|
Support for our Lawsuit
Friday December 19,1997
EDITORIALS
OUR READERS RESPOND
"Toe to toe"
To the editor:
The Dec, 11 article "Businesses plan to take on trial lawyers," outlines
a looming battle: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (the businessman's lobby),
the Republican leadership and the tobacco industry going "toe to toe" with the
trial lawyers.
Tobacco is going to finance a public relations campaign to try to convince the
American public that they ultimately pay for legal fees and large judgments levied against
business. What tobacco will fail to mention is that the courts and large judgments are the
only way to ensure product safety in the marketplace -- and the only way to convince the
tobacco companies not to lie and deceive us as they have done for decades about their
death-dealing cigarettes.
They want to cap lawyer's fees to increase the risk/reward ratio so there will be
no one who can afford to come after them; no one to force them to accept the
responsibility for the damage they have done.
I am a casino dealer, and I read the Review-Journal report several weeks ago about
the Nevada Casino Dealers Association organizing a lawsuit against the tobacco companies
on second -hand smoke. I tip my hat to this organization for taking on this giant
industry. I am proud to say I am joining this lawsuit, together with the other dealers, to
try to make this well-financed, powerful industry, realize that it does not own the world
after all.
Sure, the tobacco industry wants to crush the trial lawyers into submission.
I'm thankful that the dealers association sounded the call. I'm thankful that the
Review-Journal was there to report it. And mostly, I'm thankful that there are trial
lawyers out there willing to stand "toe to toe" with these tobacco thugs.
ROBERT STAMPER
Las Vegas
(Back
to Index)
|
