State of Rhode Island vs. Lead Industries Association
Amicus Brief of The Heartland Institute in Support of Appellants
The Heartland Institute on January 31, 2008, submitted as amicus curiae (a friend of the court) a brief in support of reversal of the jury verdict last year against the paint company defendants in the State's public nuisance lawsuit. The verdict found that the "collective" presence of lead-based paint in private residences and other buildings amounted to a public nuisance.
The ramifications of this verdict, and associated rulings by the trial court, are of great concern to Heartland. Any residence built before 1978 (the year when lead-based paint was banned) has now been declared to be a public nuisance, thus impairing its value. The verdict also effectively does away with well-established rules of product liability, replacing it with a system of unlimited liability perpetual in nature. Any product could be next.