Judiciary by Roger King 

2008/2009 Judicial Hellholes   Link

1. West Virginia
2. South Florida
3. Cook County, Illinois
4. Atlantic County, New Jersey
5. Montgomery & Macon counties, Alabama
6. Los Angeles County, California
7. Clark County, Nevada

Watch List

• Rio Grande Valley & Gulf Coast of Texas
• Madison County, Illinois
• Baltimore, Maryland
• St. Louis (the City of), and St. Louis & Jackson counties, Missouri

Other areas to watch include: Orange County, California; St. Clair County, Illinois; Madison, Wisconsin; Seattle, Washington; New Orleans, Louisiana; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and the states of Minnesota and Oklahoma.

Dishonorable Mentions

• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for an egregious expansion of medical liability
• Missouri Supreme Court for gutting a long-held legal doctrine and inviting lawsuits from around the nation

Points of Light

• Maryland Court of Appeals blocks an effort to expand medical liability
• Rhode Island Supreme Court's lead-paint case ruling rejects products liability claims that masquerade as "public nuisance" lawsuits
• Pennsylvania & Texas reform laws increase access to high-risk medical care
• New Jersey & Oregon Supreme Courts insist on evidence of injuries from those seeking medical monitoring