Product Liability -- 1999
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Ohio v. Sheward
(Ohio Supreme Court)
Constitutionality of tort reform
On August 16, 1999, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to overturn Ohio’s tort reform act of 1996. It ruled that citizens can file suit challenging the constitutionality of virtually any legislation that may affect them, and that the statute violated the "one-subject rule" of Ohio because it bundled unrelated subjects into a single bill. It also found a few key provisions unconstitutional, and struck down the whole statute as a result.
The NAM filed a brief 4/15/98 asking the court not to nullify reform law. The brief argued that courts should not impose their own economic policy views on the people of Ohio at the expense of the studied reforms enacted by the General Assembly. Ohio now joins many other states that have overturned efforts by state legislatures to reform product liability law and procedure.
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