Submitted by slava bisco, May 2, 2008 09:33

You assert that rulings such as yesterday's ruling in he 1993 WTC tort lawsuit are why the public (through its elected legislature) does not give judges raises. In fact, rulings in favor of plaintiffs in tort actions, such as this one, are extremely popular. Most citizens identify with the plaintiffs, not the defendants, in tort actions. They want to keep the door open for their own possible opportunity to recover a jackpot justice windfall verdict sometime in the future. That's why tort reform is so difficult to achieve — it's not popular. So, if I were a judge seeking to gain raise-granting favor with the average citizen, I'd be making pro-plaintiff rulings like this all the time.

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