[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 137 (Tuesday, September 22, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                  LAWSUIT ABUSE REDUCTION ACT OF 2015

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                               speech of

                           HON. LOIS FRANKEL

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 17, 2015

  Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the so-
called Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act (H.R. 758). This misguided bill 
would reinstate procedural rules that failed thirty years ago, 
stripping federal judges of the ability to impose the sanctions they 
deem appropriate for bringing frivolous lawsuits. During the ten years 
the old rules were in effect, judges completely lost their discretion 
about whether or not to impose sanctions on attorneys and were forced 
to issue harsh penalties for even the smallest infractions. Heavy 
punishments under the old system lead to endless motions that clogged 
our already burdened legal system, preventing access to justice.
  Moreover, had the provisions in this bill been law for all of the 
twentieth century, they would have prevented dozens of landmark civil 
rights cases from moving forward. Under this bill, both Brown v. Board 
of Education, which struck down school segregation, and Loving v. 
Virginia, which eliminated bans on interracial marriage, might not have 
made it into the courtroom. To rectify this situation, Congress in 1993 
brought back the standards that existed during the Civil Rights Era, 
giving judges more flexibility and focusing on deterrence, rather than 
punishment. H.R. 758 would undo that work by abandoning our faith in 
judicial prudence. We should not repeat the mistakes of the past, and 
we should not allow this bill to become law.

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