Critics want to block bill that makes it tougher to sue

Critics of a bill that makes it harder to sue people are launching a last-minute effort to block the bill from being considered in tomorrow’s special legislative session. Iowa Trial Lawyers Association executive director Scott Brown says Iowans would have no recourse if they get bad medical care, purchase a defective product or face unsafe working conditions.He says if people really understood the bill they’d be shocked, and demand that their legislators rethink the issue. Brown says the bill also eliminates almost any avenue for seeking punitive damages from a drunken driver. That angers the vice president of the Polk County Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Lori Squires’s daughter died at the hands of a drunk driver in 1997, and while Squires didn’t sue for punitive damages, she doesn’t want that option taken from others. She says it’s not about money, it’s about punishment, detering wrong activities in people that create havoc in other people’s lives. She says they want to give the victims a face. Republican legislators say the legal changes included in their business reform package will make Iowa’s business climate more attractive.