FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2024
CONTACT:
Tristin Brown, tristin@peoplesparity.org
People’s Parity Project Report Shows That the Arizona Supreme Court Puts Corporations Over Workers and Consumers
Phoenix, AZ —Today, the People’s Parity Project released a report detailing its research into Arizona Supreme Court cases over the last 20 years. The report’s findings show that the high court has become increasingly pro-corporate, causing significant harm to workers and consumers in the state. The new study includes every case where an injured person was on one side and a corporation, healthcare provider, or employer was on the other. From 2021 through 2023, the court ruled against injured people in 58% of the cases. This marks a significant departure from earlier years and follows years of politicians manipulating judicial nominations in the state.
Following the release of the report, PPP’s State Courts Manager Billy Corriher released this statement:
“Whether it’s reviving a 160-year-old abortion ban or crushing the everyday person, it remains clear that state courts are a critical site of struggle. The right-wing Arizona Supreme Court is eroding the rights of workers and consumers and their ability to hold corporations accountable. This report builds on PPP’s earlier research showing that most judges in Arizona are former prosecutors or ex-corporate lawyers who lack experience representing working people.
“The report offers many ways for the public to fight corporate influence in the judiciary. State courts touch every issue that progressives care about, and that remains the case in Arizona. It’s up to the people to remain vigilant and correct the course that the Arizona Supreme Court is leading us down.”
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People’s Parity Project is a movement of attorneys and law students organizing for a democratized legal system which values people over profits, builds the power of working people, and opposes subordination of any form. Together, we are dismantling a profession that upholds corporate power and building a legal system that is a force for justice and equity. Our work focuses on building power for working people in the civil legal system through organizing, policy innovation, political education, and solidarity. Learn more: www.peoplesparity.org/about.