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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJim Hightower: Corporations Are Robbing Us Of Our Right to a Fair Trial
AlterNet / By Jim HightowerCorporations Are Robbing Us Of Our Right to a Fair Trial
If you've been gouged by your bank, discriminated against, sexually harassed, unfairly fired, you'll most likely find that you're barred from the courthouse door.
March 27, 2013 |
Being wronged by a corporation is painful enough, but just try getting your day in court. Most Americans don't realize it, but our Seventh Amendment right to a fair jury trial against corporate wrongdoers has quietly been stripped from us. Instead, we are now shunted into a stacked-deck game called "Binding Mandatory Arbitration." Proponents of the process hail it as superior to the courts "faster, cheaper and more efficient!" they exclaim.
But does it deliver justice? It could, for the original concept of voluntary, face-to-face resolution of conflict by a neutral third party makes sense in many cases. But remember what Mae West said of her own virtue: "I used to be Snow White, then I drifted." Today's practice of arbitration has drifted far away from the purity of the concept.
All you really need to know about today's process is that it's the product of years of conceptual monkey-wrenching by corporate lobbyists, Congress, the Supreme Court and hired-gun lobbying firms looking to milk the system for steady profits. First and foremost, these fixers have turned a voluntary process into the exact opposite: mandatory. Let's look at this mess.
Unlike courts, arbitration is not a public system, but a private business.
Far from being neutral, "the third-party" arbitration firms are get this! usually hand-picked by the corporation involved in the case, chosen specifically because they have proven records of favoring the corporation.
The corporation also gets to choose the city or town where the case is heard, allowing it to make the case inconvenient, expensive and unfair to individuals bringing a complaint.
Arbitrators are not required to know the law relevant to the cases they judge or follow legal precedents.
Normal procedural rules for gathering and sharing evidence and safeguarding fairness to both parties do not apply in arbitration cases.
Arbitration proceedings are closed to the media and the public.
Arbitrators need not reveal the reasons for their decisions, so they are not legally accountable for errors, and the decisions set no legal precedents for guiding future corporate conduct.
Even if an arbitrator's decision is legally incorrect, it still is enforceable, carrying the full weight of the law.
There is virtually no right to appeal an arbitrator's ruling.
That adds up to a kangaroo court! Who would choose such a rigged system? No one. Which is why corporate America has resorted to brute force and skullduggery to drag you into their arbitration wringer. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/corporations-are-robbing-us-our-right-fair-trial
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Jim Hightower: Corporations Are Robbing Us Of Our Right to a Fair Trial (Original Post)
marmar
Mar 2013
OP
mrmpa
(4,033 posts)1. I recently attended a job fair..............
there was only one employer, a very wealthy not for profit health insurance company. They gave you a pile of papers to fill out, in one of the papers, that you needed to sign, was one that you could not sue the company but could only file through arbitration.
My first question to myself was, what kind of company would force their employees to address grievances (termination, etc.) through arbitration? It was followed by, how often have they been sued?