Congressmen Support Shareholders
Two Democratic congressmen have asked the U.S. Supreme Court for permission to weigh in on the side of plaintiffs seeking to hold third parties liable for corporate wrongdoing.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. asked for court permission yesterday, the Washington Post reports. The outcome in the case could affect the ability of Enron investors to sue investment banks.
The two lawmakers noted that the solicitor general declined to file a brief supporting investors after consulting with President Bush. The Securities and Exchange Commission had recommended supporting the investor position.
“The solicitor general’s decision to follow the political and policy directives of the president rather than to support the commission’s legal position plots a dangerous course,” Frank and Conyers wrote in their court filing.
The case, Stoneridge Investment v. Scientific-Atlanta, No. 06-43, is scheduled for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 9, SCOTUSblog reports.
