Roberts, Alito leave imprint on rulings

But, Mr. Hume said, the court has recently issued decisions that could be interpreted as anti-business. Most notably was an opinion written by Justice Roberts in which the court said corporations do not have the same personal privacy when comes to freedom of information laws as people do.

In the case, AT&T challenged the release of any corporate document under the Freedom of Information Act, arguing that because the law includes corporations as part of its definition of “person,” its provision exempting the release of information that would violate “personal privacy” also should apply to corporations.

In an opinion filled with clever rhetorical flourishes, Chief Justice Roberts said that argument fell short because “two words together may assume a more particular meaning than those words in isolation.”

“‘Personal’ in the phrase ‘personal privacy’ conveys more than just ‘of a person,’” he wrote. “It suggests a type of privacy evocative of human concerns — not the sort usually associated with an entity like, say, AT&T.”

Chief Justice Roberts ended the decision with a witty quip: “We trust that AT&T will not take it personally.”

© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.