claim: Commercial interests and tort reformers are using apology laws—which make apologies inadmissible in court—as a potent new tool to advance their agenda. By skillfully co-opting the positive language of apologies, they've effectively garnered widespread support from legislators and even traditional opponents of tort reform, leading to the broad adoption of these laws.

evidence_quote: of tort reform dispute this basic premise; they worry that limitations on liability would unduly deprive accident victims of muchneeded compensation and would encourage negligent and reckless behavior. The political pendulum slowly swings between these two positions. In recent years, tort reformers have found a new and powerful platform to advance their position, one that allowed them to strike a major victory in their war against what they perceive as excessive liability. Apology laws; laws designed to privilege apologies made by injurers, making them inadmissible at trial. By co-opting the rhetoric and discourse on apologies and the law-----independently developed by ethicists, dispute...

citation: Yonathan A. Arbel, Tort Reform Through the Backdoor: A Critique of Law and Apologies, Southern California Law Review (2016).

confidence: machine-linked

limitations: Machine-linked claim. Use the evidence quote and PDF before treating it as a quotation or as a complete statement of the paper's position.


claim: Commercial interests and tort reformers have successfully promoted apology laws, which prevent apologies from being used as evidence in court. He identifies these laws as a new and powerful platform for these groups to advance their specific agendas. further writes that this strategic approach has been remarkably effective. By framing these laws using the appealing language of apologies, proponents have managed to gain support from lawmakers and, significantly, even from those who typically oppose tort reform, resulting in the widespread enactment of such legislation.

paper_title: Tort Reform Through the Backdoor: A Critique of Law and Apologies

evidence_span: of tort reform dispute this basic premise; they worry that limitations on liability would unduly deprive accident victims of muchneeded compensation and would encourage negligent and reckless behavior. The political pendulum slowly swings between these two positions. In recent years, tort reformers have found a new and powerful platform to advance their position, one that allowed them to strike a major victory in their war against what they perceive as excessive liability. Apology laws; laws designed to privilege apologies made by injurers, making them inadmissible at trial. By co-opting the rhetoric and discourse on apologies and the law-----independently developed by ethicists, dispute...