The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing next week to examine how recent court decisions and federal liability caps influence corporate behavior, affect American taxpayers, and provide justice to victims, Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Tuesday.
The hearing will be the latest in a series of Judiciary Committee hearings Leahy has organized in recent years to explore the impact of Supreme Court decisions on the lives of everyday Americans. The hearing on June 8 will focus on the Court s 2008 decision in Exxon v. Baker, in which a 5-4 opinion by the Court chopped the amount of punitive damages a jury awarded to victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill by $2 billion. The hearing will also focus on the Big Oil Polluter Pays Act, introduced in May by Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Leahy, and Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). The legislation would overturn the Supreme Court s opinion in Exxon and would allow judges and juries to assess punitive damages based on all the facts in a case, regardless of the amount of other damages owed.
The April 20 explosion on a British Petroleum oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and the unfolding environmental and economic disaster has sharpened focus on the question of liability caps for corporations responsible for the cleanup of such disasters. The panel also expects to hear testimony about liability for the loss of life on the oil rig, and whether current federal laws need to be updated to ensure that the survivors of those who were killed, and future victims, will be treated fairly.
In light of the latest environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, many Americans are concerned that those responsible for the significant harm to the environment, to hardworking Americans in the Gulf region, and to those whose lives were lost in this tragedy will not be held accountable, said Leahy. It took just five Justices to give Exxon Mobil a $2 billion windfall, greatly reducing the oil giant's liability for the damage done by its oil spill. The Judiciary Committee will again take a close look at this ruling, in which the Supreme Court acted again to shield large corporations from accountability.
We must also not allow the magnitude of the environmental disaster overshadow the fact that 11 Americans perished on the oil rig, Leahy continued. Congress must ensure that the families and loved ones they left behind are treated fairly and so the Committee will examine the adequacy of current Federal laws governing liability for the tragic loss of life that occurred at the outset of this disaster.
In a letter on May 20, Leahy urged President Barack Obama to press federal executive agencies to make publicly available information related to the ongoing oil spill and the spreading crisis in the Gulf. Leahy also joined 17 other senators in a letter asking Attorney General Eric Holder to look into the financial transactions of Transocean Ltd., the owner of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. The firm has announced that it intends to distribute $1 billion to private shareholders just weeks after the explosion that sunk the rig and spurred the massive oil leak. The letter asked the Justice Department to investigate whether the move is an attempt to shield the company from lawsuits.
The hearing, entitled The Risky Business of Big Oil: Have Recent Court Decisions and Liability Caps Encouraged Irresponsible Corporate Behavior?, will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 8, in room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Witnesses are expected to be announced later this week. The hearing will be webcast live online.
Source: Leahy's office. 6.1.2010.
# # # # #
Leahy announces judiciary hearing on 'Risky Business Of Big Oil'
Submitted by tim
on