The current US Supreme Court is the most pro-business of all time

Over a 100-year period (1920 to 2020), all U.S. A review of Supreme Court decisions shows that the current court, led by Justice John Roberts, is pro-business. Only cases were considered where one party was an entity and the other was not – ie, the other party was a citizen, a trade union, a government agency, among others.

Historically, the Supreme Court has never been pro-business. Over the past 100 years, the average number of court victories for companies is 41%. But in John Roberts’s court, this average exceeded the parity level: 63.4% of the results were favorable to the companies. This body of water continues to rise: in 2020, 83% of decisions were in favor of business.

Study authors Lee Epstein of the University of Southern California and Mitu Gulati of the University of Virginia conducted the study. Supreme Court Database from the University of Washington. The study compares eight Supreme Court administrations based on percentages of decisions favorable to corporations:

* Roberts still presides over the court, but the last year of the study is 2020. 83% of the court’s rulings that year were favorable to corporations.

By comparison, the average pro-establishment decision on the Roberts Court (63.4%) was 15.1 percentage points higher than on the Rehnquist Court (48.3%), the second most favorable to corporations. 34 percentage points (29.4%), more favorable to citizens and unions than the Warren Court.

In further comparison, according to the study: In criminal cases, the average of pro-defense decisions was 42%, while the average of pro-establishment decisions was 41%. And the average of verdicts in favor of the complainant in civil rights cases is 54%.

Party influence
The study indicates that Conservative-Republican ministers are more pro-business than liberal Democrat ministers, reflecting the position of Republican voters, which are more pro-business than Democratic voters – which is true for Republican voters. Lower Court Judges.

Democratic ministers, judges and voters are also pro-business. For example, of the 57 justices who have held that position on the Supreme Court, liberal Justice Elena Kagan is historically the eighth most pro-business; and Minister Sonia Sotomayor, 17th.

However, conservative-Republicans are 2.5 times more pro-business than liberal Democrats. The six conservative-Republican justices who make up the Supreme Court’s current 6-3 majority are historically the six most pro-business justices:

(R) – Republican Party; (D) – Democrat

The advantage of companies over other parties is not only reflected in the number of cases, obviously. Each decision sets precedents or precedents to be followed by judges from various cases around the country – and will have ramifications in a large number of cases.

Among those affected by corporate decisions before the Supreme Court are unions, authors of employee collective actions against employers, authors of actions against religious employers, and authors of actions against polluting corporations—or environmental advocates. .