Politics makes strange bedfellows. Today’s friend is tomorrow’s opponent, and vice versa. Which helps explain why the Family Council, one of Arkansas’ most visible conservative groups, will be allied with trial lawyers and opposing the Chamber of Commerce this year.

It’s because of Issue 1, the tort reform amendment.

Referred to voters by the Legislature last year, Issue 1 would limit punitive damages (which punish wrongdoing) to the greater of $500,000 or three times compensatory damages, though not if the defendant intentionally caused harm. It would limit non-economic damages (pain and suffering) to $500,000, or $500,000 for all beneficiaries when the victim dies. Economic damages based on the victim’s income would not be limited, so the more the victim makes, the higher the potential award. It also would limit lawyers’ contingency fees to one-third of the judgment and let the Legislature change the state Supreme Court’s own rules.

A lot of money is at stake, so a lot of money will be spent in the campaign by November.

Proponents, opponents both raising lots of money

On the pro side, the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce is leading a coalition of business groups, Arkansans for Jobs and Justice. They say the current legal climate results in out-of-proportion jackpot awards, raising liability insurance costs and making Arkansas less competitive. Doctors must practice defensive medicine – performing unnecessary tests, etc. – to keep from being sued. Those practices raise health care costs for everyone.

Through February, the effort had raised almost $1 million. Moreover, those business groups will be mobilizing their own members this fall.

On the other side are the lawyers. They say a trial by jury is a fundamental right guaranteed by the 7th Amendment, and that big verdicts are necessary to protect the little guy from bad corporate actors. One group, Protect Arkansas Families, has raised more than $1 million. A second, the Liberty Defense Network, has raised more than $500,000 entirely from the Brad Hendricks Law Firm in Little Rock. A third, Defending Your Day in Court, has raised about $24,000.

The businesses make more money if this passes. The lawyers make more money if it fails. You’ll therefore see plenty of ads from one side depicting unscrupulous lawyers, and from the other depicting victims of nursing home abuse.

In other words, the two sides may fight to a stalemate in the air war, which means grass roots politics could matter to some degree.

Why is the Family Council against?

So let’s talk about the Family Council.

That group usually concerns itself with traditional values issues – abortion, gay marriage, homeschooling, etc. Its mailing list, regular and email, includes somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people – and importantly, 1,000 pastors. It printed about 250,000 copies of its influential voter guide in 2016, primarily distributed through churches. And it opposes Issue 1.

Jerry Cox, its president, said its stance is rooted in its pro-life viewpoint – that the same protections are due the unborn and the very old. His main concern is that nursing homes will have fewer incentives to provide good care without the threat of a big verdict hanging over their head. The Family Council could support tort reform. Just not this proposal.

“Issue 1 allows the state to put a dollar value on a human life, and we think that’s wrong, because we think human life is priceless,” he said.

How intensely will Cox’s people buy that argument? He said the emails he’s getting have been supportive. However, this issue involves an atypical set of heroes and villains. Will those 1,000 pastors speak up for unlimited jury verdicts the way they might speak against abortion? Certainly, religious conservatives won’t march on the Capitol in a show of support for trial lawyers. And because the Family Council is a nonprofit, its voter guide can only present information about the amendment, not argue a position.

Unlike all of those groups raising money, the Family Council doesn’t have a financial interest in this debate. Not coincidentally, its political action committee hasn’t raised enough money to report on itself yet, though it’s started trying. Cox is willing to take money from groups that normally wouldn’t be part of his network, if offered.

The Republican Party has long been a coalition that includes big business and social conservatives, and big business supports Issue 1. The Family Council’s stance puts it at odds with many of its usual allies and on the same side with groups and individuals it might often oppose.

But politics creates strange bedfellows, right?

By Steve Brawner

© 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.