Mark Janus
The JANUS CASE
Defending Workers' Rights to Free Speech and Union Choice
In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in the Liberty Justice Center’s case Janus v. AFSCME restored First Amendment rights for millions of government employees, allowing them to opt out of union dues that forced them to support political agendas they opposed.
About the Janus Case
For decades before the Janus decision, millions of government employees across the United States—from school teachers to police to firefighters—were forced to give part of every paycheck to a union, in the form of dues or fees, whether they wanted to or not. The Liberty Justice Center and Mark Janus sued to restore workers’ rights and took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
What Did the Janus Decision Do?
The 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME said government employees have a right to choose whether to join a union and pay dues. This decision freed about five million workers from paying union dues against their will and protected their First Amendment rights. Today, we’re working to make sure workers know their rights, and we fight to protect them when necessary.
Know Your Janus Rights
Government Workers Have a Right to Leave Their Union
If you work for a local or state government entity—such as a public school district, city hall, or a state agency—you have a right to decide whether union membership is right for you. Learning about your rights is the first step in making your decision.
You Must Be Informed of Your Rights
If you started a government job after June 2018, you should have been informed that union membership was optional.
You Can Get a Refund of Union Agency Fees
If you’re a government worker who paid union “agency fees” or “fair share” fees prior to June 2018, you may be able to get your money back.
You Can Leave a Union at Any Time
If you're a government employee, union membership is your choice. You don’t have to wait for a certain time of year or “opt-out window” to leave a union.
Union Dues Can't Be Deducted Unless You Agree
If you didn’t agree to have union dues deducted from your paycheck after June 27, 2018, your government employer is violating your rights.
we can help
We’re a non-profit legal organization that helps regular Americans exercise their rights—free of charge. Our attorneys have fought for workers’ rights and won cases in courts across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court, where we represented Illinois government employee Mark Janus and scored a landmark victory. We can do the same for you.
Questions?
Learn more about your rights as a government employee by reading our Frequently Asked Questions.
History of the Janus Case
How the Liberty Justice Center beat the unions and won back workers' First Amendment rights
In Janus v. AFSCME, the Liberty Justice Center, representing Illinois government worker Mark Janus, challenged the requirement that forced government employees to pay union fees, arguing that forced fees violated workers’ First Amendment rights. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Janus, ending the practice of mandatory union fees for government employees. The decision reduced union membership and funding, but unions continue to find ways to circumvent the ruling, keeping the fight for workers’ rights ongoing.
The Era of Forced Fees
Forced union fees were the norm for government employees in 22 states. A 1977 Supreme Court ruling, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, allowed unions to collect fees as long as they were “germane” to collective bargaining, not politics.
But Abood had serious issues. It was unclear which expenses were “germane” to collective bargaining, and workers didn’t know how unions spent their money. Worse, the ruling ignored the fact that almost everything unions do is political. When unions bargain with the government, they tell the government things like how much it should spend on employee salaries and benefits and how it should run its programs. This is essentially lobbying—which is recognized as political speech.
Forcing workers to fund someone else’s political speech—speech they may not agree with—violates the First Amendment, a point the Supreme Court slowly acknowledged in decisions issued in the four decades after Abood. In Harris v. Quinn (2014), Justice Alito explained how Abood was flawed but didn’t overturn it.
The Janus Case and the End of Forced Fees
In 2015, Illinois’ Republican Governor Bruce Rauner challenged the forced fees, arguing they violated the First Amendment. However, Rauner was dismissed from the case, and the Liberty Justice Center took over, finding state workers who objected to the fees—including state child-support specialist Mark Janus—and representing them in court.
The case was put on hold when the Court agreed to hear Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, but after Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, the Court split 4-4, keeping Abood intact. Janus was then unfrozen, and after President Donald Trump appointed Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Court, the stage was set.
The Liberty Justice Center asked the Court to hear Mark Janus’s case (by then, he was the only plaintiff remaining), and announced in September 2017 that it would do so. The Court heard arguments in February 2018 and issued its decision on the last day of the term, July 27, 2018.
In a majority opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court overturned Abood, ruling that government employees cannot be forced to pay union fees unless they consent, saying that the government violated “the free speech rights of nonmembers by compelling them to subsidize private speech on matters of substantial public concern.” This decision freed about five million workers from paying union dues against their will and protected their First Amendment rights.
After Janus
The Janus ruling hit unions hard, cutting off their steady flow of ill-gotten gains from forced funding. Since the decision, about 1.3 million people have stopped paying union fees. In the 22 affected states, union membership has dropped by an average of 22%, saving workers and costing unions an estimated $730 million nationwide.
The Janus victory was big, but the fight for workers’ rights isn’t over. Unions still use tricks, including laws from friendly state legislatures, to take workers’ money without their consent.
In many cases, new hires aren’t told about their Janus rights, making it easy for unions to pressure or deceive them into signing membership agreements that lock them into paying dues for years.
Some people, technically employed by private groups but paid by the government, are still forced to pay fees.
That’s why we keep bringing lawsuits to ensure governments respect the Janus ruling and expand on its principles.
Meet Mark Janus
Mark spent the last 11 years of his career as a child support specialist for the Illinois state government, ensuring that children get all the resources to which they are entitled. It was during that time that Mark courageously took on one of the most powerful political forces in the country: the public employee unions as the lead plaintiff in Janus v. AFSCME.
Mark fought for his First Amendment rights—and the rights of more than 5 million other government workers—all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Mark’s bravery resulted in the single greatest victory for First Amendment rights in a generation.
Over the years Mark had a career in both the private sector and in government. Having previously served in Illinois state government in the 1980s, it was when he returned to the state in 2007 that he learned Illinois politicians had granted AFSCME—a politically powerful government union—the power to exclusively represent more than 90 percent of state workers in Illinois. This type of injustice went on for decades all across the country and affected millions of public workers. That is, until Mark stood up and fought to stop it.
Now, Mark serves as a leader spreading the message of worker freedom through his personal story. Mark has been and will continue to be a tremendous advocate for government workers.
Ask Mark to Speak at Your Event
Mark frequently speaks to groups about his case and the fight for workers’ rights.
support our work
Our Janus victory was a landmark decision in the fight to protect workers’ rights and uphold the First Amendment. But the unions aren’t backing down. We need your support to challenge unions who take workers’ money without their consent and to help us continue to represent workers in court.