Senate Democrats rap 'pro-business' Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats at a partisan-tinged hearing say the Supreme Court's conservative majority is wrongly favoring businesses over consumers, employees and investors.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy opened a committee hearing Tuesday by criticizing what he called "the most business friendly Supreme Court in the last 75 years."

Among the witnesses was Betty Dukes, the Wal-Mart greeter who lent her name to the massive sex-discrimination lawsuit that the court blocked last week by a 5-4 vote. Dukes vowed to continue her individual lawsuit and said that perhaps smaller groups of female Wal-Mart employees still would band together to press claims of unfair pay and promotions.

Business interests won slightly more often at the court than they lost in the past year, including victories in their most important cases.