November 29, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Should judges donate leftover money from class-action lawsuits to charity?
For example, a New York Times article writes that a federal judge in New York gave $1-million to an eating-disorder program and $500,000 to a substance-abuse program from unclaimed money in an antitrust class-action settlement. The judge reasoned that the case involved fashion models, and these programs were likely to assist needy people in the profession.
While supporting charitable causes, such moves have triggered a debate
in the legal world about the potential conflicts-of-interest for
judges. In some cases, the newspaper writes that charities have
lobbied judges for the money and contributions have gone to support
nonprofit groups only tangentially related to the lawsuits where the
money originated.
Deven Desai, an assistant law professor at the Thomas Jefferson School
of Law, in San Diego, writes that the giving trend speaks to a problem
in the justice system. “It seems that the system fails to provide a
good way to get the money to the plaintiffs, which alone suggests that
judge should not be in this position in the first place,” he writes on
Concurring Opinions, a blog that discusses legal issues.
On the Mass Tort Litigation
Blog, Alexandra D. Lahav, associate professor of law at the University of Connecticut School of Law, in Hartford, writes that in the least, the giving decision by judges need to be more public.
What do you think? Should judges be allowed to donate leftover lawsuit
money? If so, what should their decision-making process be? Click on
the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
