Land Of The Laywers, Home Of The Corporate

TODAY I READ about two legal judgements which further reinforce my ‘outside looking in’ views on America, namely that it is rapidly descending into a nation of lawyers and ultra conservative professionals intent on dragging the country down into a corporate controlled nightmare of Orwellian proportions.

The first item is the setback for the gay community dealt by New York’s Court of Appeals and Georgia’s Supreme Court. In New York they ruled that the state constitution does not grant a right to gay marriage (although there may be some hope down the line as the constitution does leave open the option for a change in the law). In Georgia the Supreme Court rejected the argument that the state ban on gay marriage had been improperly passed. Same sex marriages are off the agenda for a while now it seems in both states.

The end result – a further retreat into the conservative shadows and no doubt some more religious self delusion about the righteousness of holding on to such positions in the face of progress. Score one for the neo cons and bible bashers, hard luck freedom of expression (at least in reference to sexuality).

And then of course there is the second item I came across, concerning a legal victory for the tobacco firms and industry in the USA. Florida’s Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision to throw out an award for damages of $145bn (£82bn) against major tobacco companies. While the court agreed that the $145 billion award could not stand, it did reinstate about $7 million in damages that the jury awarded two plaintiffs. Notch up another one for big business. Tough luck all you tobacco addicts.

The Florida case, the latest in a series of favorable court decisions for tobacco companies, comes as the industry awaits a decision in another lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department. In that case, the government is seeking $14 billion from various tobacco companies. It had initially asked for $280 billion in damages, the amount of money that federal prosecutors said tobacco companies improperly gained by lying to consumers. But the government had to reduce the amount after a United States Supreme Court decision limited its ability to collect monetary damages. In May, the Illinois Supreme Court said it would not reconsider its decision to throw out a $10 billion verdict against Philip Morris.

Land of the free? Home of the brave? Don’t think so. Not anymore. It’s more like America Inc.
these days