Wyoming Constitution: Article 1, Section 19...No money of the state shall be given or appropriated to any sectarian or religious society or institution.

 

 

 

February 4, 2005

 

Good morning! Our bill of the day is Senate Joint Resolution #4; Noneconomic damages-constitutional amendment. Although this bill has already been tabled, I thought it might be advantageous to point it out because it shows a mentality that does exist within the Legislative ranks.

 

You might recall that the voters rejected proposed Constitutional Amendment ‘D’ at the last election; that change would have allowed the Legislature to put a cap on noneconomic damages in lawsuits involving victims of medical malpractice.

 

The latest idea along the lines of limiting the power of the citizen juries to compensate injured citizens is SJR #4. This bill was much more threatening to the citizens because it was not limited to medical malpractice lawsuits; this one covered ALL types of civil cases, a very bad idea.

 

Even though the people rejected a limited approach to putting caps on damages, what else to do but try to promote an expanded version?

 

The dollar cap was included in this proposal, a one million dollar limit, which of course sounds like an awful lot of money, but every situation is unique and special. Why not let the juries of Wyoming citizens make the decision? Which is exactly what our constitution says right now, and why the forces of evil are always trying to change it. They do not trust the people.

 

Once again the real root of the problem is overlooked by this approach. The policies of the insurance companies are the problem we need to solve. Their rates for all types of insurance are determined by their greed, and their experiences in other states, not by the excessive awards of Wyoming juries.

 

Progressive ideas to address the problem are nowhere to be seen during this Session of the Legislature, so we will continue to limp along without any changes in the current system.

 

Keith