Justice Roberts Pulls A Scalia and Sticks It To Middle Class Investors Again!

In Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta Inc. and Motorola Inc., the U.S. Supremes stuck it to the middle class again.

A conservative Republican Supreme Court ruled that people who buy shares in companies that defraud them can't sue those who helped cook the books. The Supreme's "hey, suck it up" approach was not totally unexpected in view of the Supreme Court's unabashed protection of business fraud.

But hey, you who philosophize disgrace take the rag away from your face, cause now ain't the time for your tears. Here's the real outrage.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, the pinnacle of honesty, pulled a "Jutice Scalia" move. At first, Roberts recused himself in the case, because he owned stock in Cisco, the parent company of defendant Scientific-Atlanta. But then, Roberts rejoined case and ruled in favor of the corporate thieves, after selling his stock in Cisco.

To add salt to the investor's wound, Solicitor General Paul Clement at first sided with the Securities and Exchange Commission, who sided with investors, but changed his position and sided with the corporate thieves in response to pressure from the Bush administration. (Here's the Clement's brief favoring the corporate thieves).

The Star Chamber: Conservative La. Fed. Judge Dismisses Insurance Whistleblower Suit

Conservatives have purged the judicial system of judges who are willing to protect the rights of the middles class and working families. Corporate America owns the federal judiciary. Terrible judicial decisions are to be expected. But, this really hurt Louisiana!

Here’s what happened.

Recently, U.S. District Judge Peter Beer, an icon of Louisiana conservatism, dismissed a lawsuit filed by several former insurance adjusters who were prepared to testify that a number of major private insurance companies systematically over-billed the National Flood Insurance program by shifting their expenses over to the federal flood program.

Judge Beer said the suit could be continued under a “different whistleblower lawsuit in Mississippi” that deals with denial of hurricane wind claims and possible fraud against the federal flood program.

The problem is that the “cheating” occurred in Louisiana!

That didn’t deter Judge Beer. He reasoned that the rules of the False Claims Act provide that a whistleblower lawsuit can't proceed if another on the same subject has already been filed. The Mississippi lawsuit was unsealed and became public knowledge after the Louisiana lawsuit had been filed.

We need a congressional investigation into the over billing of the National Flood Insurance Program, with demands to know why the U.S. Department of Justice and Homeland Security are not pursuing the matter. Read: Rebecca Mowbray, New Orleans Times-Picayune La. whistleblower suit dismissed

Star Chamber - State Farm Insurance Compnay

In England, the Star Chamber (Camera stellata) reigned from 1487 to 1641 when it was abloished. It wasn’t a tribunal of justice. Rather, it was political and not unlike many courts of today.

I’ve litigated against insurance companies for 30 years. The fraud and deceit that goes on daily in civil courtrooms across America is appalling. Until recently, most judges were on the side of working folks; they actually looked out for workingmen and workingwomen.

Not so any more. Thing have changed.

The federal courts make it expensive and difficult for workingmen and workingwomen to find justice there. For all practical purposes, federal courts purposely skew the rules in favor of insurance companies and big corporations. Judges in the federal system are appointed for life, so there’s no way to get them out.

Insurance companies and big corporations are slowly dominating the state courts. Like their federal counterparts, state courts are a sanctuary for bad faith corporate and insurance practices.

From time to time my Star Chamber segment will show case the abuses that stem from “pocketbook justice,” where money rather than justice reigns.

This posting of Star Chamber looks at State Farm Insurance Company.

State Farm Insurance Companies is being pounded in Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and rightly so. State Farm’s been accused of hiring an engineering firm that “fixed” its reports to support State Farm’s defense. See: Documents That Suggest Fraud by Insurance Companies in the Handling of Katrina Wind and Water Claims

Now, it’s inconceivable that courts in America let State Farm get away with this type of unfair and unjust behavior, but they do. Does America have an independent judiciary or a star chamber?