This January, the White House announced that an "explosion in litigation" is creating a "logjam in America's civil courts." Yet, this summer the Bush Justice Department reported that the number of tort cases resolved in U.S. District Courts fell by 79 percent between 1985 and 2003. In 1985, 3,600 tort trials were decided by a judge or jury in U.S. District Courts. By 2003, that number had dropped to less than 800.  

State courts have also seen a decline in tort cases, down 32% since 1992 according to the DOJ's Bureau of Justice Statistics. And despite the rhetoric, medical malpractice payouts have fallen 4% per year since 2001, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

With lawsuits decreasing, who is served by making it even harder for injured families to bring a legitimate case?