Big business will say anything to take over our courts even if it means bringing politics into baseball.

Yes, they have turned a family night at the ballpark into a political venue to deliver their distorted message.

You know those ads you saw during the game attacking America’s court system?

They where paid for by big corporate interests like insurance and drug companies.  Under the guise of the Civil Justice League – a corporate front group – big business is trying to change our state’s civil justice system.

Why does big business want to change the civil justice system?

Simple…they don’t want our courts to hold them accountable when they engage in business practices that hurt or kill people – even when they dump poisonous chemicals into our water supply, hide the deadly side effects of prescription drugs they manufacture or keep dangerous products on the market. 

Despite what big business is telling you, the Illinois economy is strong and growing:

• Site Selection Magazine ranks Illinois 13th in its list of top business climates in the nation.¹
• Site Selection Magazine also named Chicago/Cook County as corporate America’s top metropolitan area for securing the most new and expanded corporate facility projects in the country in 2005.²
• The U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2006 small business profile of Illinois shows a 7 percent increase in new Illinois businesses in 2005, 2.5% higher than the national average. Illinois showed a decrease in business terminations despite a national increase in business terminations.³
• And according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, Illinois’ unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in March and recorded its largest month-over-month percentage point drop in 30 years. ⁴

Insurers are also doing well in Illinois.

• Over the last three years, the state’s largest medical malpractice insurer, ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company, has reported profits of $11.7 million, $23.5 million and $50.2 million.⁵
• State Farm insurance, the nation’s largest insurer, reported profits of $5.3 billion in 2006.⁶

Do you want a civil justice system that is dominated by big business…business that would rather save a few pennies to make a bigger profit than make a product safer for your family?  

You deserve access to the legal system when you need have been wronged and need it most. Protect your rights. Protect our courts.

Learn more at www.peopleoverprofits.org.

¹Mark Arend, “North Carolina Reclaims To Billing,” Site Selection Magazine, November, 2005.
²Ron Starner, “Title Town: Chicago is No. 1 Again,” Site Selection Magazine, March 2006.
³U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, 206 www.sba.gov/advo
⁴Brandon Glenn, “Illinois unemployment rate drops sharply in March,” Crain’s Chicago Business, April 19, 2007.
⁵ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company Annual Statements 2004, 2005, 2006.
⁶“State Farm reports $5.3-billion profit for 2006,” Crain’s Chicago Business, March 1, 2007.