[20180410]LSB10118_第115届国会的侵权与诉讼改革.pdf

CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Tort and Litigation Reform in the 115th Congress April 10, 2018 Debates over “tort reform”that is, whether (and to what extent) legislatures should limit lawsuits concerning negligence, personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability, and other similar causes of actionhave endured for decades. Many commentators and policymakers have advocated both substantive changes to the tort system (that is, “regulation of the standards of liability” that apply in tort cases “as well as the amount of damages” that a tort plaintiff may recover) and procedural changes (i.e., regulation of where, when, and how a tort lawsuit may proceed). Whereas supporters argue that tort reform is necessary to prevent “questionable lawsuits” that “compromise access to affordable health care, punish consumers by raising the cost of goods and services, chill innovation, and undermine the notion of personal responsibility,” opponents argue that measures restricting tort litigation undesirably “chip away at Americans ability to seek justice.” This Sidebar surveys several major tort and litigation reform bills pending i