Innocent Sellers Fairness Act
Latest action · Mar 31, 2015 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 2, 2015
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Innocent Sellers Fairness Act
Exempts a lawful seller from liability for personal injury, monetary loss, or damage to property arising out of an accident or transaction involving a seller's products, unless the claimant proves one or more of the following activities by the seller:
- the seller was the manufacturer or participated in the design or installation of the product;
- the seller altered, modified, or expressly warranted the product in a manner not authorized by the manufacturer;
- the seller had actual knowledge of the defect in the product as a result of a recall from the manufacturer or governmental entity authorized to make such recall or actual inspection at the time the seller sold the product to the claimant;
- the seller had actual knowledge of the defect in the product at the time the seller supplied the product;
- the seller intentionally altered or modified a product warranty, warning, or instruction from the manufacturer in a way not authorized by the manufacturer; or
- the seller knowingly made a false representation about an aspect of the product not authorized by the manufacturer.
Limits the seller's liability to the personal injury, monetary loss, or damage to property directly caused by such activity where a claimant proves one or more of such activities was negligent.
Cosponsors 16
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 2, 2015 to May 6, 2016; 5 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-AR | Eric A. "Rick" Crawford | Original | Mar 2, 2015 |
| R-TN | John J. Duncan, Jr. | Original | Mar 2, 2015 |
| R-TX | Lamar Smith | Original | Mar 2, 2015 |
| R-KS | Lynn Jenkins | Original | Mar 2, 2015 |
| R-AZ | Trent Franks | Original | Mar 2, 2015 |
| R-OH | Steve Chabot | Mar 23, 2015 | |
| R-TX | Pete Sessions | Mar 26, 2015 | |
| R-NY | Richard L. Hanna | Mar 26, 2015 | |
| R-NY | Elise M. Stefanik | Apr 21, 2015 | |
| R-MN | John Kline | Apr 21, 2015 | |
| R-GA | Austin Scott | Jun 10, 2015 | |
| R-IA | David Young | Jul 28, 2015 | |
| R-KS | Mike Pompeo | Apr 25, 2016 | |
| R-NY | Christopher P. Gibson | Apr 26, 2016 | |
| R-MN | Tom Emmer | Apr 26, 2016 | |
| R-SD | Kristi L. Noem | May 6, 2016 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Mar 2, 2015 |
| Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee | Referred Mar 31, 2015 | |
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Mar 2, 2015 |
| Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee | Referred Mar 6, 2015 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 31, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
- Mar 6, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
- Mar 2, 2015Introduced in House
- Mar 2, 2015Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 35, March 2, 2015, page H1526.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 1118 | Innocent Sellers Fairness Act | Reintroduced Bill | Mar 6, 2017 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To prevent undue disruption of interstate commerce by limiting civil actions brought against persons whose only role with regard to a product in the stream of commerce is as a lawful seller of the product.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Innocent Sellers Fairness Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Law.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 2, 2015Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
