The Pacific Research Institute, a think tank dedicated to reducing corporate responsibility -- or in its own words, to "champion[ing] freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility for all individuals by advancing free-market policy solutions" -- released a study  last week that ranks U.S. states according to their tort systems (.pdf). Alaska happened to top the overall list, and PRI secured former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to lend her name to the report's foreword. Alaska is number one among fans of limiting tort liability for several reasons, writes Palin:

Alaska has the second-lowest monetary tort payouts of any state, controlling for the size of each state's economy. Our tort costs are particularly low for businesses--another reason for entrepreneurs to locate here. We also have some of the lowest medical liability costs in the country. We appreciate doctors in Alaska and welcome them with open arms, not abusive lawsuits.

Alaska also boasts the lowest relative tort litigation risks of any state. The state may abound in moose but it doesn't have any "judicial hellholes" skewed to personal injury lawyers. The state also doesn't have huge outlier jury awards. Its tort caseload is third-lowest in the country and it's not flooded with lawyers. We practice the rule of law, not the rule of lawyers as in other states. Alaska's great tort climate is good for business and for all my fellow Alaskans.

Either way, a response to Palin's picture of Alaska as a paradise for doctors and entrepreneurs because of its hospitable limited-liability climate can be found via The Huffington Post, here. The author reminded us of several significant complications, over the last few decades, to Alaskans' ability to sue, but much of the piece focuses on criticism of Palin herself, not Alaska law.

And we don't know if it's germane here or not, but Alaska is still the only U.S. state without a law school.