Press Releases

The Score is in - Big Business 8 and the People 1

former Exxon bossDemocratic Chief Justice Casts the Lone Vote for Alabama Taxpayers on High Court
 
MONTGOMERY – Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham on Monday slammed last week's 8-1 Republican decision of the state Supreme Court that essentially rewarded oil giant ExxonMobil for defrauding Alabama citizens. ExxonMobil is the largest corporation in the world reporting billions of dollars in quarterly profits. The company has twice been found guilty of fraud by Montgomery County juries and fined billions of dollars in damages for contract violations against the people of Alabama.

A decade of Karl Rove judicial politics during the 1990's brought tens of millions of dollars from shell groups into these Republican judicial campaigns from corporate contributors such as ExxonMobil. "Big out of state business unleashed massive financial power in the 2004 and 2006 Supreme Court races on behalf of Republican candidates and the fruit of this can be seen in last week's lopsided decision against the people of Alabama," said Turnham. "Republicans on the Supreme Court are themselves addicted to big oil and last week became accomplices in denying Alabama's citizens real justice by their refusal to award any punitive damages against ExxonMobil for the fraud it perpetrated against Alabama taxpayers."
 
As oil approaches $100 per barrel, consumers are preparing to pay record gasoline and heating bills this winter. Last week's Republican verdict and other pro-industry decisions in recent years will not be lost on voters in 2008. "Alabama taxpayers are tired of corporate behemoths building record-breaking profits every year at their expense. It is time to replace the corporate board of Republican justices on the Supreme Court with Democratic jurists that understand Alabama's highest court is not a tool to protect corporate interests." The message sent by the Supreme Court last week is…you can come to Alabama and defraud the people and when you get caught, just pay back what you stole and go along your way.
 
Turnham concluded by saying that "While I respect the judicial process, the court, and the rule of law - I would be derelict if I did not remind voters that big corporate money, Republican politics, and pre-determined outcomes have overtaken the Alabama Supreme Court and our political judicial races. Republicans have taken the court into a 'consumer hell' and have exorcized the notion of 'justice for all' into a realm of 'those with the most gold get the most favorable rulings'. By avoiding more than $3 billion in punitive damage awards for defrauding our state of oil revenues, ExxonMobil and the Alabama Republican Party have laughed in the face of our people and declared the state's highest court for sale to the highest bidder."

 

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