Cases Archive - Liberty Justice Center

ABC Michigan v. Abruzzo

Everyone has the right to free speech. That includes unions, workers, and business owners. So when a union wants a business’s employees to unionize, it has the right to make its case to them, the employees have the right to discuss it among themselves, and...

State of Arizona v. Tizon

Tim Tizon, a student at Arizona State University, was handing out pamphlets of the U.S. Constitution to students on a campus plaza when university officials ordered him to stop. When Tizon refused to move to an isolated location away from the main campus plaza, university...

Livingston v. Becerra

Head Start programs across the United States provide education and other services to approximately 850,000 children living at or below the poverty line. In November 2021, President Biden announced five federal vaccine mandates, including one for Head Start teachers and the one million Head Start...

Gessing v. Yara

Shortly after a draft of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked in 2022, the New Mexico City Council decided to show its opposition to the upcoming decision by giving Planned Parenthood a gift of $250,000 of taxpayer money. That gift...

McDonald v. Lawson

Science is not static. By its very nature science is constantly evolving and the subject of unending debate. That was accepted in medical and academic circles prior to the politically driven reactions to COVID-19. However, over the past two years, politicians and public health officials...

Cavalier v. Warren County Board of Elections

In New York, absentee balloting is a privilege and an exception to the normal rule of in-person voting. The state constitution grants the legislature limited authority to allow absentee voting in instances when a voter is away from their residence, ill or disabled.

Parents for Public Schools v. Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration

Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, the federal government has set aside relief funding for both public and independent schools to help navigate the resulting challenges. Unfortunately, opponents to non-public schools have repeatedly tried to prevent these schools from receiving one-time, emergency relief grants....

Chancey v. Illinois State Board of Elections

Lawsuit challenges campaign contribution limits to judicial races in Illinois

McCaleb v. Long

A free press is fundamental to our democracy. When government officials choose to block members of the press from witnessing events where decisions that affect the citizens are made, they undermine government transparency and the public trust. That is exactly what happened in Tennessee when...

Amicus Brief: Carson v. Makin

The Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus brief in Carson v. Makin supporting two Maine families who want to use the state’s student aid program to send their children to private schools.

Sachen v. Illinois State Board of Elections

Illinois is a union state. Public sector unions hold a tight grip on politicians, state and local budgets, and even dictate whether kids can go to school in person. Illinoisans who have been working hard to fight against the union power monopoly are now facing...

Smith v. Helzer

Speech about elections, candidates, and issues lies at the core of the First Amendment’s protection for the marketplace of ideas. Those rights must be protected, but across the country they are continually undermined by new disclosure requirements. In Nov. 2020, Alaska adopted sweeping election law...

Etherton v. Biden

Elizabeth Etherton is a veteran teacher at Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. She has served preschool students for over 15 years. Over the last two years she has taught from home, adapted her curriculum to constantly changing demands and followed necessary protocols to keep...

Connolly v. Lightfoot

Chicago and Cook County, Illinois, residents have faced some of the most stringent and legally questionable COVID restrictions in the country. They have been masked for nearly the entire pandemic and Chicago families have been forced to fight for schools to simply reopen. Now, just...

Golden v. Chicago Teachers Union

Liberty Justice Center represents a group of parents who are standing up to the Chicago Teachers Union, after more than 300,000 students were locked out of in-person learning at Chicago Public Schools

Brick v. Biden

Teachers in Head Start programs that did not have vaccine and mask mandates prior to the HHS directive have filed a federal lawsuit against President Joe Biden and federal officials to challenge the government’s gross intrusion and overreach.

Conner v. Biden

On September 9, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to issue a slate of federal vaccine mandates to impact nearly every American worker. The President declared that federal employees must be vaccinated against COVID-19, including members of the U.S. military. He also announced a...

Nolechek’s Meats v. USDA and FSIS

In yet another example of what is becoming a familiar tactic, the Biden Administration is using a food inspection agency to implement its partisan public health agenda. But with the help of the Liberty Justice Center, a small, family-run business in Wisconsin is fighting back....

BST Holdings, LLC v. OSHA

On November 4, 2021, the Liberty Justice Center and the Pelican Institute for Public Policy filed suit in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to stop the Biden Administration from imposing an illegal COVID-19 vaccine mandate on nearly 100 million Americans. In September, President Biden...

Panozzo v. Riverside Healthcare

The Liberty Justice Center is representing six nurses in Panozzo v. Riverside Healthcare who are being forced by their employer to choose between their sincere religious beliefs and their livelihoods.

Peltz-Steele v. UMass Faculty Federation

Peltz-Steele is a Chancellor Professor at the University of Massachusetts School of Law at Dartmouth is fighting Massachusetts’ illegal mandate that the faculty union can exclusively represent him in all in salary negotiations, grievance procedures and other matters.

Hart v. Facebook

The Liberty Justice Center is fighting back against free speech violations and censorship in Hart v. Facebook, a federal lawsuit filed against Facebook, Twitter, U.S. President Joe Biden and the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

Rahman v. CDC

Americans’ property rights are under attack from the federal government. Rahman v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seeks to restore those rights by challenging the eviction moratoriums that are hurting entrepreneurs and families in Illinois and across the country. Last year, the U.S. Centers...

Foley v. MassHealth

In January 2021, during the Coronavirus pandemic, Denise Foley, the Director of Internal and External Training and Communication, was terminated from her position at MassHealth after she used her personal Facebook account to criticize the practice, and encouragement, of turning in one’s neighbor for not...

Liberty Justice Center v. Grewal

In a federal lawsuit, the Liberty Justice Center is demanding New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal immediately abandon the state's disclosure requirements and align their requirements with the decision in Bonta, which shut down a nearly identical overbroad policy in California.

Liberty Justice Center v. James

On July 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the importance of donor privacy in protecting free speech in Americans for Prosperity v. Bonta. In that decision overturning California’s overreaching donor disclosure requirements, the justices delivered a win for the First Amendment, ensuring supporters of...

Mahoney v. Facebook

The U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans the right to free speech. But recently, social media has been obstructing Americans’ First Amendment rights by suspending and even deleting the accounts of people who share content that they don’t want the public to see. The Liberty Justice Center...

Joyner v. Vilsack

A Tennessee farmer filed a federal lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture over a loan program that illegally discriminates against them based on the color of their skin.

Menders v. Loudoun County School Board

A group of Loudoun County, Virginia parents filed a federal lawsuit against school leaders for denying their students equal treatment and violating their right to free speech. The parents say the children will be discriminated against for simply expressing their opinion, or worse, for the...

Appleby v. Bowser

The District of Columbia currently allows dancing in exotic establishments, in Zumba and dance-studio classes, and in programs sponsored by the government’s Department of Parks and Recreation. However, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, on May 1, 2021, used her emergency executive...

Herbst v. Berkeley County School District

Herbst v. Berkeley County School District seeks to ensure all students have equal access to in-person education in accordance with South Carolina state law.

Bishop of Charleston v. Adams

Bishop of Charleston v. Adams seeks to prevent South Carolina officials from using a long-standing discriminatory law to deny independent and religious schools access to federal COVID relief funds.

National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association v. Black

Attorneys at the Liberty Justice Center are representing Thoroughbred horse owners and trainers in a federal lawsuit to stop the new law, pointing out HISA unlawfully grants the Authority government powers despite the U.S. Constitution and subsequent foundational U.S. Supreme Court decisions declaring that Congress...

Thorne v. Shelby County Board of Education

Memphis-area principal Barton Thorne’s attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit against the district for violating his First Amendment and contractual rights for placing him on administrative leave for discussing current events and free speech with students.

Amicus Brief: Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid

The Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus brief supporting two California growers in their appeal to protect their private property rights in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid. The brief asks the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate California’s unconstitutional regulation that allows union organizers to invade...

Vitale v. Vermont

A group of Vermont parents are suing the state and local school districts over unequal access to education under the state’s 150-year-old Town Tuitioning system.

Clark v. State Public Charter School Authority

Las Vegas parent Gabrielle Clark filed a lawsuit against Democracy Prep Public schools for violating the First Amendment’s prohibition on compelled speech.

Gutterman v. Indiana University

In the fall of 2018, Cameron Gutterman, Dale Nelson, Hunter Johnson and Brian Hiltunen were Indiana University Bloomington freshmen who decided to check out Greek life. They pledged Beta Theta Pi fraternity, an affiliation they continue to enjoy today as juniors who live in the...

Ratliff v. West Ada Education Association

As the West Ada School District announced it would reopen on Wednesday, a group of parents filed a lawsuit arguing this week’s “sick out” was an illegal union strike, and that the teachers union cannot use the threat of another work stoppage to force the...

Kelly v. North Carolina

Attorneys from the Liberty Justice Center are representing the North Carolina General Assembly in a legal fight to protect a scholarship program that provides educational opportunities for thousands of low-income students.

Cook County Republican Party v. Pritzker

"Vote early and vote often" is a tongue-in-cheek joke for many Chicagoans, but Illinois' new Vote By Mail program brings up new concerns for the notoriously corrupt and mismanaged state.

Adams v. South Carolina

In order to provide South Carolina children the ability to remain in a school of their choice or to have a new alternatives for quality education in a safe setting, Gov. McMaster recently used $32 million in federal CARES Act funds entrusted to his discretionary...

Illinois Right to Life v. Pritzker

Illinois Gov. Pritzker willingly excuses certain organizations and First Amendment expressions from the limits in his executive orders, but not the rest of Illinois – including Illinois Right to Life.

Illinois Republican Party v. Pritzker

This lawsuit highlights the selectivity and arbitrary nature of Pritzker’s Executive Order regarding group gatherings. While Gov. Pritzker grants carve-outs to organizations he likes, other groups are limited to gatherings of 10 people.

Salem Media of Illinois, LLC v. Pritzker

Beginning in March 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker held daily press conferences to update and answer questions from news media regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Jacobson has been a regular and active participant in the Governor’s COVID-19 press conferences. Amy Jacobson is a veteran reporter who has...

Brown v. AFSCME Council 5

AFSCME Council 5 collected fees for years from workers who did not want to join a union. The lawsuit against AFSCME may net as much as $13 million in recovered fees for 8,000 state and local workers who paid fees to the union prior to...

Fellows v. MAPE

Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) collected fees for years from workers who did not want to join a union. The lawsuit against MAPE could recover as much as $5.8 million for state employees.

Presta v. Cook County Teachers Union

South Suburban College and Cook County Teachers Union refused to stop deducting money from the paychecks of five South Suburban College public safety officers. With the help of attorneys from the Liberty Justice Center, the nonprofit law firm that represented plaintiff Mark Janus in Janus...

Ramon Baro v. Lake County Federation of Teachers

Ariadna Ramon Baro is from Spain and is in her first year of a three-year cultural exchange program teaching at Waukegan High School. After arriving in the United States in summer 2019, she attended an orientation run by officials from the Waukegan Community Unit School...

Creed v. ASEA

Two Alaska state employees have filed a federal lawsuit against the Alaska State Employee Association and the state for forcing them to pay union dues against their will. In fall 2019, the Alaska governor issued an administrative order to ensure no government employee paid union...

Government of Nashville v. Tennessee Department of Education

Parents and school leaders urge judge to toss lawsuit blocking a new scholarship program for low-income families

Rio Grande Foundation v. Oliver

In New Mexico, if you want to support a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that works on issues, such as free speech or the environment, you must be willing to forfeit your privacy. State law requires all nonprofit issue-advocacy groups to report their donors to the government....

The Gaspee Project v. Mederos

Every American should feel free to speak out and support causes they believe in, without fear of retribution or retaliation. But in Rhode Island, speaking up comes at a price: your privacy. State law requires anyone who donates more than $1,000 to a nonpartisan, issue...

Schaszberger v. AFSCME Council 13

David Schaszberger worked for the state of Pennsylvania as a statistical analyst with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry for ten years. During his time as a state employee, he was never a member of the government union, yet he was forced to pay...

Suhr v. New York State Department of Public Service

In April 2019, Daniel Suhr, an associate senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center, submitted a request to the New York Department of Civil Service for basic payroll information for public employees. In his role as an attorney at a public-interest law firm, Suhr sought...

Amicus Brief: Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue

The Liberty Justice Center has partnered with the nation’s foremost advocacy organization for school choice — the American Federation for Children (AFC) — to file a joint amicus brief supporting three Montana families in their appeal for equal treatment in Espinoza v. Montana Department of...

Halloran v. AFSCME Council 5

Susan Halloran became a senior account clerk in the business office of Inver Hills Community College in October 2018. In the months that followed, she was approached multiple times at her workplace by an AFSCME Council 5 representative. In April 2019, she was pulled out...

Illinois Opportunity Project v. Holden

In June 2019, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a proposal known as S150. The law places reporting and disclosure requirements on 501(c)4 and 527 advocacy groups, but not on business groups or unions. The organizations identified by the law must now register...

Mattos v. AFSCME Council 3

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it is illegal to require public employees to pay union fees as a condition of employment. In September 2019, Maryland state employees forced to pay these fees prior to the Court’s decision filed a lawsuit, Mattos et al.,...

Illinois Opportunity Project v. Bullock

Americans’ right to support causes they believe in without fear of retaliation is at the center of Illinois Opportunity Project v. Bullock filed August 27, 2019, against Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and the head of that state’s procurement bureau. In 2018, Governor Bullock issued an...

Wenzig v. SEIU Local 668

For decades, Pennsylvania required state employees who were not union members to pay hundreds of dollars a year in “agency fees” to government unions. However, in 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME ended the practice of requiring government employees to fund...

Stroeder v. SEIU Local 503

Colleen Stroeder has worked for the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) as an executive support specialist since 2008. Upon starting her position, Stroeder’s supervisor led her to believe that she was required to join SEIU Local 503 and pay union dues. After the Supreme Court’s...

File v. Kastner

Schuyler File is a private attorney who works and resides in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Since he began practicing there in December 2017, the State Bar Association of Wisconsin has required him to be a member and pay mandatory membership dues. File previously practiced in Indiana,...

MacIver Institute v. Evers

Bill Osmulski is a seasoned Capitol news reporter for the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization and news service based in Madison, Wisconsin. As credentialed members of the Capitol press corps, Osmulski and other MacIver News Service reporters regularly have...

Jackson v. Napolitano

Mike Jackson and Tory Smith are transportation services workers at the University of California, San Diego. They work on the parking staff to support school events and maintain safety on campus. As new hires at the University – Tory in 2006 and Mike in 2013...

Solomon v. AFSCME DC 37

The Liberty Justice Center filed a class action lawsuit on July 23, 2019, against AFSCME District Council 37 seeking a refund of illegal union fees plaintiff Scott Solomon and other city employees paid from July 23, 2016, through June 27, 2018. If successful, approximately 7,000...

Wolf v. UPTE

In May 2019, Isaac Wolf filed a federal lawsuit against his employer, the Regents of the University of California, and University Professional & Technical Employees Communications Workers of America Local 9119 for violating his First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of association. Wolf...

Leitch v. AFSCME

On May 1, 2019, nine workers in Illinois government filed a federal class action lawsuit against AFSCME, demanding the union return money taken from their paychecks for union “agency” or “fair share” fees before the Court’s June 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME. If successful,...

Hannay v. Kent State

Annamarie Hannay, Adda Gape and John Kohl are custodians for student residence halls at Kent State University. Since they started working at the university, they were required to pay money to AFSCME, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. Several months after the Supreme...

Bennett v. AFSCME

Susan Bennett has worked for the Moline-Coal Valley School District since 2009. Since then, she has been required to pay either membership dues or non-member fees to AFSCME Local 672. But in June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Janus v....

Sweet v. California Association of Psychiatric Technicians

Alfred Sweet is a psychiatric technician at Atascadero State Hospital in Paso Robles. Sweet joined the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians when he started working at the hospital in 2011 and began making requests to resign and become an agency fee payer in 2014. Those...

O’Callaghan v. Napolitano

Two University of California workers filed a federal lawsuit, O’Callaghan v. Napolitano, alleging union dues were illegally deducted from their paychecks. Cara O’Callaghan has worked as the finance manager of the Sport Club program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, since 2009. Jenée Misraje...

Oliver v. SEIU

Shalea Oliver has worked as an income maintenance caseworker for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services since 2014. In her position, she helps a variety of people, including the under or unemployed, disabled and other vulnerable populations in Philadelphia. As a Philadelphia native, service to...

Adams, et al v. Teamsters

Four mental health workers in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, tried for months to quit their government union, Teamsters Local 429, with no success. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that it is unconstitutional to require government workers to pay dues or fees to...

Grossman v. HGEA

In January 2019, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of Patricia Grossman, an employee of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, against the University and the Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA) for refusing to allow her to resign union membership. Ms. Grossman...

Mandel v. SEIU

In December 2018, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of Illinois school district employee Erich Mandel against his government union, SEIU Local 73, and his employer, Community Consolidated School District 15, for violating his First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom...

Hendrickson v. AFSCME

In November 2018, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit, Hendrickson v. AFSCME, on behalf of New Mexico state employee Brett Hendrickson against his government union, AFSCME, and the state of New Mexico for violating his First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of...

Few v. UTLA

In November 2018, the Liberty Justice Center and California Policy Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of special education teacher Thomas Few against the United Teachers of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District for violating Few’s First Amendment rights to free speech...

Dan Proft v. Kwame Raoul

Individuals, corporations, unions and political parties can give unlimited amounts of money to political candidates, but independent expenditure groups cannot, creating an uneven playing field.

Cooke v. Illinois State Board of Elections

This case began in February 2016 after David Cooke, a Streator resident, filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections alleging that the Committee for Frank J. Mautino violated the Illinois Election Code. Attorneys from the Liberty Justice Center have provided free legal...

Vugo v. City of Chicago

Chicago's ban on advertisements in and on ridesharing vehicles – but not in or on taxis and other vehicles – violates drivers' and advertisers' constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection.

Mendez v. City of Chicago

Chicago has imposed some of the nation's most extreme restrictions on people's ability to share their homes through online platforms such as Airbnb. We're challenging the law for violating homeowners' constitutional rights.

Harlan v. Scholz

The Liberty Justice Center is challenging an Illinois law that guarantees some voters – but not others – the right to register to vote at their local polling places on Election Day.

Defending Local Right-to-Work Laws

In December 2015, the village of Lincolnshire, Illinois, sought to protect worker freedom and boost the local economy by becoming the first municipality in the state – and one of the first local governments in the U.S. – to enact a local "Right-to-Work" ordinance. The...

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