In the News

“I think there are questions about whether the litigation system is even a coherent way to go about this. It’s very hard to use individual litigation to get systemic change, excepting in particular circumstances.”—Harvard Law professor Rebecca Tushnet

Automobile manufacturing is a heavily regulated industry. If changes to those regulations are necessary, they need to be made by the appropriate regulatory authority. Cities and counties don’t have the authority to make those policy decisions. 

“When the Washington State Supreme Court can make extraordinary decisions and overwhelmingly so—seeming to legislate from the bench versus upholding the state constitution—that could allow for anything in the future and probably will.”—company statement from Fisher Investments.

It’s clear the use of public nuisance lawsuits to circumvent the legislature has become a nation-wide problem. Texas lawmakers have the opportunity this session to ensure future litigation of this nature is conducted in a manner that benefits all Texans by passing SB 1034/HB 1372.

Texas’ state and federal courts have issued multimillion-dollar verdicts against corporations totaling over $41 BILLION dollars since 2009. The biggest nuclear verdicts stem from auto accident claims, specifically against the trucking industry.

Courts have rejected public nuisance claims related to products time and again. But the false narrative around these lawsuits—pushed and pursued by contingency-fee private attorneys—has proven compelling for local governments attempting to circumvent the legislative process.

If a court is not qualified to understand and settle your dispute, because the court lacks the proper expertise or simply does not have the time to hear your complaint on a timely basis, you are denied your fundamental right to due process. That is not acceptable.”—Former State Rep. Jason Villalba, a practicing business attorney and CEO of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation

Last week, the Texas Senate approved Senate Joint Resolution 44, a measure authored by Sen. Joan Huffman that would let voters decide whether judges should have the authority to deny bail in cases with violent offenders.

In its current form, the public nuisance doctrine has limitless uses. What’s to stop a city from filing suit against a restaurant for causing obesity? Or a packaged goods retailer for litter cleanup?

The most recent attempt to regulate an activity through public nuisance lawsuits comes from school districts across the country alleging that social media companies are contributing to youth mental health problems.But this issue deserves a thorough policy debate—not piecemeal lawsuits.