The case pitted American Express against various merchants, which asked the Court to strike down a provision in their contracts with the credit card giant forbidding them from forming class actions.

FORBES: Supreme Court Could Further Curtail Class Actions

Though many people vehemently disagree with particular decisions of the court, its legal power to strike down state or federal laws, to arbitrate disputes between the president and Congress, and between either of them and the states, remains unchallenged.

ECONOMIST: The politics of justice