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The U.S. Supreme Court and Business

By Anthony Michael Sabino
September 28, 2010

Attorneys are much like laypersons when it comes to the U.S. Supreme Court; we tend to think of the High Court in terms of its landmark, headline-grabbing cases that impact our fundamental legal rights, such as Miranda warnings and freedom of speech, for example, the latter as found in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, ____ U.S. ___ (Jan. 21, 2010) (and what about the now immortal “Alito shake”?). But nowhere does it say (originalists please take note) that the Justices must limit their penultimate review only to matters of constitutional law.

As a point in fact, the Supreme Court gives equal weight (if not necessarily equal numbers) to crucial issues that affect the conduct of business in these United States. The High Court has long recognized that corporations are citizens too, with rights of their own. See, e.g., Central Hudson Gas v. P.S.C., 447 U.S.557 (1980) (corporations enjoy the right of free speech). Given all the above, a summary of the some of the more notable business-related decisions of the Court rendered this past year is in order. Inarguably, this brief review is limited to the author's own estimation of the most far-reaching landmarks from this term, but we are confident that it will, at a minimum, promote a fuller understanding of just how the High Court affects American business.

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