Sarosh,
I certainly see the gruesome problems involved with these lawsuits.
Does 64 abridge freedom of speech as expressed by filing a "frivolous"
lawsuit?
Who is the trusted person who decides what law suit is frivolous? What
stops this person from saying, for example, that suing for font size
is not frivolous? Or suing to get a third party on the ballot is
frivolous?
BTW, thank you for your phone call.
Best, Michael
Hi Michael et al,
The 'official' state party position recommending a "yes" vote is as follows:
Prop 64 -- Limitations on Enforcement of Unfair Business Competition Laws.
YES. This would limit shakedown lawsuits in which lawyers sue businesses for trivial
matters that don't even have victims, and thereby force businesses to settle rather than
endure the horrendous expense of a trial.
Here is what Constance Erikson had to say in the last issue of the Libertarian Lifeline (EBLP's newsletter):
Proposition 64: This one's my favorite - the anti-shakedown
lawsuit proposition. California's unfair competi-tion
law prohibits any person from engaging in any unlaw-ful
act. This law may be enforced in court by the Attorney
General, local public prosecutors, or a person acting in the
interest of itself, its members, or the public. Examples of
these lawsuits include travel agents who haven't posted
their license number on their website and local auto deal-ers
who use "APR" instead of "Annual Percentage Rate" in
their ads. If a business commits even a minor infraction or
technical violation of any of the countless laws in Califor-nia,
anyone can sue that business without showing that
he/she suffered injury or lost money or property. The most
recent victims of these lawsuits are California's small
businesses, including auto repair shops, convenience
stores, nail salons, travel agents and restaurants. Most
small businesses - many of them immigrant owned - are
forced to settle rather than face a long and costly legal
battle even if they know they have done nothing wrong.
Proposition 64 amends the law to limit an individual's right
to sue by allowing private enforcement only if that individ-ual
has been actually injured by, and suffered finan-cial/
property loss because of an unfair business practice. In
the ideal Libertarian world, there would be no legislation for
small businesses to conform to or else be "shaken down"
for. But until we can get rid of these burdensome and
onerous regulations, on the editor's very personal 1-10
meter, this gets a 10!! I emphatically and with gusto ask
you to Vote Yes on Proposition 64.
Rich