Rumor Alert!
Rumor has it that State Auditor John Morrison will be running against Conrad Burns for the US Senate.
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1 comment:
I read this with great intest as I am a member of the organization that drafted the cap on punitive damages bill that was passed in the last legislature. The reasoning behind our persuing this legislation was that the Trial Lawyers were using this as a means to "up their take" on settlements and thus arguing for and in many cases being awarded what the common sense person would deem, unreasonable sums of money. In some states now (it may be PA for one)punitive damage awards are not given to the plaintiffs or their attorneys, but are instead presented to to the judicial system to help fund the court system -Not a bad idea. Some people I have found do not understand the original purpose of punitive damages. The way this layman understands it is they are damages awarded in civil litigation when the defendent has blatanly ignored or broken a law or statute resulting in damages to the plantiff and are awarded in addition to the judgement amount of the civil action. The punitive damages are to "punish" the defendent for breaking the law. To this layman it seems like double jeopordy (sp) but what do I know about law.
These excess damages have grown substantially over the years to where they actually in some cases exceed the amount of the judgement. This practice costs each and every citizen money out of their pocket. Whether it be a judgement regarding a traffic accident, product liablility, medical malpractice, legal malpractice etc. each time an exorbiant amount of punititve damages are awarded the cost of procducts and or services of that particular business segment to the consumer -you and I - is increased and everyone pays the price!
One other thing not on this particular blog but I feel it needs attention. The city of Great Falls went to great lengths to annex into the city the new Eagle Crossing housing developement north of Great Falls on the Bootlegger Trail. The developers have suceeded in making the subdivision attractive to the eye with their white fences and brick pillars adjacent to the highway. This is on their side (west side) of the Bootlegger. They have however, created an eyesore on the other side of the Bootlegger (east side). There is an increasing amount (more every day) of garbage and litter from the housing developement accumulating in the ditch and stubble field on the east side of the Bootlegger. As of yesterday (4/10/05) there was packaging material from squares of roofing shingles, waterproof paper packaging from lumber bundles, and other miscellaneous packaging and wrapping products from the on going construction in the Eagle Crossing Subdivision. For someone that promoted their project as good for the city so as to get the property annexed to the city for utilities,water and sewer they have turned the property nearby into a garbage dump that is growing by the day. It is no wonder that surrounding property owners protest these developemnts in their neighborhoods. "Garbage In Creates Garbage Out!
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