by Nicole Flatow
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case about whether a consumer protection law that explicitly says “you have a right to sue” can be overridden by the fine print in a credit card contract.
The case, in which plaintiffs are challenging hidden fees of as much as $257 on a card with a $300 limit, is the latest to test individuals’ ability to hold corporations accountable in the courts.
Over the past few years, several important decisions have limited that right. In Wal-Mart v. Dukes, the court limited the scope of class actions in discrimination cases. In AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, the court upheld a provision prohibiting class action lawsuits in a phone service contract. And in Ashcroft v. Iqbal and Bell Atlantic Corps v. Twombly, the court made it more difficult to initiate a civil lawsuit in court.
But these are just a few of the decisions in which the Supreme Court has empowered corporations through “seemingly small” procedural rulings, explains Alan B. Morrison in his new ACS Issue Brief, “Saved by the Supreme Court: Rescuing Corporate America.” In fact, “[s]ince the late 1980s, on almost every occasion where big corporations have had a case of major significance in the High Court, the Court has ruled in their favor.” He explains:
In a recent piece for Slate, Simon Lazarus of the National Senior Citizens Law Center and George Washington University Law Professor Alan Morrison provide a sharp critique of the anti-health care reform lawsuits filed by several attorneys general. According to Morrison and Lazarus, the author of an