Missouri Injury Lawyers Blog

With permission from Representative Asbury, here is a copy of his Capitol Report from May 5th, 2011 regarding the upcoming changes proposed by MODOT.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Proposes Major Restructuring Initiatives. A MoDOT proposal to significantly restructure the highway department was made this week by Director Kevin Keith to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission(Commission). In what MoDOT officials have described as a bold move to right- size the department, Director Keith announced the potential closing of three district offices and 132 MoDOT facilities throughout Missouri before year- end 2012. The facilities closures would include four central offices, 17 resident engineer offices and 111 maintenance barns. The closet maintenance barns affected in this area would be in Atlanta and New Cambria. No barns in Randolph or Chariton County would be affected. In addition, MoDOT's equipment inventory would be reduced 740 pieces. Currently, MoDOT maintains ten district offices throughout the state with those being consolidated and reduced to seven in the proposal. The Macon office would be closed affecting 80 staff that would need to relocate to another office.

In addition, the administrative workforce would be reduced by 1,200 employees during the same timeframe. I have been told this reduction would include no reduction of field employees who perform the maintenance work efforts.

It is my understanding that subsequent to this week's announcement, community briefings will occur where the public can obtain direct information from MoDOT with the possibility to also provide public comments. In addition, it appears the Commission would likely make a final decision at their June 8 meeting.

I have contacted local government officials to discuss the impacts of the decision. The closure of the Macon office would create a severe economic hardship to this region. I have also sent a letter to Director Keith requesting any cost/benefit analysis or selection criteria MoDOT used to make the determination to close the Macon office. I will work closely with local interests and MoDOT to identify a means to obtain similar fiscal benefits without the closure of the Macon office. I encourage everyone to watch for and participate in the MoDOT public comment period to express their opinion on the restructuring proposal.

A map showing the proposed districts can be found at http://www.modot.org/. Additional detailed information can be found at http://www.modot.org/bolderfiveyeardirection/.

House Overrides Governor's Veto of Congressional Redistricting Map
This week the House voted 109-44 and the Senate 28-6 to override Governor Nixon's veto of the Congressional redistricting map. The final map indicates that Chariton and Macon counties would be located in Congressional District 6 and Randolph County would be in District 4. In addition, Randolph County remains whole in the final map. Unless litigated, the map will now become law and take effect in time to ensure proper filing in February 2012 for congressional district candidates.
The override marks the first time since 2003that a governor's veto has been undone by the Missouri General Assembly.
The final map approved by the House and Senate is available at the official Missouri House of Representatives website at the following link: http://house.mo.gov/largemap.aspx?map=3

Online Survey for Public Input on Issues:
Please go to http://www.house.mo.gov/member.aspx?year=2011&district=022 to participate in an online survey which provides the public an opportunity to provide input on a number of issues regarding labor, schools, early voting, term limits and photo identification for elections among others.

House Information and Legislation Online:
House members and bills filed may both be online at http://www.house.mo.gov/default.aspx

This recently approved national pilot project, in which cameras will be placed in courtrooms throughout the U.S. will last about three years. The goal is the find what effect, if any, cameras will have in the district courtrooms, including publication of the video recordings. Courts that participate in this pilot proejct will amend their local rules seeking an exception for judges to participate in the pilot project. Participation will be at the judge's discretion.

To read more about this upcoming project and how it will affect our judicial system, visit the US Courts website.

This November there will be many non-partisan judges asking for Missourians to vote to keep them on the bench. How do you decide who will get your vote? One resource you may want to consider has been compiled by the Missouri Bar's Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee. They gathered data and opions from all judges seeking retention and conducted an extensive evaluation of each. The evaluations are available to the public on the Missouri Bar's Judging the Judges 2010 website.

Non-partisan judges make up a very important part of our legal system here in Missouri. Having non-partisan judges helps keep politics out of our courtrooms. For more information on Missouri's non-partisan court plan, visit the Show Me Courts website.

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently discussed non-partisan court plans in her Op-Ed article, "Take Justice Off the Ballot," published last week by the New York Times. Justice O'Connor defended a non-partisan court plan for selecting judges that includes public nominations and appointment of judges, followed by performance evaluations and followed up with a yes or no vote by the people.

Eric Posner, a law professor at the University of Chicago, outlines a differing view in his recent Newsweek article entitled, "The Case for Electing Judges in Missouri." Notably, Professor Posner's differing view fails to mention that under merit selection plans votes do get to vote on the judges.

Our view is that the Missouri plan has produced well qualified ethical judges under both republican and democratic administrations. Changing to a pure electoral system will serve only the rich and powerful.

Supreme Court and Appellate Judges are selected under the Missouri non-partisan plan for selecting judges. The Missouri plan has become a model for other states because it avoids the interjection of politics, money and special interests into the judiciary.

Unfortunately, some powerful interests want to undo the non-partisan court plan so they can install judges that are loyal to their political views. This would be the worst possible outcome for fairness in our Missouri courts. Recently, Chief Justice William Ray Price, Jr. of the Missouri Supreme Court delivered the State of Judiciary Address. This quote from his speech is something every Missourian should read and take to heart.

"When the people of Missouri walk into our courtrooms, they expect and deserve to have their individual case heard on its facts and on the law, without fear that a rich man or a powerful interest has already bought the promise of the judge to rule the other way. Justice is rendering to each litigant what he or she is entitled to, not using his or her case as a stepping stone for fundraising or as a stepping stone for the advancement of a particular ideological or political goal, or as payback to a contributor."

Chief Justice Price's words speak volumes about the intent to dismantle Missouri's non-partisan court plan. If you care about fairness and justice in our court systems, contact your legislator and let them know that you support the Missouri non-partisan court plan and do not want it changed.

You may or may not be familiar with the phrase "tort reform." Wikipedia defines tort reform as "proposed changes in the civil justice system that would reduce tort litigation or damages." What is "Tort?" It is a system within our laws set up to compensate injured parties for harm done to them by someone or something else. Limiting tort litigation doesn't necessarily sound like a bad thing, until you start to think about what tort reform really means for Americans.

In recent years, proponents of tort reform have focused particular attention on personal injury law, crying foul when an injured person is awarded a large verdict amount. According to a recent article by Andrew Cohen, corporations have brainwashed millions of Americans into believing that tort reform will save them from the greedy trial lawyers who are getting these big verdicts. Cohen writes that in truth, the verdicts are decided upon by everyday people--the jurors who sat and listened to the injuries caused by a corporations' wrongdoing and voted to award a big verdict to help offset the cost of medical expenses and lost wages the claimant had suffered. "Each time a jury awards a large sum to a plaintiff against a negligent defendant, it's a statement from jurors that the sort of conduct alleged and proven is worthy of punishment by the community."

Now, if you think about big corporations and what would be in their best interest to lobby for, tort reform is the perfect solution in two ways. First, they convince millions of Americans that the trial lawyers who help them right their wrongs are the bad guy. Then, they lobby the legislators to change the laws so that consumers have such a limited ability to recover damages that they can no longer find attorneys willing to help them try. According to Forbes reporter Daniel Fisher, tort reform is "A catchall phrase for legislative measures designed to make it harder for individuals to sue businesses."

Now thanks to tort reform, instead of fostering an environment of corporate responsibility and an incentive for carefulness, the American people will no longer have a level playing field to fight against big businesses. Do you really want your elected representatives to vote away your right to recover when someone injures you?