Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 1768 - Multidistrict Litigation Restoration Act of 2004

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(House)

(Rep. Sensenbrenner (R) Wisconsin and 2 cosponsors)

The Administration supports H.R. 1768, as reported by the House Judiciary Committee. H.R. 1768 would allow a designated Federal district court, to which certain multidistrict litigation cases are referred, to retain jurisdiction over these cases for purposes of determining liability and punitive damages, or to send them back to the courts from which they were referred. H.R. 1768 would remove existing impediments to the consolidation of certain civil suits in Federal district courts and would permit judges to consolidate appropriate cases for trial on common issues of liability and punitive damages if the cases were consolidated for pretrial proceedings. The bill would also allow judges to decide compensatory damages in consolidated cases in certain circumstances. As a result, the outcomes of multidistrict litigation trials arising from the same factual scenario would be more consistent and Federal judicial resources would be used more effectively.