EF! Fined $1million in Idaho
Bruce Scott TOK
bds at ipp-garching.mpg.de
Mon Nov 11 10:14:58 EST 1996
Mike Asher (masher at tusc.net) wrote:
: Joseph Zorzin <redoak at vgernet.net> wrote:
: > I have some appreciation for both sides of this case as I'm both a
: > practicing forester and I'm also proud to call myself an
: > environmentalist.
: > But if the true damage was only $20,000 then why the &#@*% did the court
: > award the company over a million bucks?
: It's called punitive damages, and they are often awarded in cases of
: intentional malice. You don't seem to have a problem with punitive damages
: against corporations.
I don't like punitive damages against corporations, either. It is
simple retribution, a tit for a tat, that does nothing to solve in any
way the real problems.
But you have to recognise the unequal situation. If the lumber company
were fined 1 million, it could simply pass it on to their customers the
way they do their advertising costs. You and I cannot do things that
This use of the court system to "make examples" is exactly what I have
in mind when mentioning the financial subversion of democracy by those
with the resources. Even if the lawsuit is frivolous, an individual
hardly has money, connections, or time it takes to defend oneself and
answer the flood of legal paper.
This is how to silence people in the US. We are learning from the likes
of Singapore and Malaysia how to crush dissent without creating a
Bruce Scott, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, bds at ipp-garching.mpg.de
Remember John Hron: http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/h/hron-john/
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