Last week, the nation observed the two-year anniversary of Sept. 11, mourning the lives lost and forever changed. But for 70 survivors and families of victims, last Tuesday marked a victory in their quest for financial compensation for the losses they suffered that fateful day.

On Sept. 9, a judge allowed several lawsuits related to the Sept. 11 attacks to proceed. The lawsuits allege that American Airlines, United Airlines, the Port Authority and Boeing share some responsibility for the injuries and deaths inflicted in the course of the attacks. By the time the suits are settled, each company could end up owing millions to these plaintiffs.

Civil law originated as a method of addressing wrongs and collecting appropriate damages for them. But over the last several decades, as aggressiveness and ethics have developed an inverse relationship in the legal profession, increasingly liberal judges have redefined the civil suit. Now lawsuits threaten entire industries, from aircraft manufacturing to health care to tobacco and even fast food.

This leaves honest, hard-working citizens, such as employees of the defendants listed above, working in constant fear that their livelihood could be ripped from underneath them by an unfounded lawsuit. Physicians are favorite targets because judges and juries prefer not to be distracted by facts and expert testimony when considering the tragic circumstances of the plaintiff. Ethical, productive careers are ended in the blink of an eye when a doctor has the misfortune to cross paths with a patient already-doomed to disability or death.

But all is not lost for those who yearn to live and work free from the wrath of frivolous civil litigation. Last Saturday, the people of the state of Texas voted to amend their state Constitution to allow legislators to set caps on the amount that can be awarded for non-economic damages in civil suits. Opponents of the amendment, which passed with a precariously narrow margin, warned that it would impair the pursuit of “justice” in the state. But the amendment “impairs” (limits) only non-economic damages, such as punitive damages, awarded purely for the sake of punishment.

Even with caps on non-economic awards, doctors and others can still be wiped out by being forced to pay for medical care or other extensive, ongoing costs incurred by plaintiffs. But no longer will defendants be liable for multi-million dollar “pain and suffering” damages. Current state caps, like the one Texas will implement, are all less than $1 million.

Anyone who has taken an introductory psychology course is familiar with the concept of the scapegoat, a person or group that serves as a convenient outlet for venting frustration, when in reality that scapegoat has no control over the cause of frustration. Because it’s hard to accept tragedy as just the wrath of fate, people necessarily find someone to blame.

Historically, violence against scapegoats has taken the ugly forms of racism and sexism in cultures around the world. While a lawsuit is not so explicitly violent, it is nonetheless gravely devastating to the defendant and his or her family, who, if uninsured against such action, may see their life savings and life’s work destroyed.

This is not to take the suffering of victims’ families lightly. Few people have had to experience the anguish of losing a loved one to a cold, calculated murder or debilitating injury. But seeking a scapegoat, and perhaps destroying the livelihood of someone else and inflicting pain and suffering on his or her family, will certainly not bring the loved one back.

Civil law evolved for the noble purpose of holding people accountable for wrong actions. This aspiration need not be lost today; indeed there are wrongdoings that legitimate lawsuits can correct. When a party willfully or neglectfully inflicts economic damage on another party, it is not unreasonable to hold the guilty party financially accountable for that damage. But the modern lawsuit is being abused as a get-rich-quick scheme for people too lazy and unmotivated to earn the wealth they desire.

But, thankfully, in this wonderful American system of government, states still have some freedom to pass whatever laws they see fit to govern their people. With its liberal tendencies, Iowa doesn’t seem like the kind of state that’s very inclined to institute a general cap on non-economic damages (though there currently is such a cap on suits against health care facilities). But fortunately for the students at this university, we don’t have to stay here after we graduate.

As Davy Crockett said before leaving his Tennessee home to seek adventure out West, “You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.”