Law Unconstitutional

[Patrickt]

From Austin, Texas,:

"A state appeals court ruled Thursday that Texas lawmakers had no authority to ban people from using accident records to find potential customers."

The article went on to say the law would prevent health care providers and others from contacting people who had been in accidents. The last accident I had was in Colorado. My car was totalled but I wasn't injured. I was shook up and stiff for a couple of days but I wasn't injured and the accident report clearly reflected that. I didn't get a single letter from a health care provider concerned about my health. I don't believe health care providers use the accident reports at all.

I did get a letter from an attorney telling me "You might never have to work again," if I went to see his chiropractor who was an expert in finding "permanently disabling injuries." Injuries, of which you might be totally unaware.

It's a shame the Texas law didn't hold up.

[arcticpenguin]

Do you have a link for an article on this? It would be interesting to hear on what grounds the court ruled.

[Patrickt]

Sorry I forgot the link.

http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today/metro_state_15.html

"Because (House Bill) 1544 is not limited to a particular type of solicitation, nor is it restricted by a time limit, we conclude that it is neither reasonably tailored or proportional to the harm the state seeks to prevent," Justice David Puryear wrote in the court's opinion. "Instead, the statute imposes a permanent ban on individuals who seek to conduct their business by using legally obtained information."

[arcticpenguin]

It sounds like the law was just poorly written, and could perhaps be salvaged in some form.

Odd that the judge mentions proportionality just after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected proportionality in a 'cruel & unusual punishment' case.