AFTER springtime rulings friendly to gay rights and Obamacare, the Supreme Court is likely to swing back to the right when the justices dust off their robes and return to work on October 5th. Of the roughly three dozen cases they have already agreed to hear in their new term, as well as a few that seem destined for the docket, a handful could shake America’s political landscape.
A blow to public-sector unions looms in Friedrichs v California Teachers Association. The Centre for Individual Rights, a libertarian law firm, is representing ten teachers in California who object to the union fees they must pay. No one can be forced to join a union, but the Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that teachers, police officers and other public employees can be compelled to pay a “fair share” fee equivalent to membership dues. The justices reasoned then that since unions negotiate for benefits on behalf of a whole sector, such a charge prevents those who refuse to join a union from free-riding on those who do.
But the teachers say these fees violate their freedom of speech. In their brief to the justices, Thomas Jefferson plays a starring role: “To...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/1j36r3s
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