For years   if not decades   liberals have complained that the nation is on the verge of becoming an oligarchy, which in the most simplistic terms possible, means that corporations (and the wealthy) are more important than regular people. Well, a ruling in Los Angeles might not be the biggest or the most wide-reaching news story, but when a judge ruled that the victims (yes, the victims) of the horrific mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado would have to pay for the sins of daring to sue the movie theater, our wall between government and corporations crumbled even more.On July 20, 2012, an orange haired 24-year-old named James Holmes entered a screening of the Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. He proceeded to set off tear gas and grenades before peppering the theater with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He killed 12 and injured 70. At that point, it was the largest mass shooting in history. Holmes was sentenced to more than 3,000 years in prison, so there was some justice some The living victims of the shooting sued Cinemark Theaters, claiming that if they had had guards and better security camera coverage, the shooting might not have happened and even if it had, there might have been fewer casualties. They lost. Now, we can debate the validity of the lawsuit all day long, but to add insult to dozens of brutal injuries, the theater countersued, claiming that the victims owed them $700,000 in legal fees and court costs. The theater won. They now owe the theater $700,000.We can also debate the validity of this ruling all day long, but the bare truth is that Cinemark didn t need to sue. They were just being dicks. The shooting or the impending lawsuit didn t hurt Cinemark. Their annual revenues are just south of $3 billion a year and rising steadily. They could have easily eaten the legal costs with just a few concession sales (only a slight exaggeration).The worst thing this ruling did, other than re-victimize people who have to live with the traumatic memory and for some, permanent injuries, was to send a message. The message is that if citizens dare to stand up to their corporate overlords, we should be prepared to be slapped down hard and in the most expensive ways possible. Cinemark should have just let this go, but it was in their interest, like it s in the interests of large corporations throughout the nation, to let us know, in no uncertain terms, that we have no voice.Featured image via Bloomsberries/Flickr. 