Exxon Valdez Ruling is a Perfect Example of What is Wrong with the American Lawsuit

Like most Americans, frivolous lawsuits anger me. I remember one in particular about a woman who sued a famous fast food enterprise over her spilt, scalding coffee. Lawsuits such as these are ridiculous and only highlight the poor quality of our political system, especially the system involving lawsuit torts.

One such lawsuit that bucks the trend is that of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. According to Yahoo.com, the Supreme court approved a cut to punitive damages paid to Alaskans directly affected by the Valdez oil spill, from $2.5 billion to a now unethical $507.5 million. Back in 1994, damages were already cut once in half, and now these damages are a drop in the bucket to those Alaskans who were hoping to get back just a portion of the loss they experienced during, and after, the oil spill.

Lawsuits in America have become a challenge: a challenge to see who can extrude the greatest amount of money from a broken system. It is because of this broken system, that legitimate lawsuits that benefit those who are unjustifiably hurt by corrupt companies, are denied or mis-regulated.

Massive powerhouse companies, such as Exxon whose profits have been nothing short of a windfall, are able to take full advantage of the broken system. They use corrupt ways to ruin the American people who are suffering from their tragedies. It is because of a broken system that allows anyone to sue for anything, that a town in Alaska is now going to suffer a second time for this oil tragedy.

Americanlawsuits.com even makes the effort to list the many ways that Americans have sued for trivial, stupid and negligent things. Accountability has gone beyond reasonable and now allows one to be held accountable for the slightest of mishaps.

In a country where you can sue for the dumbest of happenings, we are forced to sign our lives over to ridiculous waiver forms. It has come to the point where, as Americans, we feel we need to keep a post-it note tablet full of fill in the blank contracts that will bind and hold all responsible for the simplest of mistakes.

Frivolty has become the American way, and the political system is doing nothing to change that. For the people of Alaska who have been directly affected by the Valdez disaster, there never was, nor will there ever be, a chance for such glamor. These people have continually suffered because of the mistake, and now corruption of the Exxon Valdez accident.

Accountability is gone in the American political system when it comes to lawsuits and torts. We have become the official sue happy nation, and because of that, those who are rightfully fighting for what was lost, are now going to lose all over again.