Panel wants religious groups to have aid immunity
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A House committee on Tuesday approved legislation that would protect religious organizations from being sued when they volunteer to help evacuate people from looming hurricanes.
The entirety of House Bill 633 was substituted with new language that mirrored existing exceptions for organizations, such as, Red Cross, United Way, Catholic charities and other organizations, said Val Exnicios, a New Orleans lawyer who testified in favor of the measure.
Exnicios said he did not want to penalize religious groups who voluntarily come to help in time of greatest need. An expression by the Legislature specifically exempting religious organizations from being sued by the people they helped save would go a long way to keeping insurance companies from increasing policy prices to the point where the organizations can no longer afford to come, he said.
Though a member of the governing board of the Louisiana Association for Justice, a group of lawyers who generally represent plaintiffs at trial, Exnicios said he testified on his own.
But a representative of Exnicios’ group testified against the measure, recommending that the Louisiana Law Institute develop a comprehensive law to address the exemptions from lawsuit liability.
Scott Bickford of New Orleans said a lot of organizations individually have sought and received exemptions from the Legislature. Uncoordinated “patchwork” efforts create inconsistencies in the law, he said.
The measure’s sponsor, state Rep. Nita Hutter, R-Chalmette, took offense at Bickford’s calling the measure “patchwork.”
“This is how we do a lot of things around here,” Hutter said.
The House Committee on Civil Law and Procedure voted 10-2 to report to the entire House of Representatives that they favored the measure as amended.
The entirety of House Bill 633 was substituted with new language that mirrored existing exceptions for organizations, such as, Red Cross, United Way, Catholic charities and other organizations, said Val Exnicios, a New Orleans lawyer who testified in favor of the measure.
Exnicios said he did not want to penalize religious groups who voluntarily come to help in time of greatest need. An expression by the Legislature specifically exempting religious organizations from being sued by the people they helped save would go a long way to keeping insurance companies from increasing policy prices to the point where the organizations can no longer afford to come, he said.
Though a member of the governing board of the Louisiana Association for Justice, a group of lawyers who generally represent plaintiffs at trial, Exnicios said he testified on his own.
But a representative of Exnicios’ group testified against the measure, recommending that the Louisiana Law Institute develop a comprehensive law to address the exemptions from lawsuit liability.
Scott Bickford of New Orleans said a lot of organizations individually have sought and received exemptions from the Legislature. Uncoordinated “patchwork” efforts create inconsistencies in the law, he said.
The measure’s sponsor, state Rep. Nita Hutter, R-Chalmette, took offense at Bickford’s calling the measure “patchwork.”
“This is how we do a lot of things around here,” Hutter said.
The House Committee on Civil Law and Procedure voted 10-2 to report to the entire House of Representatives that they favored the measure as amended.
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