Interesting New Mississippi Law Blog, and notes on Double Quick v. Lyman and the tort damage cap

My friend Charles Griffin, a Jackson lawyer, has a new blog, Minority Defense Litigator.  It’s got much of interest to both Mississippi and minority lawyers.  The post that caught my eye is about the appeal in Double Quick v. Lymas, which has caught public attention because it explicitly challenges the constitutionality of the cap on damages passed as a part of tort reform.

The post has links to major briefs and some of the amicus briefs, and a good discussion of the issues.  One thing that startled me somewhat (and disappointed me) is that Lymas’s constitutional challenge raises three points, two that seem to me quite weak, and omits what seems to me a strong one.  He raises the state constitutional provision that the right to a jury trial shall be inviolate, and cites a number of 19th Century Supreme Court opinions holding that this provision means that juries have very broad latitude in setting the amount of general damages that cannot be limited by the courts.  He also raises a separation of powers claim and a claim based on the constitutional requirement that all courts be open and ready to hear cases.  Those I view as very weak arguments.  On the other hand, there is no hint of a due process argument, which I would have thought an obvious one to raise (at least under the state constitution’s due process provision).  If a plaintiff really has damages over a million dollars, this statute literally takes away his right to recover them, and creates an irrebutable presumptions that general personal injury damages can only be less than a  million dollars.   That seems to me an obvious target for a due process challenge, and I would hate to see this issue resolved on less-than a complete argument.

In any event, I like Charles Griffin’s blog and will be adding it to my blogroll.