US: Large Jury Awards

Lawyer Rob Gaudet admits that large jury awards far exceed the actuarial tables. I pointed out that sexual abuse by Catholic priests must occur in all Catholic countries, yet massive awards occur only in the US because of US law and law practices. Rob says: "The tables used by insurance companies and state-run workmen's compensation schemes are called "actuarial"tables. I didn't mean to say that juries use those in awarding damages but only to mention them as an example of how it is, indeed, possible to put a monetary figure on something as intangible as pain and suffering.

As far as suing the Catholic church in America is concerned, I agree that these abuses probably occur all over the world but they have come into the open here first. I don't know why. I'm not a sociologist. But that doesn't prevent me from hazarding a few guesses. Here's what I think:

(i) American culture is more open and fix-it oriented so we don't keep secrets as much as we put things out in the open;

(ii) American law allows for social justice to move forward promptly at the initiative of poor individuals whose lawyers can obtain discovery better than anywhere else in the world to discover what's really happening (a good example of this is the 9/11 litigation which is pulling in all kinds of information and documents regarding the financing of terrorists---information which the administration is either too guarded or too embarrassed to release);

(iii) America has a confluence of social/institutional/legal forces which make this possible--it is the combination of our press, our politicians, our lawyers, and our engaged citizenry who form this amazing synergy which is powerful enough to generate an intellectual buzz and, then, to direct some investigative energy with enough power to penetrate one of humanity's oldest and most venerated institutions.

Anywhere else in the world, people would have been cowed into fear by the church's prestige, shame for pursuing monetary damages (just as you, in this forum are still trying to shame the victims of sexual abuse for bringing their cases forward), and the lack of legal representation. Americans have less of that fear because our institutions and culture coalesce to protect the little guy".

RH:
My, that sounds good. However, in anticlerical France, a land of lawyers, people would rejoice if priestly sexual abuse could be proved. There were two or three cases a few years ago, but the offenders simply went to jail. As I recall, the victims received no or nominal damages.