Wednesday, October 19, 2011

From Roger Fitch and our Friends Down Under

Comforting the comfortable
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Justinian in Alien Tort Statute, Citizens United, Donald Rumsfeld, Rendition, Roger Fitch Esq, Torture, US Supreme Court

Analysing the US Supremes most recent term - plenty of goodies for big business, nothing for plaintiff lawyers ... Alien Tort Statute up for a workout ... Torture cases batted around the circuit courts ... Rendition victims lose final appeal ... Our Man in Washington reports

The US Supreme Court sits again this month, but the 2010 term is still being analysed here and here.

Scotusblog has the term's statistics.

By general consensus, big business and conservatives scored well.

Some say the court is only interested in comforting the comfortable.

The court's hostility to litigation and plaintiffs' lawyers led notably to Wal-Mart v Dukes, a class-action killer and the most pro-business decision since Citizens United invented corporate free speech.

More here and here.

The decision in AT&T Mobility v Conception, an arbitration clause case, will have a devastating effect on consumer class litigation. Emptywheel has more.

A leading law dean, Erwin Chemerinsky at the University of California, and Dahlia Lithwick have more on the Roberts Court junta.

While some writers believe the Supreme Court killed class actions, others think the cause is not yet lost.

Click here for more from Fitch.........

No comments: