Binding Mandatory Arbitration, aka Corporate Courts System,

check out the LA Times Article

Here's the complete 4-part ABC World News Tonight's original report on BMA, which ran February 22-25, 2005.

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California Justices to Consider Credit Card Holders' Ability to File Class Actions
Credit card holder Christopher Boehr was outraged when he learned that Discover Bank imposed a $29 late fee on some customers even if their payments arrived on the due date.

Times: Privatization gone wild
Lose a case, lobby the Legislature to change the law...

ADR World: Mandatory Securities Arbitration Under Review After Hearings
The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee will take a closer look at whether arbitration in the securities industry should be made voluntary, following a hearing last week where investor advocates detailed a range of concerns about the current mandatory system.

Our February 24th press conference was a
resounding success.
Read the press release here.

Other press event materials.

ACTION ALERT: Protect farmers' rights to access the U.S. courts if companies engage in illegal or unfair practices! Call your Senator today. Ask that he or she support fairness in arbitration and cosponsor the Fair Contracts for Growers Act. Click here for more information.

Arbitration Left ID Theft Victim With $27,000 Bill
Thursday, February 24, 2005; Page E01

This national public interest law firm has launched a nationwide Access to Justice Campaign to fight binding mandatory arbitration and other efforts to eliminate Americans' right to a day in court. To purchase a copy of TLPJ's cutting-edge legal guide, Consumer Arbitration Agreements -- which surveys every approach that state and federal courts have accepted in challenging binding mandatory arbitration clauses -- click here: http://www.tlpj.org/caa.htm

A North Carolina judge struck down a mandatory arbitration clause, which had been placed in consumer contracts by CitiFinancial Services, a division of Citigroup, Inc. Judge Ronald Stephens ruled that two North Carolina women have the right to bring a lawsuit against CitiFinancial for predatory lending practices in state civil court and will not be forced into arbitration as requested by CitiFinancial.

The lawsuit was filed as a class action, so the ruling affects thousands of consumers across North Carolina. Read the whole article here.