage much-needed direct foreign investment in South Africa” and “strongly [urging] dismissal.” Taylor examines the specifics of how this particular case, reflecting a larger trend in American courts, “will do victims of wrongdoing little or no good,” “will penalize no human being who has done anything wrong,” “will come at the expense of the general public,” and most important, “will deter more conduct that is beneficial than harmful.” Such cases, according to State Department legal adviser John Bellinger, make “foreign governments regard the U.S. Judiciary ‘as something of a rogue actor.’” As Taylor notes, “timely lawsuits against real wrongdoers can deter future misconduct,” but in this case, it is more likely that this suit will deter beneficial behavior such as investment and diplomacy. Common Good, like Taylor, recognizes that such cases can also undermine people’s faith that the civil justice system will treat them fairly if they act reasonably. » article
CG in the news Rescue Recess
Letter to the Editor, New York Times, December 21, 2007
Common Good President Janet Corcoran responds to an article in the New York Times on the growing trend to ban recess, "School Recess Gets Gentler, and the Adults Are Dismayed."
Will the Net Prevent the Collapse of the Common Good?
Digital Age, December 2007
Digital Age asks Philip K. Howard how the Internet has helped spread Common Good's message. Howard highlights the work Common Good is doing in health care, education, and civil justice.
Man Sues McDonald's for $10 Million
Interview with ABC Radio, August 12, 2007
ABC asked Common Good Chair Philip K. Howard to comment on another frivolous lawsuit, in which a man is suing McDonald's for $10 million.
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