by Frank Holmes, reporter
If you want to live in a hellhole, find an area run by a Democrat.
That’s not just an opinion; that’s the expert analysis of an organization that monitors out-of-control legal environments.
Democrats run seven of America’s nine worst “judicial hellholes,” according to the group, which measures the nation’s legal environment on a state-by-state and city-by-city basis every year.
Judicial hellholes are areas “where lawsuit abuse is the norm, and fairness and justice take a backseat,” explains the American Tort Reform Association, or ATRA. “In judicial hellholes, lawsuit abuse hampers economic growth and stifles small businesses.”
THE VERDICT IS IN ⚖️ The 2023-2024 #JudicialHellholes® reveal sparks nationwide discussion on the dire need for legal reform.
Uncover the full findings to pinpoint where civil justice hangs in the balance. 🌐https://t.co/UVBW3RvL9D pic.twitter.com/qwneuy6E7z
— American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) ⚖️ (@AmTortReform) December 11, 2023
Judicial hellholes are known for “nuclear verdicts”—awards of $10 million or more—as well as relying on unfair or uneven application of the laws, or using phony standards.
The hellholes run by Democrats include Gavin Newsom’s entire state of California, where courts show a real “willingness to rely on junk science” and have “given rise to thousands of baseless personal injury claims,” the report states.
Josh Shapiro’s state of Pennsylvania, although the real problem is the Pennsylvania Supreme Court—the one known for its controversial rulings on mail-in voting—and the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
The problem goes back to a U.S Supreme Court decision that actually made things worse, according to ATRA. The Mallory decision, which let a man who lives in Virginia sue a company that’s based in Virginia in a more liberal Pennsylvania court, created “litigation tourism”: Lawyers suing people in liberal courts, which are more likely to convict and to give the plaintiff a huge reward.
That opinion, which combed a strange combination of conservative and liberal justices, helped “contribute to a climate of forum shopping, threatening to overwhelm courts in Georgia, Pennsylvania, St. Louis, and New York City,” says the report.
In one such case, a man who bought an allegedly “defective” lawnmower was allowed to sue the company in Philadelphia… even though he bought it in a different county and was injured in yet another county. The court lets people sue anywhere the company regularly does business, even though only a tiny fraction of the manufacturer’s business takes place in Philadelphia.
This strange practice also applies to doctors—so medical personnel can be sued in counties where they don’t work but happen to live. Once again, liberal Philadelphia judges and juries are four times more likely to issue a ruling against a doctor than nearby counties.
Pennsylvania isn’t alone. John Bel Edwards’ state of Louisiana also makes the cut.
“Though entire states are sometimes cited as Hellholes, specific counties or courts in a given state often warrant citations of their own,” the report notes.
Blue cities on the list also include New York City, St. Louis—as well as Lansing, Michigan, and Cook County, Illinois.
That’s compared to two Republican-run regions: Georgia and South Carolina.
To give an idea, in New York City, a member of the New York Giants cashed in on a $28.5 million settlement after a doctor performed a surgery that failed to fix his injured ankle, ending his career on the field.
That’s a tragedy and a huge loss of income—but the doctor testified that no amount of medical treatment could have repaired the injury enough to let his patient safely return to the gridiron.
The jury just took out its sports frustrations on the doctor, the report implies.
In another case, a jury in Democrat-controlled Fulton County, Georgia, awarded $32.5 million to the parents of a 21-year-old who died after he crashed into a planter maintained by the city of Milton… six feet away from the road.
“Georgia continues to be a major concern and cost to small businesses,” said Hunter Loggins, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). “We are encouraged that this is a priority of Governor Kemp and look forward to working with the Governor and legislative leaders to address this important issue in the upcoming legislative session.”
These verdicts cost the people who live in these areas jobs, income, and opportunities, as well as justice.
Pennsylvania loses 171,091 jobs every year because of its terrible legal environment, the report states. New York City has lost 376,738 jobs this year because of its left-wing judges. California loses an incredible 787,490 jobs every year due to the legal environment the state has created.
The problem of unnecessary lawsuits and legal extortion doesn’t just affect citizens in those states. The cost of judicial shakedowns, ambulance chasers, and people seeking to cash in raise the prices of the goods and services you buy an average of $1,424 per person, every year—or $6,000 for a family of four, ATRA said.
“In many Judicial Hellholes, these figures are even more bleak,” said ATRA President Tiger Joyce.
That’s bad news any time; it’s worse in the era of Bidenflation. Luckily, the right changes can solve both of those problems.
Nikki Haley raised the issue of tort reform at the undercard Republican presidential debate in October. “You’ve got to deal with tort law,” Haley said. Every time you have a medical appointment, “doctors don’t give you the 10 tests” that you don’t really need “because they want to. It’s because of the 90% chance they’ll get sued.”
Cutting down on bankruptcy-inducing lawsuits would keep more doctors in practice, cutout unnecessary testing, and lower costs, she said.
But while Haley has discussed it, she isn’t the only candidate with history on the issue. Arguably, another candidate has an equal or better record, the group noted.
The report “isn’t all bad news,” ATRA states. “This year, we’re excited to announce Florida’s official removal from the report.”
The Florida Chamber of Commerce called the state’s upgraded condition “an important mile marker on the road to improving Florida’s legal climate from bottom-five to top twelve in the nation by 2030.”
“This achievement is possible because of a united business community, and the unwavering leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis,” the chamber said.
Florida has officially been removed from @AmTortReform Judicial Hellholes Report, having been previously ranked as the worst judicial climate in the country. Today marks an important mile marker on the road to improving Florida’s legal climate from bottom-five to top twelve in…
— Florida Chamber (@FLChamber) December 5, 2023
It’s no coincidence that Joe Biden, who has presided over the worst period of inflation in decades, is in the pocket of the trial lawyers.
But this is one problem that doesn’t require him to be kicked out of office: It can take place in every state, city, and county… and unless you believe trial lawyers can use $6,000 a year better than your family, it’s past time that reform began.
Frank Holmes is a veteran journalist and an outspoken conservative that talks about the news that was in his weekly article, “On The Holmes Front.”