LJC In The News
Tennessee Asks State Supreme Court to Take Over School Voucher Case in Race to Launch this Year
(Chalkbeat)—The state attorney general on Thursday asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to step in and lift orders by two lower courts that prevent the state from moving forward with its education savings account program. The state filed several motions in its race to launch the controversial voucher program for the...
Tennessee Voucher Program Continues to be Blocked
(Associated Press)—Tennessee won’t be able to implement a contentious school voucher program while the state continues to fight back constitutional challenges over the law that would allow parents to use public tax dollars on private school tuition, according to a ruling issued Tuesday. The latest decision from the Tennessee Court...
Wisconsin Governor Urges Social Distancing After Court Blocks Statewide Lockdown
(Wall Street Journal)—Local governments across Wisconsin moved to implement new public health guidelines Thursday after the state’s highest court overturned a statewide stay-at-home order, prompting the governor to warn of “massive confusion.” — “This case and increasingly other cases are showing courts’ willingness to question executive claims of authority during...
Two New Class Action Lawsuits in Minnesota Seek Nearly $19 Million in Returned Union Fees
(National Right to Work Foundation)—Today, six Minnesota state employees sued two of the state’s largest government unions for an estimated recovery of $19 million in union fees paid by state and local employees. The two class action lawsuits claim that because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it is illegal to...
Public Employees Sue Unions for $19 Million in Post-Janus Case
(The Center Square)—Two of Minnesota’s public sector unions received notice Monday they were being sued by employees in a class action alleging they were forced to unconstitutionally pay membership dues. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 5 and Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) are...
In Reversal, Lee Says State No Longer Implementing Vouchers
(WVLT.TV)—Gov. Bill Lee’s office announced Wednesday the state has hit pause on a new school voucher program, reversing course just a day after the Republican encouraged parents to apply despite a recent court declaring the program unconstitutional and unenforceable. Instead, Tennessee’s attorney general’s office is seeking permission to continue implementing...
Tennessee Voucher Program Arguments Weighed by Judge
(Antelope Valley Press)—A Tennessee judge on Wednesday weighed a wide range of arguments surrounding the legal battle over the state’s much-debated school voucher program, noting that she plans on making a decision soon to ensure parents have enough time to plan ahead for the 2020-21 school year. The program —...
Teacher Sues Waukegan District 60, Teachers Union, Argues She Wasn’t Informed of First Amendment Rights Under Janus
(The Chicago Tribune)—The legal clinic behind the Supreme Court case that found the requirement that public employees pay “fair share” union dues violated their First Amendment speech rights, has filed another lawsuit on behalf of a Waukegan District 60 teacher. The lawsuit, filed by Liberty Justice Center attorneys on behalf...
Another Union Lawsuit Filed in Illinois over First, Fourteenth Amendments, Janus
(The Center Square)—An Illinois teacher is filing suit against a school district and union claiming her rights are being violated under the provisions of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 landmark ruling in Janus v AFSCME. Ariadna Ramon Baro, a visiting teacher at Waukegan High School sued the Lake County Federation...
Federal Judge Strikes Down New Jersey Donor Disclosure Law
On March 11, Judge Brian R. Martinotti, of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, signed orders permanently barring New Jersey from enforcing a state law requiring select nonprofits to disclose identifying information about their donors. Multiple organizations challenged the law in court, including the American...
Alaska Workers Sue State, Union Over Alleged Janus Violation
(The Center Square)—Two state employees filed a federal lawsuit against the Alaska State Employees Association/AFSCME Local 52 and Kelly Tshibaka, in her official capacity as Commissioner of Administration for the state of Alaska, alleging they violated the provisions established by the Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME ruling. The plaintiffs, Linda...
After Janus Ruling, Worker Asks Supreme Court for Return of Paid Union Dues
(Washington Times)—The Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus decision was a landmark in labor law, but now the namesake in the case would like the justices to go further. The high court ruled in Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that public-sector employees cannot be forced to pay...
State Workers Sue Union over Forced Union Dues
(Must Read Alaska)—Two Alaska state employees filed a lawsuit against the State of Alaska and the Alaska State Employees Association today for forcing them to pay union dues against their will. According to the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court ruling, union dues cannot be deducted from state employees’ paychecks without...
Wednesday Round-Up
(SCOTUSblog)—According to Pete Williams of NBC News, “[t]he court disclosed Tuesday that [Justice Sonia] Sotomayor took herself off a case from Colorado involving a challenge to a state law directing how presidential electors must cast their votes, because of a personal friendship with one of the challengers.” At CNN, Ariane...
Janus, Whose Case Ended Mandatory Union Fees, Wants Supreme Court’s Help Getting Money Back
(Fox News)—The plaintiff whose 2018 case led to a Supreme Court ruling that mandatory public union agency fees for nonmembers were unconstitutional is now asking the high court to force the union that represented him to return a portion of the money it collected before that decision. In this most...