Consumer Watchdog’s President and Chairman of the Board is an award-winning and nationally recognized consumer advocate. Capitol Weekly, naming Jamie to its “Top 100” list of unelected movers and shakers in California politics, wrote, “Court has made a career of battling all comers in the interest of the public, and his take-no-prisoners approach has earned him plenty of enemies.” Jamie’s latest book is The Progressive’s Guide To Raising Hell: How To Win Grassroots Campaigns, Pass Ballot Box Laws And Get The Change You Voted For (Chelsea Green, 2010).
“Americans angry about the state of their government might find in Court’s persuasive manifesto a cause for action,” Publishers Weekly writes. “With great accessibility and a fired-up attitude, Court brings his lessons in empowerment to the people.” He is also the author of Corporateering: How Corporate Power Steals Your Freedom And What You Can Do About It (Tarcher Putnam, 2003) and co-author of Making A Killing: HMOs and the Threat To Your Health (Common Courage Press, 1999). Jamie has led dozens of major corporate and political campaigns to reform insurers, banks, technology companies, oil companies, utilities and political practices. He helped to pioneer the HMO patients’ rights movement in the United States, sponsoring successful laws in California and aiding them elsewhere, and was an early champion of many of the most important consumer protections in the federal Affordable Care Act years before they were enacted. In recent years, he has led the campaign to hold California oil refiners accountable for price gouging at the pump which resulted in the toughest oil refinery regulation in America.
A frequent media commentator and op-ed contributor, Jamie is a high-profile and stalwart defender of consumers’ rights. The Los Angeles Times calls him “a tireless consumer advocate.” The Wall Street Journal writes, “He’s notorious for his dramatic, sharp-tongued attacks on the health- and auto-insurance industries, and on any politician who takes their campaign cash.” His public interest career began as an advocate for the homeless and as a community organizer. Jamie’s Alma mater is Pomona College, where he graduated with a BA in History in 1989.
Sacramento, CA — Consumer Watchdog made a record of oil refiners’ profiteering in California and disinformation campaign in official comments before the California Energy Commission as…
Dec 13, 2023Los Angeles, CA — New data posted by the California Energy Commission shows that as California gasoline prices were spiking in September at $5.70…
Dec 7, 2023Our long-time friend and colleague Mike Mattoch died suddenly at his desk last week. He was 66 years old. Mike was a hero…
Dec 4, 2023By Staff Reporters, KNX – Los Angeles, CA Click below to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment.
Nov 28, 2023Sacramento, CA – Consumer Watchdog released a new video today to counter a disinformation campaign by the state’s oil refiners lobby as it seeks…
Nov 28, 2023Today We Are Going To Expose Who’s Really Behind This Oil Industry Funded Mailer Arriving In Your Mail Boxes ….And What Lies…
Nov 27, 2023A new poll finds that Insurance Commissioner Lara’s plan to allow insurance companies to increase premiums for all Californians in exchange for…
Nov 16, 2023By CAMILLE VON KAENEL and BLANCA BEGERT, POLITICO https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-climate/2023/10/19/jamie-courts-tactics-are-finally-working-00122633 DAY IN COURT: Jamie Court is on the ascent. The president of advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, long dismissed…
Oct 20, 2023Jamie Court says they’re shipping our gas to guatemala and el salvador, where they don’t need our environmentally sensitive fuel. When they do that, it drives…
Sep 29, 2023Los Angeles, CA – As new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows Californians pay $1.86 more per gallon than US drivers for gasoline,…
Sep 27, 2023Jamie Court of Consumer Watchdog says the new rules aren't necessary. Records show California is already more profitable for insurers than many…
Sep 22, 2023Los Angeles, CA —Fifty-five organizations have sent a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to veto SB 842 (Bradford), legislation that would make it more…
Sep 21, 2023CW president, Jamie Court, says gas prices in California are $1.76 per gallon higher than the U.S. gas prices, and oil companies already doubled their profits this…
Sep 20, 2023Oil companies have doubled profits this year from 66 cents a gallon to $1.20 a gallon, and the only way to stop it is if we…
Sep 19, 2023Jamie Court says having hearings where insurance companies talk about their issues aren’t going to solve the problem.
Sep 19, 2023Consumer Watchdog says the gap between California prices in the nation is now close to a $1.44 a gallon and growing.
Sep 18, 2023Sacramento, CA — A bill amended 72 hours before the end of the legislative session and passed in the dead of night…
Sep 15, 2023