That landmark case is Avery v State Farm and we have a few post on it here dating back to 2008. As I remember State Farm defrauded its own customers with auto policies via aftermarket parts. They lost and kept losing until the election for Supreme Court where they managed to get their whore, Lloyd Karmeier elected and ol’ Lloydie was the deciding vote in tossing the case from the Illinois Supreme Court. Well folks it turns out State Farm was using straw men and front groups to fund their whore and it is seeing the light of day. From the Chicage Tribune:
Lawyers in a class-action case accuse insurance giant State Farm of defrauding the Illinois Supreme Court by covering up its support of the Republican candidate in the most expensive state judicial race in U.S. history.
Those attorneys, including former television star and U.S. senator Fred Thompson, allege State Farm lied and mislead the court, hiding its “extraordinary support of Justice (Lloyd) Karmeier’s campaign and to thwart Justice Karmeier’s disqualification.”
A petition was filed last week, asking the court to reconsider its decision to void a $1 billion verdict against State Farm. The petition is based on an investigation by former FBI agent Michael Reece.
“The bottom line of my investigation is that State Farm used the Illinois Civil Justice League to elect Judge Karmeier and Judge Karmeier knew it,” Reece stated in his affidavit that accompanied the petition.
The petition alleges Karmeier received at least $2.5 million and up to $4 million in contributions from State Farm during the 2004 campaign against his opponent, Democrat Gordon Maag. Karmeier declined to recuse himself from the class-action case against State Farm because of a conflict of interest and eventually cast his vote to void a $1 billion judgment.
The concept of special interest buying elections for their waterboys is nothing new on these pages and is a theme we are examining at the local level with our Jefferson Parish coverage. With an anti trust exemption that inhibits competition and prevents risks from being spread, corporate predators like State Farm are very used to getting their way. One day maybe we’ll elect folks to high office that actually represent the people instead of rent by the hour types that represent themselves and themselves alone.
sop
Wow, not a single comment on this post (until now). This is nothing short of the corrupt purchase of the court. This story should be the lead story on every newscast. This is actually worse than paying off a jury for a particular verdict.
State Farm is not a "good neighbor." But society has been brainwashed in 2 significant respects. First, an overwhelming number of people are so feeble-minded that they will believe State Farm is a "good" company simply because State Farm has spent millions (maybe billions) over decades to tout itself as "good." Second, these same weak-minded individuals are the ones who throw up their hands and say "What can you do about it"?
The plain and simple truth is that this Country is controlled by: 1) insurance companies, 2) pharmaceutical companies, 3) credit card companies, and 4) oil companies. Is this really what all of the teabaggers want? It is not a free market when judges are bought. That is not a level playing field and the consumers are the ones getting raped. You can run around screaming "socialism" all you want, but until our "bought and paid for" courts and legislatures crack down on the 4 industries identified above, we'll all be slaves to their arbitrary pricing scams.
If these allegations are true, some people should go to jail for a very long time.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Obama to do anything. He has been Ed Rust's lawn jockey for many years now….
sop
Sock Puppet : WOW , you're right. What a good neighbor deal this is. Spend a little 3-5 million to get a 1 BILLION DOLLAR PAYDAY.
With the odor of those kinds of mega bucks flying around I wonder when our own esteemed Loyola professor will suddenly sniff it out and appear on the ethics scene to save the day in defense of State Farm's 'good neighbor' Judge.
Heck ,Obama sure ain't 'leaving no lights on' anywhere, in fact he's pulling down the black out shades on the sun trying to shine on his own SOLYNDRA scandal.
Obama,Bush and all Federal lawmakers (Dem and Rep) are to blame for the manner in which property and casualty insurers have raped their customers and perverted the legal system. Nobody wants to touch McCarran-Ferguson. And after Katrina not a single insurance executive, claims manager, or claims adjuster was indicted for anything. Not a single instance of fraud at all by anyone acting on behalf of an insurance company.
Plaintiff lawyers have also bought judges, no doubt. But the difference is that there is no cabal of plaintiff lawyers who, like insurance companies, spend billions (collectively) making cutesy commercials about how good and sweet (Flo, geckos, etc.) plaintiff lawyers are. Brainwashing is powerful. Find any random 10-year old, and they can finish the phrases "Like a good neighbor . . . " and "You're in good hands . . . " And no, there is no comparison between the effects of Morris Bart's commercials and those of State Farm, although Bart's ads may be even more sickening. And don't get me started on "He's a man of integrity, and he wants to be your attorney." But, I digress.
And here's my lowly opinion on the plaintiffs hiring Fred Thompson (former Senator and actor). Mr. Thompson probably is about as competent to handle this case as Jose Baez is to perform an anterior cervical fusion. But, it will lend credibility in terms of the general public. Very sad.
At the heart of this case lies a multi-billion insurance company stomping on the rights of consumers (many of whom were its own customers) to engage in "incremental stealing." The use of after-market parts was no accident. State Farm intended to screw the claimants, and that's what they got caught doing. So, if you are the Farm and you don't have the nads to buy the jury, what's the next best investment? And if nothing comes of this case, State Farm, once again, has bought "justice."
The Mckinsey & Co coaching of Allstate, State Farm and other bigs have totally put profits over policy holders at whatever cost for many years. ” DENY, DELAY, DEFEND AGAINST LAW SUITS” . DENY DENY DENY, DENY DELAY CONFUSE. In Good Hands, Like a Good Neighbor my A**. Buying a judge to save a BILLION and claiming the contribution was $250 K and it was discovered it was in the 4 million range, where is the FBI in this investigation. Or will this just fade away like most cases and no one does the perp walk? Maybe just a slap on the wrist or a small fine for an industry that is awash in CASH. More cash than the total GDP of every country in the world except Japan and the US.
Why in the 200 years plus of insurance no major insurance officer has done the perp walk. Maybe because they have financed allmost every political candidate in history including Trent Lott who to his credit pushed back after he lost his beach home in Katrina.
I’m a contractor that works alot of P&C claims and witness these tactics on a daliy basis. Besides the DDD tactics the one that bothers me the most is denying a prepaid benefit of every Replacement Cost Policy for the benefit of useing of a General Contractor and including the standard 20% for this service. Most people (including my Grandmother) have no clue on where to start on repairing damages covered under their policy.
The corruption runs deep. And along with an almost unlimited defense fund if the industry attorneys where lined up they would reach from LA to NY. How can Joe Public fight this with limited funds against deep deep pockets.
http://www.justice.org/docs/tenworstinsurancecompanies.pdf
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