Secret settlements vs. your safety

UNITED STATES
The Advertiser

What people don’t know can hurt them — as proven repeatedly by a system of secret justice that has grown up inside the courts.

General Motors’ handling of its Chevy Cobalts with faulty ignition switches is the latest example. GM has settled several claims by victims or their loved ones — on the condition that the terms remain secret.

Public settlements might have warned everyone of the danger or even forced the company to replace the switches sooner. None of that happened. The cars weren’t recalled until February, nine years after one of the earliest settlements.

Keeping the terms of settlements secret (or sealing documents) has become routine, and not just among automakers. Corporations have used the strategy to hide the side effects of dangerous drugs, tires that shred on the road and small planes with defective parts. The Catholic Church kept settlements secret to protect abusive priests.

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