Supreme Court Increasingly Favoring Big Business

Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court has increasingly decided favorably for big business interests. The New York Times has highlighted a study by the Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) that tracks the success of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce before the Supreme Court.

The Huffington Post further analyzed the data as well as additional studies, and found even more evidence of corporate favoritism, as well as a sharp ideological divide on the Roberts court. For example, one study found that the conservative bloc of the U.S. Supreme Court favored big business interests at a rate of 74%, versus only 43% for the liberal bloc. The 31-point divide is three times the divide the study noted in the Rehnquist and Burger Court.

Last term, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed briefs supporting particular business interests in 16 cases. In 13 of those cases, or 81%, the Supreme Court ruled for the business interest that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported.

The Roberts Court's interest in business issues "has risen along with the emergence of a breed of lawyers specializing in Supreme Court advocacy, many of them veterans of the United States solicitor general's office, which represents the federal government in the court," The Times reports.

It's definitely a trend worth keeping an eye on. The Court is deciding cases on such a narrow margin the retirement of a single Justice could have a massive ripple effect.

Related Resources:

• Supreme Court Hearts Big Business (Allgov.com)
• US Supreme Court Opinions (FindLaw)
• US Supreme Court Center (FindLaw)