An open letter to Lorie Zapf:
I was fascinated by Emily Alpert's article in Voice of San Diego about Lorie Zapf. Emily wrote:
"Lorie Zapf, president of the [Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse/CALA] group's San Diego chapter, said schools are falling prey to a system that makes it too easy to file lawsuits.
"'Right now anybody can file a lawsuit ... It is so incredibly easy, and there aren't big repercussions for bringing frivolous suits,' Zapf said. 'Then the schools are stuck defending themselves.
"'All that money just makes me sick,' she said, 'being a mom.'"
(The above is from Voice of San Diego, http://voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/01/05/this_just_in/595litigation010308.txt)
All that money makes me sick, too, Lorie.
But perhaps you failed to notice that the report from your own organization shows that the abusers of the taxpayers are the school lawyers, who took $10.7 million from San Diego Unified School District budget between 2005 and 2007.
On the other hand, victims received settlements or verdicts of less than one-fourth of that amount: $2.5 million. Some worthy victims received nothing at all except a second mortgage to pay lawyers.
For example, James "Ted" Carter mortgaged his house to pay Veronica Aguilar and her firm, Holben and Associates. A jury awarded him $1.2 million for doing what any mom would want a teacher to do: reporting that a coach had told a boy to take a body-building substance which caused the boy's kidneys to fail. The school did nothing to the coach who advised taking the substance. But then Escondido School District do allowed the wife of the coach who pushed substances to fire the teacher who reported the problem. The jury was right, but California's Court of Appeal is so in favor of business and the status quo in the power structure that it overturned the decision, saying the school.
Who was the lawyer against James Carter? Daniel Shinoff, partner of Leslie Devaney, a past board member of CALA and continuing presence on CALA's TV show.
Schools are disaster areas largely because bad coaches and bad administrators are protected by defense lawyers, and good teachers and administrators are fired because they got in somebody's way by telling the truth.
I don't think most mothers would agree with you, Lorie, if they knew the whole story.
Education defense lawyers are hired to deprive citizens, particularly those who are victimized in a school setting, of their right to protection of the law.
Should the justice system be partisan? Attorney General Anthony Gonzalez thought so. Apparently so do you.
You are outraged that any ordinary person--absolutely anyone--has a right to petition for redress of grievances.
Shocking! Who do they think they are, Americans?
You clearly think plaintiffs should have certain qualifications. And I'll bet you think those qualifications should be determined by the Republican party.
You don't think Leslie Devaney's current lawsuit against me for defamation is frivolous, do you, Lorie?
Your clearly partisan concerns have nothing to do with being a mom. The status quo is harmful to students, and your efforts to undermine the public's respect for plaintiffs are even more harmful to students. Why not just admit that defense lawyers and insurance companies are your backers, and that you are simply a partisan Republican and Member of the San Diego County Republican Party County Central Committee who is using motherhood to spread cynical propaganda?
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