Russell

We hold that the Fair Responsibility Act of 1986, popularly known as Proposition 51, is not retroactive.

Petitioner James Russell is plaintiff in a personal injury action pending before respondent superior court. Russell alleges he has contracted a lung disease from exposure to asbestos, and names as defendants several companies who manufactured or distributed the asbestos products to which Russell was exposed during his lifetime. The defendants’ liability was governed by the traditional principle of joint and several liability: if a defendant was found to be a proximate cause of Russell’s injuries, even if not the sole proximate cause, that defendant could be held liable to Russell for all of his damages, subject to the defendant’s right of indemnification from other responsible parties. (See generally, American Motorcycle Assn. v. Superior Court (1978) 20 Cal.3d 578 [ 146 Cal.Rptr. 182 , 578 P.2d 899 ].)

Russell’s suit was awaiting trial on June 3,1986, when the voters approved Proposition 51 and enacted the Fair Responsibility Act of 1986 (hereafter interchangeably Act or Proposition 51). The Act purports to eliminate joint and several liability for noneconomic…