Still a chance

By Staff
May 31, 2004
Notwithstanding the traditional Memorial Day holiday, Mississippi lawmakers return to Jackson today to try to finish a job on tort reform they could have finished before the regular session adjourned earlier this month.
Late last week, one of the most unyielding legislators Rep. Ed Blackmon, D-Canton, chairman of the House Judiciary A Committee said he was willing to accept reasonable, non-punitive cap provisions.'' Ah, but the devil is in the details.
Talks on a bill stalled Thursday when the Senate refused to enter negotiations on the legislation. The bill on which the House invited negotiations included $500,000 caps for pain-and-suffering awards in medical malpractice cases and $1 million for lawsuits against businesses. A Senate bill carrying $250,000 caps on pain-and-suffering awards remains alive in the House.
The business and medical community are pushing for caps, saying it could help predict the limits of liability if sued. Trial lawyers and others are opposed to the caps.
As we recall, Blackmon said he would support caps only "when hell freezes over." Maybe the legislative climate has changed during this special session. For sure, business groups from across the state have been very, very vocal in favor of this element of tort reform, apparently with some success.
We encourage our legislators to reach a solution on tort reform in the next few days because additional work they avoided during the 120-day regular session still awaits their attention.