Taking on Congress to Preserve Class Actions
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 985, the so-called “Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act.” This sweeping legislation would make it virtually impossible to bring a class action lawsuit, effectively locking the courthouse doors to millions of Americans. The final vote in the House represented a very narrow victory (220 – 201), setting the stage for a real battle in the United States Senate.
That’s a battle we’re ready to take on, and with your help, we’re optimistic we can win.
The vote in the House was much closer than the vote for a similar bill in the last Congress. Fourteen Republicans opposed the bill, and not a single Democrat voted in favor of it. We believe that is, in part, because of an aggressive grassroots and public education campaign highlighting the real dangers of this bill from the American Association for Justice, Public Justice and many of our allies.
With your help, we rolled out the largest grassroots campaign in Public Justice’s history, including:
- An effective, far-reaching series of blogs (like this one) highlighting the impact of this bill. Thanks to an unprecedented effort by Public Justice’s Class Action Preservation Project, we were able to collect dozens of stories about real cases that helped real people. We turned those into a series of blogs on Daily Kos, the Huffington Post and our own website which reached more than 100,000 readers.
- A grassroots call to action that rallied Public Justice members and supporters to call their Members of Congress and ask for a ‘no’ vote on the bill. We heard from many of you who made calls and spoke to Congressional offices (including Speaker Paul Ryan’s staff) about why this bill was so dangerous. Thank you for joining us.
- A comprehensive press strategy – coordinated with our friends at the American Association for Justice and The Impact Fund – that included a pre-vote press conference and important, favorable press coverage, like this story that was distributed to FOX affiliates across the country.
As the fight to defeat this attack on our courts moves to the Senate, we’ll ramp up our efforts even more. Along with our allies, Public Justice is committed to ensuring that Americans who have been wronged, cheated, harmed or discriminated against can rely on the courts for help. We will collect and tell more stories, and reach larger and larger audiences, in the weeks and months to come.
Your continued support is critical to our efforts. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has told reporters they are already shifting their focus, and their very significant financial resources, to the Senate. We know they’ll put every ounce of effort – and every dollar they can – behind the push to close the courthouse doors. We need to be equally strong in our response.
Look for more information on this page, in the coming days and weeks, about how you can continue to help.
The coming Senate battle will present our best opportunity to defeat this dangerous bill. Our opponents have a huge war chest they can spend in their efforts to block the courthouse doors. You can help us fight back by making a special contribution to our Class Action Preservation Project. We’ll put your gift to immediate use in our efforts to ensure that our courts remain open, and working, for everyone.
