The Duty of Lawyers

By Ralph Nader

What happens when the rule of law increasingly bows to the whims and violations of unaccountable public officials?

In the United States, we are seeing the rule of law eroded by those at the top levels of our government. We are witnessing the dismantling of the guiding principles of justice and the rule of law. Our legal system has been gamed to preferentially serve the needs of the few rather than those of the many.

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New Report Available on Texas Trial Lawyers

The Center for Study of Responsive Law released today a new report titled “The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of Texas Trial Lawyers.” The sixty-six-page report focuses on the attacks on the civil justice system in Texas over the last two decades or so. The report examines the gutting of worker’s compensation, corporate supreme court … Read more

Society’s Decay Rewards Wrongdoers

By Ralph Nader

Told you so.

Some might deem it celebratory to utter this phrase, as if one is boasting about their own clever foresight. But when it comes to serious matters — matters that affect millions of people, their jobs, their health, and their livelihoods, there is no satisfaction in being right about predicting bad conditions. It’s much better to predict good news. But as it now stands in our country, many problems that emerged years ago have developed into sheer catastrophes, despite the many warnings of forward-thinking experts, scholars and observers.

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New Report Shows More Than $300,000 Lost in Wages Per Worker

Lost Wages: Over a Quarter Million Reasons to Increase the Inflation-Gutted Minimum Wage:  New Report Reveals the Amount of Wages a Minimum Wage Worker Has Been Deprived of Since 1968 June 13, 2013 A new report, Lost Wages, released today by the Center for Study of Responsive Law’s TimeForARaise.org project, revealed that a single minimum … Read more

Reining in the Corporation

By Ralph Nader “We don’t use tax gimmicks” said Apple CEO Tim Cook this past Tuesday during a speech at a tech conference. This statement came just one week after congressional investigators released a report that documented how Apple, using a vast array of offshore subsidiaries, avoided paying their share in taxes to Uncle Sam. … Read more

Legalize Hemp — It’s Long Overdue

By Ralph Nader A bipartisan legislative movement toward legalizing the growing of industrial hemp is finally on the rise. Last week, the Vermont General Assembly voted to lift a state statute that banned the growing of industrial hemp. While this, if enacted, would allow Vermont farmers to grow hemp under state law, it is still … Read more

Seeking Sustainability

By Ralph Nader “Sustainability,” the late Ray Anderson–founder and chairman of Interface Inc. –once told theNew York Times, “doesn’t cost, it pays.” After his “conversion experience” on the harmful effects his modular carpet business had on the environment, Anderson redirected his corporate philosophy to focus on the noble goal of absolute sustainability. Through his efforts, … Read more

The Plight of the Postal Service

By Ralph Nader The United States Postal Service is in a freefall due to poor management, a starkly shortsighted, paralyzed Congressional leadership, and the steady march of right wing ideologues. Corporate competitors who advance corporatization have severely eroded the historic institution created by Benjamin Franklin; one that currently delivers over 150 billion pieces of mail … Read more

Boston, Texas and Corporate Criminal Justice

By Ralph Nader

The Boston Marathon bombings killed three and injured more than 180. The West, Texas industrial explosion killed at least 14 and injured more than 180. Guess which one drew the greater media and law enforcement response?

If it turns out that the West, Texas explosion is the result of a “terrorist act,” expect federal law enforcement officials and the mass media to fly to Texas from Boston. But until then, don’t expect much.

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