On the recordSeptember 17, 2015
As a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and a strong defender of the civil rights and liberties of all Americans, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 758, the ``Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2015,'' which can more accurately be described as the ``Denial of Access to Civil Justice Act.'' This ill-considered and misguided legislation would rescind the current version of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which has been in effect since 1993, and reinstate the disastrous 1983 version of the rule. I strongly oppose H.R. 758 because it hampers the ability of federal district courts to deter frivolous litigation--while preserving access to the courts--by limiting the ability of judges to exercise discretion in imposing sanctions for Rule 11 violations. Under H.R. 758, federal district judges would be required to impose sanctions for all violations of Rule 11, even in cases in which it would be manifestly inappropriate to do so. Mr. Speaker, the reason the version of Rule 11(c) in effect from 1983-1993 was rescinded is because the results of its 10-year experiment proved conclusively that it did not work. Instead of reducing frivolous litigation, mandatory imposition of sanction actually had the opposite effect of increasing litigation.…
