LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) -- U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren this weekend slammed the U.S. Supreme Court for being too far right and too often siding with corporate America.
"According to a recent study, the five conservative justices currently sitting on the Supreme Court are in the top 10 most pro-corporate justices in a half century -- and Justices (Samuel) Alito and (John) Roberts are Nos. 1 and 2 -- the most anti-consumer in this entire time," she said Sunday.
"The (U.S.) Chamber of Commerce is now a major player in the Supreme Court, and its win rate has risen to 70 percent of all cases it supports.
"Follow this pro-corporate trend to its logical conclusion, and sooner or later you'll end up with a Supreme Court that functions as a wholly owned subsidiary of big business."
Warren, D-Mass., made the comments during a speech on the opening day of the AFL-CIO's convention in Los Angeles.
The Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform owns Legal Newsline.
The study Warren refers to was published in April's Minnesota Law Review.
It found that the current high court has been more favorable to businesses than any other court since at least World War II.
The study, which looked at more than 2,000 court decisions since 1946, found that five of the justices serving on the current court are among the top 10 most pro-business justices in the last 60-plus years.
In particular, Roberts and Alito were found to be most likely to vote in favor of businesses.
The study was conducted by Lee Epstein, a professor of law and political science at the University of Southern California; economist William M. Landes from the University of Chicago; and Richard A. Posner, a Chicago federal appeals court judge.
A separate study in April showed the Chamber continues to top the list of organizations providing certiorari-level amicus briefs to the nation's high court.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.