As promised, Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry has vetoed lawsuit reform legislation he said conflicts with an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision on a similar bill that the court found unconstitutional two years ago.
Henry issued the veto two days after the measure received final passage in the Oklahoma House. The bill would have required injured people to obtain certificates of legal merit from experts in order to file professional malpractice lawsuits.
Supporters said the bill would curb rising insurance and business costs by stopping frivolous lawsuits and cutting the cost of Oklahoma’s civil justice system. Henry vowed to veto the measure shortly after it was approved.
“In an 8-1 decision in 2006, the state’s highest court ruled that the cost associated with certificates of merit placed an undue financial burden on citizens seeking access to justice and served as a barrier to their constitutional rights,” the governor said in his veto message.
“I support efforts to reduce frivolous lawsuits, but because the court has already spoken clearly on the certificate of merit issue, enacting this measure would have been a wasteful exercise in futility,” he said.
Opponents of the legislation have said the certificates would cost injured persons between $500 and $12,000 to obtain.
The measure overturned by the Supreme Court dealt exclusively with medical malpractice lawsuits. The one Henry vetoed expanded that to any professional service including physicians, attorneys and accountants.
Supporters said they were disappointed by the veto and will consider a possible veto override.
House members split along party lines in passing the measure 54-44, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats no. It takes a two-thirds vote of the 101-member House, or 68 votes, to override a gubernatorial veto. The bill passed the Senate 48-0.
“This bill would have cleared the court of frivolous lawsuits, making them more accessible for those injured as a result of proven professional negligence, not less as Governor Henry claims,” said the measure’s author, Rep. Colby Schwartz, R-Yukon.
“It is disappointing, but not surprising, that Governor Henry has once again vetoed a bipartisan lawsuit reform bill,” said Senate co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City. “The trial lawyers have a true friend in Gov. Brad Henry.”
“Governor Henry has consistently stated that he is in favor of lawsuit reform yet has repeatedly vetoed what we have sent to him,” said Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa. “It appears the powers that have heavily invested in the status quo have won another victory and the citizens of Oklahoma have lost yet another opportunity to bring reform to our legal system.”
Henry said that signing the bill into law would be the equivalent of making the same mistake twice.
“The measure would have been challenged a second time and overturned a second time by the Supreme Court,” he said. “That process would have needlessly consumed time and taxpayers’ money.”
Topics Lawsuits Legislation Oklahoma
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