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Jury deliberates for second
day in lead paint case
CNN.com and the
Associated Press, October 25, 2002
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www.bridges4kids.org.
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island
The state's landmark lawsuit
against the lead paint industry is now in the hands of a jury
that must decide if the product creates a public health
threat.
Jurors returned to court Friday for their second day of
deliberations. They were wrestling with the sole question on
their verdict sheet: "Does the presence of lead pigment in
paint and in coats in homes, schools, hospitals and other
public and private buildings throughout the state of Rhode
Island constitute a public nuisance?"
Before giving them the case Thursday, Superior Court Judge
Michael Silverstein told the six-person jury they were not to
consider whether the paint industry is liable for poisoning
children, nor to assess damages. Those issues will be
determined in later trials if the state prevails in this
lawsuit, the judge said.
Silverstein defined a public nuisance as something that
interferes with the public's well-being to an unreasonable
degree.
"The essential claim is that someone has suffered harm or
injuries they ought not have to bear," Silverstein said.
Lead paint was banned in 1978, after studies showed flaking
paint or dust is harmful to children who eat or breathe it.
Health problems include behavioral disorders, brain damage and
even death.
Rhode Island is the first state to try to hold the industry
accountable for poisoning children. Attorney General Sheldon
Whitehouse's lawsuit names eight former lead paint
manufacturers.
The state claims the paint is a public health threat, arguing
it has poisoned 35,000 children in Rhode Island since 1993.
Attorneys say the paint is dangerous regardless of its
condition.
The paint companies contend the problem is isolated to
deteriorating paint found in homes managed by delinquent
landlords or irresponsible homeowners.
If the state prevails, a new jury would decide if paint
companies can be held liable. A subsequent phase could involve
damages.
Legal analysts say a verdict for the state in this phase would
invite other states and communities to file lawsuits of their
own.
More than 40 lawsuits have been filed since 1989 by
individuals and communities against lead paint companies. All
have failed. Rhode Island is the first state to sue the
industry under public nuisance law.
The companies named in the lawsuit are American Cyanamid Co.;
Atlantic Richfield; ConAgra Grocery Products Co.; Cytec
Industries Inc.; DuPont Co.; Millennium Inorganic Chemicals,
Inc.; NL Industries Inc.; and Sherwin-Williams Co.
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