Calling (novel)

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Appeal (original title: The Appeal ) is a novel by the American author John Grisham from 2008. The justice thriller tells the case of a woman who has lost her husband and son to a chemical company and is now trying to get compensation .

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Jeannette Baker lives in the small town of Bowmore in the US state of Mississippi . The chemical company Krane Chemicals had a factory here in which it simply buried highly toxic waste in the ground. As a result, the drinking water was poisoned and many residents developed cancer as a result.

Jeannette Baker also lost her husband and son and is therefore taking the company to court. Her two lawyers , the couple Wes and Mary Grace Payton, are committed to winning the process. They even sell their house to finance the process in the hope of a big win. When the court then awards Jeannete Baker $ 41 million, the sensation is perfect.

But the company appeals to the Mississippi State Supreme Court , half of which is made up of " liberal " and " conservative " judges. One of the liberal judges, Ms. Sheila McCarthy, will be re-elected this year, which Carl Trudeau, multi-billionaire and major shareholder of Krane Chemicals, takes advantage of and turns to a dubious company, which promises him to swap McCarthy for a suitable, conservative judge . An opposing candidate is quickly found: Ron Fisk, a young inexperienced provincial attorney who seems to fit exactly into Trudeau's vision, because he is easy to "buy" and also media effective enough to beat McCarthy. With the help of Trudeau's money and a merciless smear campaign against liberal judges, it is easy to deceive the electorate in the ultra-conservative Mississippi and Ron Fisk wins like a landslide.

Ron Fisk now generally votes against claims for damages. When his son is badly injured by a baseball hit with a prohibited bat, he begins to doubt. In the end, however, he votes for Krane Chemicals and against the company's victims.

background

John Grisham strongly criticizes the American legal system.

As in the novels The Judge , The Guilt and Defense , a theme of the book is the mischief of the escalating claims for damages in the USA and the often dubious lawyers who capitalize on them.

In this book, however, he primarily criticizes judges' elections and the resulting opportunities for interest groups or companies to put “ideal candidates” in a court of law. The case that a company has had a suitable judge elected has occurred several times in the USA. This is what Grisham calls a case from West Virginia , in which a coal mine owner took advantage of this opportunity and was able to quickly end a process that had lasted for decades. He said on a television show:

"It's already happened: It happened a few years ago in West Virginia. A guy who owned a coal company got tired of getting sued. He elected his guy to the Supreme Court. ... So it happens. "

“It happened like this: It happened a few years ago in West Virginia. An owner of a coal mine was tired of being sued. He elected his candidate to the Supreme Court. ... So: it happens. "

He also writes about this problem in the afterword of his novel. Influencing judge elections, albeit at the federal level (the US Supreme Court ), was also the subject of his book The Files .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Supreme Court case with the feel of a best seller. In: usatoday.com. February 16, 2009, accessed April 11, 2019 .

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