LJC In The News
The Legally Dubious Campaign Against Kentucky School Choice
(The Wall Street Journal)—Kentucky voters will decide the fate of educational opportunity in their state this November when they vote on Amendment 2, a ballot measure intended to pave the way for school-choice initiatives that would open doors for families. Opponents of Amendment 2 seem to be resorting to illegal...
Illinois Supreme Court Sides with GOP, Upholds Unconstitutionality of Ban on Slating Candidates
(The Chicago Tribune)—In a setback for Illinois Democrats and Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois Supreme Court has upheld a downstate judge’s ruling that found unconstitutional a Democrat-passed law preventing the slating of legislative candidates for the November election in races where political parties did not field contenders. The high court’s...
Illinois Supreme Court Blocks Law Keeping Candidates off 2024 Ballot
(Tampa Free Press)—The Illinois Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling preventing a change in election law that could have removed 14 candidates from the 2024 general election ballot. The case stems from new “anti-slating” legislation, signed into law by Governor Pritzker on May 3, which altered ballot access rules...
Democrats’ Law Blocking Candidates from Ballot Remains Unconstitutional
(The Center Square)—The state’s law prohibiting candidates who didn’t run in a primary from getting on the general election ballot won’t go into effect this year after the Illinois Supreme Court dismissed the state’s appeal of a lower court ruled it unconstitutional. Ron Andermann, a Republican running for the statehouse...
Two School Districts Join CVUSD in Lawsuit
(Chino Valley Champion)—The Orange County Board of Education and the Anderson Union High School District in Northern California, south of Redding, have voted to join the Chino Valley Unified School District in its lawsuit challenging AB 1955, which is legislation that would ban schools from informing parents when their child...
Kentucky School District Removes Posts Against Amendment 2
(The Center Square)—A Texas-based group wants a local school district to stop encouraging voters to reject a constitutional amendment that would increase school choice options across the state. The Liberty Justice Center recently sent a demand letter to the Pulaski County School District after the district posted a message on...
Liberty Justice Center Urges Supreme Court to Hear Illinois ‘Bubble Zone’ Case and Protect Free Speech
(Tampa Free Press)—The Liberty Justice Center has filed a legal brief supporting a challenge to a Carbondale, Illinois law that creates “bubble zones” around healthcare facilities, restricting free speech within these areas. The law, aimed at pro-life activists near abortion clinics, has a broader impact, creating over 150 zones where...
Kentucky School District Accused of Illegal Election Interference
(Tampa Free Press)—The Liberty Justice Center has issued a demand letter on behalf of Kentucky taxpayers, accusing the Pulaski County School District of illegal election interference for using public resources to oppose a proposed ballot measure that would expand educational freedom in the state. The school district posted messages on...
More Public Educators Sign on to Challenge CA Law Letting Teachers ‘Keep Secrets’ from Parents
(Southern California Record)—The Orange County Board of Education and a far northern California school district have joined their names to a lawsuit challenging a new California state law that challengers say can be used by public schools and teachers to block parents from knowing if their children are transitioning gender....
Lawsuit: New IL Law Tramples Business Owners’ First Amendment Speech Rights
(Cook County Record)—Saying the state has trampled the free speech rights of business owners, one of Illinois’ leading free market public policy advocacy organizations has petitioned a federal judge to strike down a new Illinois state law threatening employers with fines or other government action if they discuss politics or...
Lawsuit: Illinois ‘Worker Freedom of Speech Act’ Violates Employers’ Free Speech Rights
(The Center Square)—The Liberty Justice Center filed a First Amendment lawsuit to challenge a recently enacted Illinois law that would prohibit companies from holding mandatory meetings where “religious or political matters” are discussed. Liberty Justice Center Senior Counsel Jeffrey Schwab explained that political matters as defined in the law extends...
Orange County Joins Suit Against Ban on K-12 Notifying Parents of Gender Changes
(The Center Square)—The Orange County Board of Education, representing the third most-populated county in California, and Anderson Union High School District voted to join a lawsuit against AB 1955, a law that bans K-12 schools from notifying parents of students’ gender change requests. The lawsuit, filed by Liberty Justice Center...
Government Employees Cannot Be Compelled to Pay Any Money, Regardless of Labels, to a Union
Six years ago, in Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment prohibits the government from compelling its employees to pay any money to a union in order to maintain their job. Specifically, the Court put an end to the practice in Connecticut and 23 other...
School Plumber Says Union Forced Him to Pay Dues, Contrary to Supreme Court Ruling
(New Jersey Monitor)—A Mercer County plumber is suing Hamilton’s school district and a pipefitters union, alleging they forced him to pay union dues in defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that bars mandatory dues for public sector workers. In a filing submitted Thursday, Nicolo Giangrasso alleges he sought to...
Liberty Justice Center Sues New Jersey Union for Violating Plumber’s Constitutional Rights
(Tampa Free Press)—The Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit Thursday against a New Jersey union for allegedly violating a local plumber’s constitutional rights by using semantics to skirt a Supreme Court ruling. The union claimed that the landmark 2018 decision Janus v. AFSCME doesn’t apply because they labeled the money...