蜜桃影视

Washington, D.C.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, the only member of the Supreme Court who hasn鈥檛 weighed in on mandatory public employee union dues, didn鈥檛 tip his hand during oral arguments in a key case Monday.

The case, Janus v. AFSCME, pits Mark Janus, an Illinois state child support specialist, who argues that forcing him to pay union dues for collective bargaining violates his First Amendment rights, against the union that represents him. Unions say that state law forces them to represent all employees, so those who don鈥檛 pay could end up as free riders who reap benefits of union contracts but don鈥檛 have to financially support the organizations that fight for them.

The other justices considered this key issue in a similar case in 2016. They didn鈥檛 issue a ruling before Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, resulting in a 4鈥�4 tie that upheld a lower court ruling backing the mandated dues.

The case has high stakes for the continued influence of state and national teachers unions 鈥� 鈥� in education policy fights and Democratic politics. The overall rate of union membership nationally has declined in recent decades, though public-sector workers are still five times as likely to be union members as their private-sector counterparts.

On Monday, the other justices largely stuck to familiar themes, with some blunt assessments of the other side鈥檚 arguments.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e basically arguing, 鈥楧o away with unions,鈥� 鈥� Justice Sonia Sotomayor said to the attorney representing Janus near the conclusion of the hour-long argument.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, in combating Illinois鈥檚 argument that it needs an 鈥渋ndependent鈥� partner in contract negotiations, said it would 鈥渂link reality鈥� to deny that unions work with governments to push a for bigger workforce and higher taxes. He also got the attorney to admit that unions would have less political influence if they could no longer collect mandatory dues from dissenting employees.

Employees like Janus who don鈥檛 want to be full union members are reimbursed for unions鈥� lobbying and political expenses but still must pay 鈥渇air-share鈥� or 鈥渁gency鈥� fees that fund contract negotiations and the like. Janus says even those basic activities are political when they involve public policy and taxpayer dollars.

Outside the court on an overcast Monday morning, supporters of Janus and union backers held dueling rallies. Supporters held signs that said 鈥淪tand with Mark鈥� and 鈥淪tand with workers.鈥� Union backers held signs that said 鈥淯nrig the system鈥� and referenced to the law firms representing Janus and others who have brought similar cases. One sign showed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Observers generally believe that Gorsuch鈥檚 conservative jurisprudence indicates he鈥檒l vote to end the mandatory dues, though attorneys for both sides told reporters afterward that it was tough to get a read on Gorsuch鈥檚 silence.

The other justices stuck to familiar arguments Monday, with conservatives homing in on the First Amendment question and liberals on the potential impact of the decision on union members and the free-rider issue.

Liberal justices focused on the potential impact of overturning the mandatory dues.

Justice Elena Kagan said there are 23 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, that have laws that could be undone by changing the court鈥檚 precedent. Thousands of government contracts covering millions of workers would have to be rewritten at once, affecting 鈥渢he livelihood of millions of individuals,鈥� she said.

William Messenger, the attorney for Janus, and Solicitor General Noel Francisco, who represented the Trump administration and backed Janus, both downplayed the potential impact on existing contracts. Clauses mandating that dissenting employees pay the 鈥渇air-share fees鈥� can be removed without disrupting the rest of the contract, they said. Most contracts are renegotiated every few years, which means they were negotiated in the shadow of , and will be rewritten shortly anyway, they said.

At the end of his allotted time, AFSCME attorney David Frederick was unsparing in his assessment of how ending the mandatory dues could impact daily government operations. In many contracts, agency fees are a trade-off for a limitation on strikes, he said.

鈥淭he fees are the trade-off. Union security is the trade-off for no strikes鈥� You can raise an untold specter of labor unrest throughout the country,鈥� he said.

In addition to a drop in union members and resources, it is known 鈥渋ntangibly鈥� that when unions lose agency fees they become 鈥渕ore militant, more confrontational鈥� and look for short-term wins to make themselves more attractive to members, said David Franklin, the solicitor general of Illinois, which sided with AFSCME.

Liberal justices and attorneys Franklin and Frederick also focused on the court鈥檚 doctrine of stare decisis 鈥� that is, sticking with precedent. They also argued that the government should be treated in this instance as an employer, a role that would give it more rights to limit employees鈥� speech.

Conservatives, meanwhile, focused on the relative harm of compelling speech, which is what Janus鈥檚 attorneys and backers say forcing him to pay union dues does, and barring him from speaking, as other laws limiting employees鈥� First Amendment rights do, like laws barring campaigning by federal workers.

鈥淲hen you compel somebody to speak, don鈥檛 you infringe [on] that person鈥檚 dignity and conscience in a way that you do not when you restrict what the person says?鈥� Justice Samuel Alito asked.

A decision is expected close to the end of the court鈥檚 term in late June.

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