Supreme Court, Inc.

Quite a while back I read a frustrating article in the Sunday New York Times Magazine about the US Supreme Court, which you can read here. In short, it describes how the US Chamber of Commerce has a ridiculous amount of clout and influence when appointing and electing judges, especially high courts like the federal district courts and state supreme courts. Want a pertinent example? The recent Wisconsin Supreme Court election saw Judge Louis Butler lose to Michael Gableman, which is the first time an incumbent has lost in 40 years. The US Chamber of Commerce conducts essentially the same campaign for “their” candidate no matter where the candidate is running, including here in Wisconsin, and so far it’s been pretty successful. The NYTSM article came out before the election, but it’s proven to be accurate.

Oh, um, why is this bad? I forgot to mention that: Corporations are seeking to overturn consumer protections that first started being put in place in the 60’s. Judges with pro-corporate viewpoints are being installed to help ensure those laws are overturned or their enforcement weakened. For example, if the federal government approves of a car’s safety before it goes on the market, the car company could be absolved from dealing with any defects that come up later, and could not be sued (or else have very low caps on lawsuits). This situation is now true with medical devices, according to the article, and other rulings may change the very nature of safety in America as we know it. There are other implications as well, but I’ll let you read about it from the source.