Judiciary Committee to Hold Hearing on ‘Risky Business Of Big Oil’

[jefferson_dem]

Judiciary Committee to Hold Hearing on ‘Risky Business Of Big Oil’
June 1, 2010 by senatus

The Senate Judiciary Committee “will hold a hearing next week to examine how recent court decisions and federal liability caps influence corporate behavior, affect American taxpayers, and provide justice to victims, Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Tuesday,” according to a press release.

The hearing will be the latest in a series of Judiciary Committee hearings Leahy has organized in recent years to explore the impact of Supreme Court decisions on the lives of everyday Americans. The hearing on June 8 will focus on the Court’s 2008 decision in Exxon v. Baker, in which a 5-4 opinion by the Court chopped the amount of punitive damages a jury awarded to victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill by $2 billion. The hearing will also focus on the Big Oil Polluter Pays Act, introduced in May by Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Leahy, and Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). The legislation would overturn the Supreme Court’s opinion in Exxon and would allow judges and juries to assess punitive damages based on all the facts in a case, regardless of the amount of other damages owed.

http://senatus.wordpress.com/2010/06/01/judiciary-committee-to-hold-hearing-on-risky-business-of-big-oil/

[NC_Nurse]

1. So what? I have lost all faith that "hearings" will lead to ANY action on anyone's

part. So they'll have hearings, grandstand, then NOTHING will change. Whoopee!

[Cha]

2. Maybe with the Dems in charge ..they will

actually get something accomplished.