Supreme Court Takes Exxon Valdez Case

It has been 18 years since the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound, and Exxon is carrying its opposition to paying up to the Supreme Court.

Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to review a $2.5 billion portion of Exxon's costs -- a punitive award to compensate commercial fishermen and others who lost business because of the spill.

The original $5 billion penalty was already halved by an appeals court, but Exxon is pressing this fight -- with the backing of other shipping interests -- because it could set precedents for all future spills that result from captain mistakes or neglect, according to USA Today.

In other words, the case has higher stakes than even $2.5 billion. In the balance are the victims of any future spills, and the decision now rests with a court that has generally been siding with business interests. Justice Samuel Alito, as USA Today pointed out, didn't participate in the decision to hear the case because he owns stock in ExxonMobil.

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