Senators Target Supreme Court's 'Exxon' Ruling in Effort to Make Oil Companies Pay for Spills

[kpete]

Source: National Law Review

Senators Target Supreme Court's 'Exxon' Ruling in Effort to Make Oil Companies Pay for Spills

Marcia Coyle

The National Law Journal

June 01, 2010



Lawmakers looking for ways to ensure that oil companies pay for devastating spills have a new target: a 2008 Supreme Court decision limiting punitive damages in maritime law.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., joined by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., introduced a bill this month that would eliminate the 1:1 ratio of punitive damages to compensatory damages imposed in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker (pdf). http://www.supremecourt.gov/

The "Big Oil Polluter Pays Act" declares that, in any civil action for damages arising out of a maritime tort case, punitive damages may be assessed without regard to the amount of compensatory damages assessed in the action.

The Baker case stemmed from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The Supreme Court, exercising its authority as a common-law court, voted 5-3 to to reduce a $2.5 billion punitive award to Alaskan fishermen, fisheries and others damaged by the spill, to $500 million. The Baker decision has been on a list of high court rulings Leahy has criticized vigorously in the last two months as examples of what he called "a very conservative activist Supreme Court."

Read more: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202458951519

[Lasher]

1. Might be a good idea to nominate a liberal to the SCOTUS to counteract conservative extremists

Just a thought.

[scentopine]

3. Unfortunately we have seated two extreme centrists and

when republicans regain control, they'll waste no time installing another Alito and Scalia. What a waste.

[ColesCountyDem]

4. Who's the first?

By the way, please define 'extreme centrist' for the class....

[Scuba]

2. Ask the Alaska fishermen if they ever got their $500M

[BolivarianHero]

5. Meh...Reid and the party establishment will make us all wonder why progressives are still Dems..

Same old song and dance.