Saturday, February 7, 2009

American Legislative Exchange Council

The American Legislative Exhange Council is a nonpartisan individual membership organization of state legislators which favors federalism and conservative public policy solutions.

Its website states that its mission is...

...to advance the Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty, through a nonpartisan public-private partnership of America's state legislators, members of the private sector, the federal government, and general public.

...to promote these principles by developing policies that ensure the powers of government are derived from, and assigned to, first the People, then the States, and finally, the Federal Government.

...to enlist state legislators from all parties and members of the private sector who share ALEC's mission.

...to conduct a policy making program that unites members of the public and private sectors in a dynamic partnership to support research, policy development, and dissemination activities.

...to prepare the next generation of political leadership through educational programs that promote the principles of Jeffersonian democracy, which are necessary for a free society.

ALEC has a Civil Justice Task Force and the website says its members are at the forefront of the efforts to restore fairness and predictability to the civil justice system. The Task Force has worked diligently to promote systematic fairness in the courts through bills to discourage frivolous lawsuits, to fairly balance judicial and legislative authority, to treat defendants in a consistent manner, and to install transparency and accountability in the trial system. Since the inception of its Disorder in the Court project in 1999, ALEC members have introduced more than 400 bills based on ALEC's legal reform model legislation. The Civil Justice Task Force’s work has resulted in numerous policy publications, state-level issue briefings, expert witness testimony and educational workshops during ALEC meetings.

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