Goals for State-Federal Action
NCSL Resolution Adopted by the Law and Criminal Justice Committee from the Fall Forum of the NCSL Standing Committees, December 2004, Savannah, Georgia
The National Conference of State Legislatures recognizes the importance of permitting aggrieved persons to seek full and fair redress in state courts for the wrongful acts of others resulting in injury or damage. The statutes and court rules that govern these civil actions arising out of acts of negligence or the commission of a tortious act have always been regulated by state law. Periodically, Congress seeks to enact legislation that attempts to set uniform federal standards for state civil tort actions. These pieces of legislation amount to unnecessary federal action in an area traditionally regulated by state law.
Therefore, in conformance with NCSL’s general policy of opposing federal preemption of state law, NCSL believes that it is particularly improper for the federal government to attempt to restrict or redefine citizen access to state courts, and strongly opposes federal legislation which would preempt state personal injury and tort laws.
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