Privacy in Lawsuits vs. Public Safety

* Your April 15 editorial, “Sometimes, Secrecy Kills,” described the personal-injury lawyers’ latest legislative scheme as making court records open to the public. That’s already the law.

What bills SB 11 and AB 36 really do is treat everyone’s private information--not court records--as public information the minute he or she is sued or otherwise dragged into a civil lawsuit. That means people’s health information and companies’ business and research data are threatened with disclosure simply because a lawyer spent $195 to file a lawsuit. All this before anyone has been found liable for wrongdoing or the accusations have even been tested.

These bills are unfair, anti-privacy and unnecessary. They are a gossip rag’s and fear-monger’s dream. They are a boon to the lawyers who file copycat lawsuits and bludgeon people into high settlements.

JOHN H. SULLIVAN, President

Civil Justice Assn. of California

Sacramento

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* Your editorial was right on target. Consumers should have access to information that could protect their families and save lives.

For too long, consumers have been kept in the dark about dangerous products, environmental hazards, financial fraud and unfair insurance practices. We urge members of the California Legislature to let a little sunshine in and support AB 36 and SB 11. The continued use of secrecy agreements will serve no one except corporate wrongdoers. We now know about the secret settlements that tire companies, the Northridge earthquake insurance companies and tobacco manufacturers have hidden behind, but what else is out there? Consumers have a right to know.

WILLIAM POWERS

Legislative Director

Congress of California Seniors

Sacramento