Our civil litigation system influences our behavior in ways big and small because people are afraid they might be sued. Sometimes the mere idea of fighting a lawsuit is enough to terrify anyone from taking an action that might be socially desirable (e.g. helping out a stranger in need), and we shouldn’t have a legal system that discourages them.
Justice always requires judgment, but we too often strip that from our judges. Nowhere is this more apparent than the ability of spurious lawsuits to make it to trial.
Judges should be able to dismiss any lawsuit during its initial stages purely for being unreasonable. There can be an appeal process, but that process should be one that’s fought between the plaintiff and an appeals court, not between a plaintiff and the person being unreasonably sued.
Problems to be Solved
- checkThe constant threat of being sued, coupled with the high cost of defending even a ridiculous claim, has paralyzed Americans in their private lives and increased costs for the businesses they run and places they work.
- We should give judges the power to keep frivolous nuisance lawsuits out of their courtroom to free up the resources for real conflicts and injustices. Most of us are frightened of the threat of a lawsuit and it shapes behavior in ways big and small. And there are some businesses and individuals that sue frivolously as a competitive bullying strategy.
Goals
- checkRemove the fear of being bankrupted by needing to fight a ridiculous lawsuit
- checkClear up our clogged court systems by allowing judges to more easily dismiss spurious lawsuits
As President I will...
- Work to restore common sense and agency to our court system by allowing judges to more readily dismiss lawsuits they deem unreasonable.