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The right to a speedy trial only applies in criminal cases.
If you want to get extra angry, think about the dozen or so insurance companies that declared bankruptcy and walked away from the thing. (Note: bankrupt companies don't go out of business, they just reorganize and keep operating.) Want to get extra extra angry? I know a guy who quit his teaching job, went to Alaska with his brother-in-law to do insurance adjustment work, made a killing in 12 months, and once the company declared bankruptcy, he returned home and put almost a million dollars in the bank. Money that didn't go to families with claims that were stuck with bupkus after the incident.
But, hey, bully for all those insurance adjusters.
Some good came from it. The Oil Pollution Act was passed soon thereafter to put management requirements on companies that store oil and add extra requirements for tankers. I think there was also a new round of Marpol tanker agreements on the international level -- including that now a tanker must maintain insurance for these incidents, and I think also there may be a strict liability scheme out there for tanker spills.
If you want to know how big a tanker spill can get, an oil tanker like those used today is as long as the empire state building is tall, and contains a great deal more cubic feet of space inside than the empire state building does.
[ 08-27-2004, 03:53 PM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]
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