The Roberts Court Turn to the Left?

Posted by Social Science Research Network

The Roberts Court Turn to the Left?–  Richard Brunell (American Antitrust Institute)

Abstract: This essay discusses the Roberts Court’s recent antitrust cases, which have favored plaintiffs, and considers whether this represents a shift in attitude.

Until American Needle, antitrust plaintiffs had not won a case in the Supreme Court since 1993. Under Chief Justice Roberts, plaintiffs had lost eight straight cases, half unanimously. The last loss, linkLine, was a low point for plaintiffs as Justice Roberts’s majority opinion effectively overruled Judge Hand’s venerated Alcoa decision recognizing a price squeeze as an independent Section 2 violation, while the four more liberal concurring justices would have dismissed the complaint under an expansive regulatory immunity theory.