Come on! They're not completely unchallengeable -- like retired race horses. The Court does, though enjoy what the New York Times calls "all but free rein" in choosing which cases to take. This edition of the Court, already disgraced by earlier decisions, shows signs of getting worse, not better. The cases chosen lean heavily towards corporate interests.
The Roberts court has championed corporations. The cases it has chosen for review this term suggest it will continue that trend. Of the 51 it has so far decided to hear, over 40 percent have a corporation on one side.
Wait! It's not as though they're restoring a balance. In some cases, they've granted even more corporate rights than the petitioners were asking for. Looks like they're on a pro-corporate rampage.
Equally striking is that the court reached far beyond what the parties had argued, to make a sweeping change in constitutional law. It could have upheld the right of the conservative nonprofit group to show an anti-Hillary Clinton movie on a video-on-demand service during the primary season — without opening the door to a new era of political corruption.
The cases scheduled for argument in the next few months may appear modest. But if there is one lesson from the Citizens United ruling, it is that nothing — for this court — is inevitably modest. There are two areas of business law particularly worth watching: “pre-emption” and protection of employees from retaliation.
"Pre-emption" entails kicking state courts' decisions in the butt, allowing federal interests to override states' legal restrictions, the "interference with the national economy." ATT wants something? And state law prevents ATT from having its way? ATT gets the decision it wants in federal courts.
Also coming up are cases dealing with the rights of whistleblowers (what rights!), the right to protest at a military funeral (yes, that Phelps), the right to sell violent videos to kids (making a profit is an overriding American value, isn't it?), the rights of religious donor to take tax credits for their donations to schools (a dollar for Jesus is another form of patriotism?).
Fasten your seatbelts...
