SCOTUS to hear two big-business cases

In the Citizens United case earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of big business over democracy. And yesterday they agreed to hear two more cases in which big business is being challenged.

In Wal-Mart v. Dukes, they will decide if a sex discrimination case by some 1.5 million current and former Wal-Mart workers can proceed. The New York Times describes this case, and its implications, as follows:

"[The appeal is] the biggest employment discrimination case in the nation's history, one claiming that Wal-Mart discriminated against hundreds of thousands of women in pay and promotion. The lawsuit seeks back pay that could amount to billions of dollars.

"The question before the court is not whether there was discrimination but rather whether the claims by the individual employees may be combined as a class action. The court's decision on that issue will almost certainly affect all sorts of class-action suits, including ones asserting antitrust, securities and product liability, as well as other claims."

And in American Electric Power Co., Inc. v. Connecticut, the Court will talk global warming and corporate responsibility. Per Politico:

"Power companies are challenging a lower court ruling that allowed states and environmental groups to move ahead with a public nuisance lawsuit seeking to force the utilities to slash their greenhouse gas emissions."

I'm afraid of how these cases might turn out. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed anyway in hopes that the "little people" (in the Wal-Mart case) and the earth (in the pollution case) might see some real justice for a change.