Consumer group backs Kansas bills aimed at limiting lawfare

By Tom Joyce
The Center Square

A consumer advocacy group is launching a new national campaign as Kansas lawmakers consider legislation supporters say would limit the use of courts to advance political agendas.

Alliance for Consumers Action Fund on Tuesday unveiled a campaign titled “End the Lawfare,” which focuses on efforts by activists and trial lawyers to use litigation to push policy goals that have failed to pass through legislatures. The campaign coincides with the introduction of two measures in Kansas aimed at restricting what supporters describe as woke lawfare.

The group’s executive director, O.H. Skinner, testified before the Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee this week in support of Senate Bills 462 and 463. The legislation would put new limits on public nuisance lawsuits and ban individuals engaged in criminal or wrongful conduct from suing for negligence related to that conduct.

Skinner told lawmakers that courts across the country are increasingly being used as tools to impose ideological policies on consumers and businesses.

“We are in the midst of an unprecedented campaign of lawfare by left-wing activists in courts across this country,” Skinner said in his written testimony.

“Courtrooms across America have become a primary canvas for the Left’s ongoing campaign to reshape American society,” he added.

Senate Bill 462 focuses on public nuisance claims. The measure would clarify that lawful products, government-approved activities, and regulated conduct cannot form the basis of nuisance lawsuits. It would also require plaintiffs to prove that a defendant directly caused the alleged harm under established standards of causation.

Skinner said public nuisance law is increasingly being used to target industries that activists oppose.

“More often these days, public nuisance claims are a prime way that activists target licensed, regulated, lawful products like cars, soda bottles, firearms, or oil & gas, seeking to accomplish their ideological policy goals through the courtroom with respect to these products that are disfavored on the Left and in coastal enclaves when they have otherwise failed in the halls of Congress or the hallways of this and other state legislative bodies,” Skinner wrote.

Senate Bill 463 addresses negligence claims brought by individuals engaged in criminal or wrongful conduct. Under the proposal, someone injured while committing a crime would not be able to sue a property owner or business for negligence related to that conduct later.

Skinner described the legislation as a consumer protection measure.

“The bill reflects a simple principle: a person engaged in a criminal or wrongful conduct cannot sue for injuries arising from that same conduct,” he said. “For example, if a burglar is injured during a break-in, they cannot later claim negligence against the homeowner. The same would apply to a would-be ‘porch pirate’ trying to sneak packages off your stoop.”

He also argued that rising crime and retail theft have become consumer protection issues, citing cities where store closures and theft have limited access to basic goods and services.

“When consumers cannot get what their family needs, when packages are stolen from front porches without consequence, and when the streets of our cities are not safe for people to shop for what they need, it is a consumer protection issue that calls for action,” Skinner said.

The “End the Lawfare” campaign includes a new website, digital advertising, and a mobile billboard near the Kansas State Capitol. The Alliance for Consumers Action Fund said the campaign will run for several weeks as other states consider similar legislation.

Skinner urged lawmakers to act before courts further expand their role in policymaking.

“Kansas can make clear that public policy is decided by laws, not lawsuits, and that consumers should be prioritized, not criminals and wrongdoers,” he said.