Washington, D.C.  –  Stephen W. Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist for Better Markets, issued the following statement on the eve of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett and released a Report on the financial and economic impact that the Court’s decisions and her influence will have on Main Street families:

“As the Senate begins hearings on the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Americans need to know how she and the Court will rule on the key economic and financial issues that impact everyone’s wallet. While they don’t get headlines, those issues routinely come before the Supreme Court, and they play a huge role in determining how much money Americans have to meet their needs and plan for retirement—and how well they can protect their money from predators. As a result, anyone with a job, home or car loan, credit or debit card, bank account, or any other financial product has to care about the Supreme Court and who sits on it.

“That’s why Better Markets is issuing a Report today on the “Economic and Financial Issues Before the Supreme Court and the Impact of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.” As detailed in the Report, the Court plays an important role in determining how the U.S. regulates our economy and financial markets and protects or does not protect Americans’ economic wellbeing. Americans need to know Judge Barrett’s positions on these key issues and in what direction she will move the Court if confirmed.

“As made clear in the Report, if Judge Barrett is confirmed, then an already conservative Court will become decisively more so. That means more decisions that side with Wall Street and other corporate interests over Main Street small businesses and families seeking to right a wrong they’ve suffered at the hands of financial firms—from brokers and banks to payday lenders and debt collectors. The Court will increasingly interpret statutes narrowly without regard to their underlying purposes to protect injured individuals. It will strictly enforce arbitration agreements and other requirements to force consumers and investors into biased, secretive, out of court arbitration forums. And it will gut the authority of the regulatory agencies to police the financial markets and protect Americans from fraud, abuse and unscrupulous practices.

“The stakes actually loom even larger, since a more right-leaning Court also likely means a fresh assault on all regulatory agencies. In reality, those agencies have served us well for decades, protecting us from environmental pollution, unsafe products, and unfair financial markets. We can’t afford to see regulation further dismantled in the name of misguided notions about the so-called ‘administrative state’ but that seems where Judge Barrett will take the Court.

“As the nomination process moves forward, the Senate has a solemn duty to explore these issues with Judge Barrett and to make sure the American public understands her position on these critically important questions.”

Read the Report “Economic and Financial issues before the Supreme Court and the Impact of Judge Amy Coney Barrett” and two fact sheets: Supreme Court Watch: Upcoming Issues and Cases in the Supreme Court That Will Affect Americans’ Financial Well-Being and Supreme Court Watch: Senators Must Probe How a Justice Amy Coney Barrett Might Impact Americans’ Financial Lives.

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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies – including many in finance – to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.com.