Judiciary Committee to Hold Hearing on ‘Risky Business Of Big Oil’

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,” according to a press release.

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. 

(credit image – daylife/associated press)