We the People in the Courtroom: Recommendations for Tort and Class Action Reform

Please join Cato scholars Robert Levy and Mark Moller for an overview of proposed tort and class action reforms. Robert Levy will explore proposed federal tort reforms, including medical malpractice and punitive damage caps to determine if they unconstitutionally intrude on state sovereignty. He will examine the Commerce Clause and Fourteenth Amendment as possible sources of constitutional authority. He will then recommend congressional reforms that can be harmonized with federalism, and various state reforms that can be implemented without federal involvement.

Mark Moller will explore the limits imposed by the Constitution on class actions—and on class action reform. He will analyze the ways that class actions can violate the Due Process Clause, undermine our constitutional system of checks and balances, and fuel runaway growth in the size of government. He will critique the current Class Action Fairness Act and other reform proposals, and will recommend a series of long-term changes that could tame class actions at the state and federal levels.