Wednesday, July 06, 2005

A federal judge I like!??!

I will probably post soon on the search for the replacement for Justice O’Connor. I’ve made no secret of my contempt for judges who put their public policy preferences over the Constitution. And I feel it’s vital to not appoint such to the Supreme Court.

But first, a federal judge I love. Yes, it’s true. Finally, a judge has the guts to call out a semi-fraudulent money-grubbing lawsuit. What’s better is that she may have thrown a big wrench into similar lawsuits across the nation. Here’s the story (Registration required):

[U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack] who has been presiding over pretrial testimony in 111 silicosis cases with more than 10,000 clients, signed an order on Thursday criticizing much of the medical evidence used to make those claims. Though she had jurisdiction over just one of the cases, her ruling could affect the 110 other cases because they involve medical diagnoses from many of the same doctors.

Jack said those diagnoses were "more about litigation rather than healthcare."

"These diagnoses were driven neither by health nor justice: They were manufactured for money," she wrote.


Wow!

The story adds, “Representatives of the plaintiffs did not return calls.” I imagine they didn’t.

I have yearned for years for a judge to do something like this. And because her findings will be used in other courts, this merits continued watching.

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