The American Museum of Tort Law, the nation’s first museum
devoted to the legal system,
opened on September 26 in the Litchfield Hills town of
Winsted, the home town of the museum’s
President, consumers advocate Ralph Nader.
After dedicating nearly half a
century to battling businesses over issues such as dangerous
products, the 81-year-old Nader is
spearheading the museum in a former downtown bank
building to celebrate the branch of
law that offers relief to anyone who suffers injury from
wrongful acts of others, from
careless drivers or neighbors to negligent corporations. The
nonprofit,
educational institution hopes to make people aware of the pivotal role of tort
law in
the
protection of personal freedom and safety. And it will celebrate the historical
and
contemporary
achievements of the civil justice system.
According to museum director Richard
L. Newman, former president of the Connecticut Trial
Lawyers Association, the new
facility will include a timeline of the development of tort law and
a theater. Exhibits will tell in compelling
fashion of cases large and small where tort law and the
right to trial by jury has protected
individuals against wrongful injury. Two
dramatic examples
are Liebeck vs McDonalds, a case concerning scalding coffee, and Cipollone v. Liggett, where
the plaintiff
alleged that cigarette manufacturers knew -- but did not warn consumers -- that
smoking
caused lung cancer and that cigarettes were addictive. The public will learn a
lot more
than
they generally know about these and other important issues, Newman promises.
Details of museum hours and events will be available on the
web site tortmuseum.org.
For information about lodging, dining
and other activities in the area and a free copy of UNWIND, a full-color,
152-page booklet detailing what to do and see, and where to stay, shop and dine
throughout Fairfield County and the Litchfield Hills of Western Connecticut,
contact the Western Connecticut Visitors Bureau, PO Box 968, Litchfield, CT
06759, (860) 567-4506, or visit their web site at www.visitwesternct.com
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