Exposing the Corporate Court

Under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, the conservative block of the Supreme Court has issued a number of decisions that severely restrict the ability of everyday Americans to stand up for their rights in court.  Time and time again the Court has proved willing to bend the law to protect powerful corporate interests. Many of the Court’s recent decisions have a direct bearing on access to justice by closing the courthouse doors, preventing victims of corporate wrongdoing from banding together, and forcing individuals out of court and into arbitration.  Alliance for Justice reports on the injustice of these decisions.

Wal-Mart v. Dukes: This case raises the question of whether a group of women who claim they were discriminated against by Wal-Mart can band together as a class to challenge the corporate giant’s illegal practices. Click here to read more about this case.

AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion: The Supreme Court recently issued a devastating blow to consumers and employees by holding that corporations can insulate themselves from liability by pairing class action waiver bans with forced arbitration clauses. Companies can now force victims of wrongdoing to pursue their claims one by one in arbitration – even if many people were harmed in the same way. 
Click here to read more about this case.

Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California: This case is about the ability of individuals to seek injunctions under the Supremacy Clause to stop ongoing violations of federal statutes (in this case, the Medicaid statute).   If individuals cannot go to federal court and challenge state actions as preempted by federal law, people injured by these state laws would have no recourse or ability to curtail future injury.  Click here to learn more about this case.

More About the Corporate Court:  Today’s Supreme Court consistently favors powerful corporate interests at the expense of everyday Americans. The Court is supposed to promote fairness and justice for all Americans, but in recent years the Court has gone out of its way to twist the law to elevate corporate interests over personal freedoms and core constitutional values.  AFJ has launched a campaign to raise awareness about how the Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, has been transformed from a fair and independent institution into a highly politicized “Corporate Court.” To learn more about the Corporate Court, click here, and to read AFJ’s analysis of the full 2010-2011 Corporate Court Docket, click here.