Understanding Your Rights in the New Year
I want to try and take a moment to ask all my readers to consider something from a new perspective. Automobile accidents, construction injuries, drunk driving collisions, semi tractor trailers crashes all have one thing in common. They both have the potential to cause Hoosiers serious personal injury. These injuries can include wrongful death, spinal cord injury resulting in paraplegia, broken bones, all of which can interfere with a person’s ability to support themselves and their family.
The remedy granted to these people, by the United States Constitution, and the State of Indiana Constitutions is the right to a trial by jury when injured. This is a right just like the right to free speech, the Right to Freedom of Religion and the Right to Keep and Bear arms. The right to free speech permits people to say offensive things, however it is an essential protection for the people against abusive government. The right to the freedom of religion has spawned much disagreement and litigation, however, the right to practice your religion as you wish is what sets us apart from the Taliban and other religious fanatics who would force you to practice only the religion of which they approve. The right to bear arms results in many tragic deaths, however the right to bear arms has always been an essential bulwark against the tyranny of abuse.
Like these rights, the right to a trial by jury for injuries to persons and properties has difficulties. One difficulty is those who would abuse the system for their own gain. However, by far and large, the claims of injured persons are legitimate. The system is very good at rooting out the fakers. It is a system that is operated in the private sector free of the bureaucracy of bloated government. It is self regulating. The right to a trial by jury puts the individual on the same footing as the corporation, despite the disparity in wealth and resources of the corporation. As you sit in your kitchen, reading about a verdict for an injured person please bear in mind a few things. A jury has listened to all the facts, the news story has very few facts, and those are not always accurate. A person who has been injured has medical bills and has not been able to work. The money they receive will help them pay their bills and get back to work able to earn, pay taxes and pull their own weight. This is good for you, and it is good for everyone else. Lastly for this missive is the fact that your mother was right when she taught you that if you make a mess you are obligated to make up for that harm. If you hurt somebody, you make up for that harm by having your insurance company pay the injured person.
In this new year, keep in mind that when corporations, the chamber of commerce and insurance companies tell us that we should do away with this system, they are really saying that your constitutional rights are not worth protecting. If they can do away with one constitutional right they can do away with others, including the right to bear arms, and the right to say what you want. Do not ever let that happen. Do not ever let them convince you that the injured person is the bad guy. The founding fathers knew better.