Left-Wing Groups Use 'Nuisance' Lawsuits to Push Policy

Progressive organizations are using "public nuisance" lawsuits to try to advance desired policies in places where their preferred candidates are unlikely to win elections.

Groups such as the anti-gun Everytown for Gun Safety and climate-change activist group EarthRights International are suing companies to advance their policy preferences, according to a Alliance for Consumers report obtained by the Washington Examiner.

The groups often represent local governments in lawsuits and claim that the public is harmed by the existence of something (e.g., tobacco) in order to obtain favorable policy outcomes and massive settlements, the Examiner said.

"Public nuisance lawsuits have almost nothing to do with helping consumers, but a lot to do with pushing a left-wing agenda," Alliance for Consumers executive director O.H. Skinner told the Examiner. "There's been growing attention to the political donations that these lawsuits help drive toward left-wing candidates.

"More attention needs to be paid to the public interest groups and shadowy nonprofit funding networks, like Arabella Advisors, who staff, finance, and promote these cases. That is what we have done with this report, and we think it illustrates clearly what these lawsuits are really about and why they are a threat."

During a Sept. 13 House Oversight and Accountability hearing, Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said that many lawsuits are being funded by left-wing activists aiming "to hijack America's legal system to influence policy decisions and determine outcomes."

"The spread of untraceable and undisclosed funding of lawsuits across the country raising significant ethical and legal questions," Comer said in opening remarks. "For example, many lawsuits are funded by progressive activists or private equity seeking to hijack America's legal system to implement their policy desires or make a quick buck.

"We know that activist groups use this funding to push policies that they could not enact through the legislative process. Some left-wing groups funnels millions to law firms to sue companies across the country on questionable legal grounds. They are trying to use the courts to put these companies out of business or limit their ability to bring new products to market."

Alliance for Consumers sent its report to every Republican governor on Wednesday, the Examiner reported.

Everytown for Gun Safety, founded by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been active in trying to limit guns rights. It launched Everytown Law to focus on being "the largest and most experienced team of litigators in the country dedicated to advancing gun safety in the courts and through the civil and criminal justice systems," the Examiner reported.

According to its website, EarthRights International advances its political goals, such as divesting from fossil fuels, by taking "legal action against perpetrators of earth rights abuses, train[ing] activists, and work[ing] with communities to demand meaningful and lasting change."

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