Capping a gusher
Riga, Peter
It is almost certain that this tension of belief exists within every individual. Within Yevtushenko, always the enemy of chau- vinism, trusting that the new Russian nationalism will be of the...
...It is almost certain that this tension of belief exists within every individual...
...Just such a plan of bargaining by force has been carried out in Yugoslavia by right-wing and Communist Serbs, with bloody consequences, and all in the name of a "Greater Serbia...
...Finally, we in the West bear great responsibility for the outcome of this drama...
...Until recently at least, they have been among the most literate people anywhere, and they have their own history in the twentieth century to draw from...
...For claims under $50,000, nonbind- ing arbitration would operate...
...For example, in Harris County, Texas, in April 1991, two children who were unguarded as their mother slept, fell into the apartment complex's swimming pool...
...Each panel would be composed of two-thirds lawyers and one-third laypersons...
...The jury award- ed $84 million against the complex for negligence (of which $17 million was pure cash from the complex's insurance policy...
...The bottom line is democracy--in nations, federations, and in the world...
...And Mikhail Gorbachev, in a number of subsequent public statements, has indicated that he knew the coup was coming...
...The economist Nikolai Shmelyov, for one, has publicly stated that he would like to see "a hand of iron" carry out the ongoing eco- nomic transition...
...Moreover, one way or the other, the public will ultimately have to eat the bill through higher premiums...
...Within the farmers and workers, justifiably angry about the injustice of economic reform, but mindful that they must face a choice between a flawed democracy and a no more reliable strong man...
...Some of the most historically minded of American observers, such as Professor Gerry Hough of Duke University, warn that the August 19 revolution was probably the first stage in a more drawn-out process...
...As soon as the putsch failed, British intelligence indicated that they believed Boris Yeltsin's recent campaign to woo members of the Soviet military by appealing to their "Russian" tradition had succeeded, and that well-placed officers had protected him in the past...
...He has contributed to the Nation and Newsday as well as Commonweal...
...intelligence sources said American satellites had detected no significant troop maneuvers around Moscow...
...Such temptations must be resist- ed...
...Many journalists have described the coup as a "Woody Allen" affair, or an "operetta...
...What can be done about plaintiffs awarded millions--amounts far beyond the need for care and special services...
...Too often, our leaders have applied a full-court press against our supposed antagonists, seemingly oblivious to the truth that to constantly seek advantage in the global age must bring trouble for ourselves...
...Furthermore, for months, the Russian KGB and the Soviet KGB had been working almost desk-to-desk in the same building (shortage of office space), so there was plenty of opportunity for like-minded bureaucrats to confer...
...Fortunately, the continuing debate between democrats and absolutists now must take place throughout the fragmenting empire, and not just in Moscow...
...No doubt some Western leaders would secretly welcome a "Chilean solu- tion" for the Soviet Union, simply because they are so deeply worried about financial stability...
...1. One of the most curious anomalies of the law is the concept of punitive damages...
...For example, the health- care system in this country--which leaves some 75 million people without full coverage--already costs 13 percent of our GNP...
...In theory, if the defendant's actions are egregious or intentional enough, a jury may award damages to deter such behavior generally...
...The overwhelming majority of the Soviet Army did not participate, a fact made obvious when U.S...
...2. In automobile insurance claims or for medical malpractice, an arbitration board should be set up to examine the claims of the victims...
...In effect, punitive ("exemplary") damages are public in nature, that is, they are awarded to teach others in society not to follow the defendant's example...
...Furthermore, many ordinary people are rightfully angry that they have constantly had to pay the price for policies decided upon by an elite that inhabits a world far removed from everyday life...
...How can we protect insurance companies from commonplace and vexatious suits that are frequently settled out of court because it costs too much for companies to go to trial...
...LIMITS ON LITIGATION CAPPING A GUSHER WHAT PUNITIVE DAMAGES COST he nation needs a complete overhaul of its legal system, particularly its civil adjudication: the number of lawsuits, the delay in trials, the universal fear among businessmen and doctors of doing anything new or risky for fear some innovative lawyer will sue, are all virtually overwhelming...
...As the system now works, however, punitive damages make attorney fees enormously attractive...
...Each side would offer its best argument with a min- imum of procedural technicalities...
...This result is absurd in every respect...
...The reason for pessimism is the well-known presence in the armed forces of officers who would like to see a "Chilean solu- tion" to the economic problems of Russia and the Union: which is to say, a market economy imposed from above by a military dictatorship...
...The comparison, in Russian history, is with the Kerensky government born out of the revolution of February 1917...
...Today, many "nuisance" suits are settled for injuries which are either nonexistent or extremely transitory while bona fide injuries go uncompensated...
...One of the reasons for these escalating costs--higher per capita than in any other industrial nation in the world--is what is called "defensive" medicine, i.e., many tests of an expensive nature that are needlessly done to anticipate lawsuits against the doctor or the health-care 502: Commonweal facility...
...These questions are complex and no one solution can cover them all, but I have a few suggestions...
...Saint Meinrad School of Theology's Fifth Annual Peter and Viola Dolle Endowed Lecture in Church Art & Architecture Welcomes...
...And the Yugoslavian example serves as a vivid illustration of what should not be done...
...The other was revived, but because his brain had been deprived of oxygen, he suffered severe mental impairment...
...How can we avoid such unjust awards and still provide for deserving accident victims (e.g., those injured by uninsured motorists, people who have no money to hire an attorney, small injuries requiring minimal amounts which can not attract an attorney, etc...
...At the current rate of increase, it will be up to 15 percent by 1995...
...How then can we cut down on the amount of litigation and still give people equitable access to the courts for reasonable redress of grievances...
...The child will never need anywhere near that amount over a lifetime, while the attorneys simply got rich on one case...
...An alliance of right-wing military officers and conservative technocrats is a future possibility, principally in the Yeltsin camp, though not necessarily so...
...If punitive damages were so structured, the incentives for attorneys would be diminished and lawsuits would be brought to a quicker end...
...Any health-care provider can supply you with horror stories documenting this kind of waste...
...Quite the contrary, it is a coup that was never executed...
...What was once a struggle within the party, now becomes a real question for nationalists: What kind of nationalism do we want...
...they belong to the public...
...PATRICK BARNARD Patrick Barnard is a Canadian journalist specializing in international affairs...
...More optimistically, the people of the Soviet Union still have not made their real wishes clear...
...The ambiguous nature of the coup gives reasons for both despair and hope as the Soviet Union faces its long, hard winter...
...The failed putsch of August 19, 1991, offers a number of signals, both hopeful and dark, that much is left to come...
...Within Yevtushenko, always the enemy of chauvinism, trusting that the new Russian nationalism will be of the citizen-democrat variety, rising in his words like a "swan," and not sinking down into the mud...
...But if that is the purpose of punitive awards, they do not really belong to the victim or to his attorney...
...Maureen McGuire National Chairman, Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture "Changing Images in Contemporary Stained Glass" September 26, 1991 at 8:00 PM Saint Meinrad School of Theology Saint Meinrad, IN 47577 (812) 357-6501 13 September 1991:503...
...The split must exist, too, within Yeltsin himself, and his government, which made an enormous blunder on August 26, when it warned secessionists that the Russian Republic might consider redrawing boundaries along ethnic lines...
...So, too, does the fact that the Soviet armed forces, especially at the level of the middle ranks, were the main absent parties to the putsch and are still to be heard from...
...One boy drowned...
...Surely, the issue of control over nuclear weapons, which surfaced immediately after the failed coup, reminds us that the Soviet crisis is also our own...
...To deter unreasonable suits, punitive damages should be designated to a state-controlled public fund to support victims who usually cannot recover damages (e.g., from an uninsured motorist, a bankrupt insurance company, low insurance coverage, etc...
...The problem is becoming clearer every day, so much so that even Dan Quayle has seen it...
...Unfortunately, some of Boris Yeltsin's economic advisors have used language suggesting a similar view...
...Yakovlev, on August 16, had sent an unequivocal mes- sage to reformers, wherever they were in the Soviet Union...
...These panels would examine the evidence and, like workman's compensation boards, determine payment...
Vol. 118 • September 1991 • No. 15
