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California Proposition 51, Non-Economic Damages Assessed in Lawsuits Initiative (June 1986)
| California Proposition 51 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date June 3, 1986 | |
| Topic Tort law | |
Status Approved | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
California Proposition 51 was on the ballot as an initiated state statute in California on June 3, 1986. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported limiting the liability of each responsible party in a lawsuit to that part of the non-economic damages that is equal to each responsible party's share of fault. |
A "no" vote opposed limiting the liability of each responsible party in a lawsuit to that part of the non-economic damages that is equal to each responsible party's share of fault. |
Election results
|
California Proposition 51 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
2,875,382 | 62.12% | ||
| No | 1,753,244 | 37.88% | ||
Overview
Proposition 51 changed California's rules about who must pay for non-economic damages assessed in lawsuits. It limited the liability of each responsible party in a lawsuit to that part of the non-economic damages that is equal to each responsible party's share of fault. Under Proposition 51, the courts can still require one person to pay the full cost of economic damages, if the other responsible parties are not able to pay their shares.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Proposition 51 was as follows:
| “ | Multiple Defendants Tort Damage Liability. Initiative Statute. | ” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary for this measure was:
| “ | Under existing law, tort damages awarded a plaintiff in court against multiple defendants may all be collected from one defendant. A defendant paying all the damages may seek equitable reimbursement from other defendants. Under this amendment, this rule continues to apply to "economic damages," defined as objectively verifiable monetary losses, including medical expenses, earnings loss, and others specified; however, for "non-economic damages," defined as subjective, non-monetary losses, including pain, suffering, and others specified, each defendant's responsibility to pay plaintiff's damages would be limited in direct proportion to that defendant's percentage of fault. Summary of Legislative Analyst's estimate of net state and local government fiscal impact: Under current law, governments often pay non-economic damages that exceed their shares of fault. Approval of this measure would result in substantial savings to state and local governments. Savings could amount to several millions of dollars in any one year, although they would vary significantly from year to year. | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated state statute is equal to 5 percent of the votes cast at the preceding gubernatorial election. For initiated statutes filed in 1986, at least 393,835 valid signatures were required.
See also
External links
Footnotes
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