Why a more conservative Supreme Court may be bad for small business
An interior view of the Supreme Court shows the bench draped with black bunting in honor of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Washington, U.S., in this handout photo released to Reuters on September 20, 2020.
Collection of the Supreme Court | Reuters
Less than 45 days before the election, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed on, leaving her seat open to a contentious fight that could remake the Supreme Court for generations to come — as well as Main Street.
A case this week exemplifies the wonky, under-the-radar policy changes that could have major implications for small businesses, who are pinned against corporations that the conservative majority has all too frequently favored. Yet this case has an atypical showing of more than 40 state attorneys general lined up in support of small business, a unique yet critical alliance that is appropriately warning the court of the significant consequences an adverse ruling may have to the small business community, and what a consolidated pro-corporate majority could mean for the future.
In 2015, Markkaya Jean Gullet’s Ford Explorer rolled off the road as a result of a tire failure, landing on its roof and killing her in front of her husband and two young children. Earlier that same year, Adam Bandemer was in the passenger seat of a Ford Crown Victoria when its airbag failed to deploy, resulting in a traumatic brain injury from which he will never recover.
It is clear that Ford Motor Co. should be held accountable for the irresponsible design, safety testing, and manufacturing which inflicted devastating harm. And yet, on Oct. 7, the company will tell the United States Supreme Court that victims of its defective vehicles should not be allowed to file lawsuits in their home states against the company, but instead be forced to
