Sylvester Turner: “I offered a substitute, which I believe is much stronger in preventing frivolous lawsuits than the bill offered to the…”

“I offered a substitute, which I believe is much stronger in preventing frivolous lawsuits than the bill offered to the House. In addition, it preserves the right that was mentioned earlier to sue a foreign corporation, which is jeopardized in the bill offered before us. The Republican bill also weakens our civil rights laws by having a chilling effect upon suits relating to civil rights, and our substitute carves out an exception for civil rights litigation. But, most importantly, it does not eliminate the possibility that one may be unable to sue a foreign corporation in the United States. First of all, our bill strengthens the provisions against frivolous lawsuits. Members on both sides of the aisle uniformly, unanimously agree that our laws and our rules of procedure must prohibit frivolous lawsuits. Our bill imposes a mandatory 'three strikes and you're out' provision on frivolous pleadings and discovery violations. Thus, it is far more stringent than the Republican bill, which merely subjects these violations to mandatory payment of cost and fees. More importantly, our bill includes clear and specific civil rights carve outs so there will not be a chilling effect on these actions.”