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Monday, June 28, 2010

The Corporate Court Limits Access to Justice

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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Alliance for Justice

The recent 5-4 ruling in Rent-A-Center v. Jackson has further limited the ability of Americans to have their day in court. The majority opinion, written by Justice Scalia, holds that the Federal Arbitration Act of 1925 only allows a court to review a complaint to an arbitration agreement within a larger contract if the person making the claim objects specifically to the delegation clause (compelling binding arbitration). This decision means the Supreme Court ruled that companies have even more power to strip people - unaware of the intricacies of filing a complaint about their contract - of their right to access the court. The Court’s decision Monday is another example of the Roberts Court judicial activism working on behalf of large corporations at the expense of ordinary Americans, in this case, by misinterpreting a 85-year-old law.

This decision affects all Americans who sign agreements with arbitration clauses including the hundreds-of-millions of cell phone subscribers, the estimated one-hundred-million Americans that work under binding arbitration agreements, and anyone else in America that signs a contract with a business that chooses to include this agreement in their contracts. The dissenting opinion, written by the soon to be retired Justice Stevens, defended employee and consumer rights against arbitration agreements. With the Kagan hearing just 6 days away, the question remains if the would-be replacement to Justice Stevens shares his conviction on the rights of Americans.

">Monday, June 28

Alliance for Justice

Today marks the start of Elena Kagan's Supreme Court confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. We support her nomination and look forward to fair and speedy proceedings.  If confirmed, Kagan will be the fourth woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court, and for the first time in history, on the first Monday in October, three women will take their seats on our nation’s highest court.

But Elena Kagan will also be joining a Supreme Court that has been transformed from a fair and independent institution into a highly politicized Corporate Court. Under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, a narrow conservative majority is actively advancing a political agenda that consistently favors big corporations over the rest of us.

In the past several years, the Corporate Court has radically rewritten laws in order to shield big business from liability, insulate corporate interests from regulation, make it easier for companies to discriminate, and enable powerful interests to flood our election process with special-interest dollars.

On this historic day, we say we no longer accept conservative rhetoric assigning the notion of "judicial activism" to progressives. The true activists, with a plain-as-day agenda favoring the powerful over everyday Americans, are Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Kennedy, and Scalia. These justices are no objective “umpires,” in John Roberts’ famous phrase; these five are leading an effort to throw the game to one side, tossing aside fairness and the interests of everyday people. Research shows that the conservative wing of the Corporate Court sides with big business 84% of the time. Our own research shows how this Court goes out of its way to push its political agenda.

It is time for progressives to send a message that this disregard for fundamental fairness and our core constitutional values cannot stand.

Join with us in our campaign to reveal what the Supreme Court under unyielding conservative leadership has become: A bastion of favoritism for the rich, the powerful, and the influential.

You can help by watching and sharing our just released video on the Corporate Court, and visiting the thecorporatecourt.com. With so much at stake, now is the time to learn, take action, and spread the word!

WATCH VIDEO