Supreme Court justices who most want to rein in class actions also tend to want to give more deference to states. Those impulses clashed on Wednesday and could explain why class action advocates have a shot at winning a case argued before the court, Mississippi v. AU Optronics.
The case tests whether state attorneys general, acting on behalf of their citizens, can initiate class action-like lawsuits in state court against companies, even though federal law actively encourages similar litigation to take place in federal courts. Businesses generally prefer to be sued in federal courts, not in state courts that can be more plaintiff-friendly.
