George Will’s recent op-ed piece, "Exploding Litigation Means the death of Common Sense," lacks a key ingredient – a basis in fact. Mr. Will, generally a stickler for detail, offers only anecdotal evidence for his conclusion. The readily obtainable facts clearly show otherwise. Don’t trust me – Google it.
Do school systems and businesses and state governments sometimes go overboard on the defensive? Of course. Are there lawyers out there who put making a buck ahead of their client’s interest? No question. Do the Chamber of Commerce and the Insurance industry generate spin, skewing reality in an effort to make people think that there is a lawsuit crisis when there’s not? You betcha.
It would be awfully unfair to use the Bush Administration’s stance on torture for the premise that Americans do not support human rights. Would it be proper to write a piece detailing three incidents where the NYPD officers used excessive force to prove that the force is out of control? The proponents of tort reform rail against "junk science" – starting at the conclusion you want and working backwards instead of using an accepted methodology. Mr. Will, what was the methodology that you used in reaching your conclusion? Junk science is a two edged sword.
