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For Immediate Release (Wednesday, August 20, 2003):
Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club Announces Opposition to Proposition 12
(Austin, TX) The Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter today announced its opposition
to Proposition 12, the constitutional amendment that will appear on the September
13 ballot. The Sierra Club characterized Proposition 12 as a step backward for
clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment. It criticized the amendment
as an unnecessary and risky assault on the Texas Constitution that would likely
take away the right of citizens and citizen groups to hold polluters fully accountable
for their actions in civil courts.
"Proposition 12 takes power out of the hands of local communities and
transfers it to the politicians and lobbyists in Austin," said Andy Balinsky,
Conservation Chair for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. "Proposition
12 repeals key constitutional rights that allow all Texans to have a fair day
in court to protect their neighborhoods and communities from environmental damage.
Exercising these rights has been one of the most important tools available to
citizens in protecting the environment from pollution. Proposition 12 is a smokescreen:
it does nothing to lower insurance rates, it gives special protections to the
big polluters who already have too much access and power in Austin."
Proposition 12 would overturn the "open courts" provision that has
been in each version of the Texas Constitution since the original draft in 1836.
That provision ensures the right of every Texan to trial by jury in all matters.
Proposition 12 allows future legislative bodies to infringe on those rights
and set arbitrary limits on non-economic damages in all types of civil litigation-including
suits against environmental polluters. The Sierra Club sees civil juries as
the last line of defense against negligent polluters. Proposition 12 substitutes
the judgment of politicians for the judgment of local judges and juries.
"Turning the Texas jury system over to the lobbyists and politicians in
Austin would be a disaster for the environment," added Balinsky. "To
be able to deter pollution and hold the worst polluters accountable for their
actions, we need to defeat Proposition 12."
The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club is joining a long list of Texas citizen
organizations that oppose Proposition 12. Those organizations, which include
senior citizen advocates, crime prevention organizations, crime victim groups,
consumer groups, and many others, say that Proposition 12 alters the Texas Constitution
to help HMOs, the insurance industry, hospitals, drug makers, and polluters
protect their profits at the expense of patients and consumers.
For more information on Prop. 12 and to view the list of organizations that
oppose Proposition 12, visit: www.texansagainstprop12.com