“Restore Justice 2012” – it is a catchy name. It makes us all think they seek justice for all Floridians. Their goal? To remove sitting justices from the Florida Supreme Court. The question is, “why?”
A look at the supporters of this group answers this question. One supporter has another catchy name, the “American Justice Partnership.” This group’s claim to fame is its support of Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin - the same governor who eliminated collective bargaining for public service unions after stating during the election that he would negotiate with the unions. He is also the same guy who imposed the largest cuts to education funding in Wisconsin history and a puppet of the politically active billionaire Koch brothers. Recently, Politifact – a project of the Tampa Bay Times that rates the accuracy of statements by politicians – found that two-thirds of the statements made by Scott Walker were mostly false or worse.
The American Justice Partnership is supported by Associated Industries of Florida (“AIF”). This group is chaired by disgraced former State House Speaker, Republican Tom Feeney. Mr. Feeney was a crony of Jack Abramoff and, in September 2006, Feeney was named one of the “20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress” in a report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. AIF is a special interest lobbying group. Their special interest is big insurance companies and businesses. They oppose consumer rights and access to courts to correct wrongs. Their most recent lobbying efforts involved insurance “bad faith.” A “bad faith” claim only occurs when an insurance company fails to pay the benefits it is lawfully obligated to pay – often subjecting its insured to personal judgments against their assets because of the insurance companies’ unreasonable refusal to pay benefits. AIF would like to eliminate “Bad Faith” so that consumers are left holding the bag for the insurance companies’ unlawful failure to pay benefits.
AIF would also like to prevent patients from seeking recovery from their doctors when those doctors commit malpractice. Along those lines, AIF supports House Bill 385 and Senate Bill 618. These Bills grant immunity to doctors who have committed malpractice.
I remember a time when restoring justice meant protecting the working men and women of Florida. When Atticus Finch fought for justice for Tom Robinson who was unable to fight for himself, that used to represent the pursuit of justice. Now “restoring justice” means protecting unscrupulous insurance companies from their insureds and protecting bad doctors from the patients they injured, maimed or killed. Times sure have changed.
The American Justice Partnership is supported by Associated Industries of Florida (“AIF”). This group is chaired by disgraced former State House Speaker, Republican Tom Feeney. Mr. Feeney was a crony of Jack Abramoff and, in September 2006, Feeney was named one of the “20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress” in a report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. AIF is a special interest lobbying group. Their special interest is big insurance companies and businesses. They oppose consumer rights and access to courts to correct wrongs. Their most recent lobbying efforts involved insurance “bad faith.” A “bad faith” claim only occurs when an insurance company fails to pay the benefits it is lawfully obligated to pay – often subjecting its insured to personal judgments against their assets because of the insurance companies’ unreasonable refusal to pay benefits. AIF would like to eliminate “Bad Faith” so that consumers are left holding the bag for the insurance companies’ unlawful failure to pay benefits.
AIF would also like to prevent patients from seeking recovery from their doctors when those doctors commit malpractice. Along those lines, AIF supports House Bill 385 and Senate Bill 618. These Bills grant immunity to doctors who have committed malpractice.
I remember a time when restoring justice meant protecting the working men and women of Florida. When Atticus Finch fought for justice for Tom Robinson who was unable to fight for himself, that used to represent the pursuit of justice. Now “restoring justice” means protecting unscrupulous insurance companies from their insureds and protecting bad doctors from the patients they injured, maimed or killed. Times sure have changed.
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