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40 Harv. J. on Legis. 493 (2003)
Class Action Fairness - A Bad Deal for the States and Consumers

handle is hein.journals/hjl40 and id is 499 raw text is: ESSAY CLASS ACTION FAIRNESS-A BAD DEAL FOR THE STATES AND CONSUMERS REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS, JR.* The House of Representatives has repeatedly considered bills that would expand federal diversity jurisdiction to include class actions in which only minimal diversity exists between plaintiffs and defendants. Though three such bills have failed, members of Congress will probably propose another In this Essay, Representative John Conyers Jr (D-Mich.) argues that enacting this legislation would be a mistake. Such a change would add to the already heavy burdens of the federal court system and would obstruct state courts'applica- tion of both the substantive and the procedural law of their states. Expanding diversity jurisdiction in this manner would impose unfair disadvantages on class action plaintiffs, threatening suits against the tobacco and firearms in- dustries, among others. Class action procedures establish a mechanism to aggregate claims against a single defendant, offering access to courts to plaintiffs who would otherwise be barred because their claims are too small to justify the expense of a lawsuit. Last year, the House of Representatives passed a bill that, if enacted, would have undercut the very purpose of these procedures by making it far more burdensome, expensive, and time-consuming for groups of injured persons to mount class action claims.' Though the 107th Con- gress adjourned before the Senate voted on the bill, in effect killing it, the issues underlying this legislation are far from dead: even though the 107th Congress was the third consecutive Congress to refuse to enact this type of bill,2 new versions have been introduced in the 108th Congress.' Member, United States House of Representatives (D-Mich.). Wayne State University, 1957; L.L.B., 1958. Portions of this Article appeared as Dissenting Views in the House Committee on the Judiciary's report concerning the Class Action Fairness Act of 2002, H.R. 2341, 107th Cong. (2002). See H.R. REP. No. 107-370, at 123-34 (2002). 1 was the ranking signatory of the Dissenting Views. See id. at 134. 'See H.R. 2341. The House Committee on the Judiciary passed this bill, introduced by Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), on March 7, 2002 by a 16-10 vote. See H.R. REP. No. 107-370, at 22 (2002). The Act passed the House on March 13, 2002 by 233-190 vote. See 107 Cong. Rec. H885 (daily ed. Mar. 13, 2002). 2 The first bill appeared during the 105th Congress, when the Judiciary Committee marked-up and reported out the Class Action Jurisdiction Act of 1998, H.R. 3789, 105th Cong. (1998). See H.R. REP. No. 105-702, at 10 (1998). The full House never considered that bill. In 1999, after a hearing and mark-up, the House Committee on the Judiciary re- ported out, by a 15-12 vote, the Interstate Class Action Jurisdiction Act of 1999, H.R. 1875, 106th Cong. (1999). See H.R. REP. No. 106-320, at 12 (1999). On September 23, 1999, the House passed House Bill 1875 by a vote of 222-207, but the measure was not considered on the Senate floor. See 106 CONG. REC. H8594 (daily ed. Sept. 23, 1999). 3The Class Action Fairness Act of 2003, H.R. 1115, 108th Cong. (2003), was intro- duced on March 6, 2003 by Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). See 149 CONG. REC.

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