U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court Accepts Another Union First Amendment Case
Posted Mar 31, 2008, 11:36 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the constitutionality of an Idaho law that bars local governments from making automatic payroll deductions to pay for political activities by labor unions, SCOTUSblog reports.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled the ban burdened political speech by labor unions in violation of the First Amendment, Education Week reports. The petition for certiorari (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog) calls the appeals court ruling “a striking and unprecedented incursion into the authority of state legislatures to control the employment practices of political subdivisions.”
The law was backed by “right to work” advocates. The case is Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association.
The court ruled against labor interests in another First Amendment case last year, upholding a Washington state law barring unions from using nonmember fees for political activities without consent. The court in a unanimous opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia said the law did not violate the union's First Amendment rights.
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