Brian Kemp is planning to take away more rights from Georgia consumers, to appease Georgia businesses. He is pushing for more “tort reform,” which is a catch phrase used to mislead voters. A tort is a negligent (sometimes intentional) act that causes injury or harm to someone else, like when a drunk driver causes a car crash, or a doctor addicted to drugs commits medical malpractice. The term “tort reform” sounds nice, as if what Governor Kemp has in mind is going to reduce the number of times people get hurt because of someone else’s negligence, or reduce the severity of their injuries. But that’s not what Governor Kemp means. What he means by “tort reform” is to get more laws passed to protect businesses and people who commit torts from having to fairly compensate the people they injure.
He’s proclaimed his desire for “tort reform” in his speeches for two years in a row now. In 2023, Kemp said tort reform was an important part of his agenda, and he wanted to make it happen fast. But there was legitimate opposition and it didn’t happen. Now in 2024, he has asked the state insurance department to study how lawsuits affect insurance costs. He wants that report given to him by November 1st.
Certain business businesses in Georgia have wanted these changes for a long time. They say that when people recover money in lawsuits, it hurts their businesses. They also say it’s hard for businesses to get insurance, or the insurance costs too much. Perhaps they should focus more on changing the way they do business so that fewer torts are committed. That would be real tort reform.
Consumer groups, Democrats and lawyers think it’s important for people to be able to go to court if they’re hurt by bad products, reckless drivers, or if doctors make big mistakes. They even claim it’s a right that people have, and they are right about that. In 2005 the Georgia Legislature passed a “tort reform” law putting an arbitrary cap on the amount of damages a severely injured person could recover. Fortunately, the Georgia Supreme Court struck down that law, in a written opinion that reminded legislators that the right of access to the courts for redress of injury is enshrined in Georgia’s state constitution. It was put there for a reason. Let’s hope the legislature remembers and pushes back on Kemp’s attempt to take away rights.