Abstract
The Roberts Court has long been characterized as a pro-business court, perhaps the most pro-business court in a century. Insofar as this alleged pro-business orientation is due to the Court’s Republican-appointed majority, President Trump’s appointments to the Supreme Court should have magnified the Court’s pro-business orientation. Yet there are reasons to question the general characterization of the Court as “pro-business” as well as the assumption that an increase in the Court’s Republican-appointed majority has increased any pro-business orientation. Quantitative analyses often fail to account for the relative importance of individual decisions, the broader, legal context in which the Court’s decisions are made, or how the Court’s decisions alter or depart from pre-existing legal baselines. While President Trump’s appointments to the Court have fairly consistently voted to restrain the power of administrative agencies, they have not consistently supported outcomes that are beneficial to business. In some areas in particular, such as cases involving state laws that may fragment or burden national markets, the Roberts Court may actually be less sympathetic to business interests than it was prior to Trump’s appointments to the Court.
Keywords
United States Supreme Court, Roberts' Court, Pro-business
Publication Date
2024
Document Type
Article
Publication Information
The Annuals of the American Association of Political and Social Science
Repository Citation
Adler, Jonathan, "Is the Business of the Court (Still) Business?" (2024). Faculty Publications. 2322.
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/faculty_publications/2322
