The Texas House is considering #HB19, which shifts the costs of tragic wrecks caused by trucking companies onto the victims, and away from insurance companies and trucking companies. This is the latest effort at “tort reform,” which is usually thought of as coming from “conservative” Republicans. In this episode, I explain why there is nothing conservative about this bill, but it is instead a horrible example of #CronyCapitalism. Furthermore, crony capitalism is a gift to socialists who attack capitalism because it lets them compare socialism to crony capitalism instead of free market capitalism. If you compare socialism to crony capitalism, you have a fair fight. But socialism has no chance against true free market capitalism.
Why do conservatives seem to hate class actions? Why do conservatives vilify class action attorneys? It’s not because conservatives are maintaining ideological purity, according to law Professor Brian Fitzpatrick.
Prof. Fitzpatrick is no stranger to conservative legal circles. After graduating first in his Harvard Law School class, he clerked for conservative Reagan-appointee Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Soon thereafter he clerked for conservative icon Justice Antonin Scalia.
Neither is Prof. Fitzpatrick new to conservative political circles. He served as Special Counsel for Supreme Court Nominations to conservative Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). He’s also a frequent presenter at events hosted by the Federalist Society (which doesn’t necessarily mean he is conservative, as the Federalist Society hosts events with speakers from a very wide array of viewpoints).
There’s a handful of reasons why conservatives should support class actions. They are better than extensive government regulations. They allow private enforcement instead of government enforcement of market rules. Class actions do a better job of compensating injured parties than government enforcement.
Class actions aren’t perfect, but nothing is. Prof. Fitzpatrick has some ideas that could make them better.
Listen to the interview to learn more about The Conservative Case for Class Actions.
