July 19, 2007 1:39PM 

# Save Wal-Mart, Save Class Action Law? 

By [Mark Moller](https://www.cato.org/people/mark-moller) 

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I’ve got a short *Regulation Magazine* piece on the notorious (or glorious, depending on your perspective) *Dukes v. Wal-Mart* case–a gender discrimination class action composed of as many as 2 million women, according to some estimates. You can read more about the case [here](http://writ.corporate.findlaw.com/sebok/20070213.html) and download my *Regulation* piece [here](http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=996946).

Many believe the case is headed to the Supreme Court–if not this upcoming term, then the next. If it does, and if the Court takes up Wal-Mart’s constitutional arguments against certification, then, I argue, it might just set the stage for some far-reaching, and overdue, conceptual changes in the way we think about the constitutional rights of class action defendants. My piece uses *Dukes* as a springboard for sketching some of these defenses–admittedly quite adventurous–which just might become a bit less exotic if Wal-Mart succeeds.

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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