In a Manhattan courtroom, a federal judge has drawn a sharp line between corporate conscience and corporate contract, ruling that the idealism baked into Ben & Jerry's 2000 merger agreement could not, by itself, grant its independent directors the legal standing to sue over silenced speech or dismantled governance. What survives the ruling is not a battle over values but over money — two unpaid sums tied to a settlement with Palestinian almond farmers and the company itself. The case now passes largely to Magnum, the new owner, as a reminder that even the most carefully worded promises of inde