The Center for Individual Rights, the nonprofit libertarian legal group behind Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a major Supreme Court challenge to public sector unions, will try again this year with a new case, the group announced Monday.
The Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 on the Friedrichs case last year following the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
The Center for Individual Rights filed a new lawsuit Monday against the California Teachers Association on behalf of eight public school teachers. It challenges the Golden State’s requirement that the educators must belong to, or otherwise support, the union as a condition of employment. The suit alleges that such “closed shop” rules violate the Constitution by forcing the teachers to, in effect, subsidize the union’s political activities even when they disagree with the labor group’s agenda.
“Forcing teachers to financially support causes that run counter to their political and policy beliefs is a clear violation of their First Amendment rights,” said Terry Pell, the president of the Center for Individual Rights. “Public school teachers deserve to choose for themselves, as many workers across the country do, whether or not to fund the union’s views.”
That was the same argument the center made in the prior Friedrichs case. Both challenge a 1977 Supreme Court precedent called Abood v. Detroit Board of Education that allows the forced dues requirements. Labor leaders argue that such requirements are fair because collective bargaining benefits all workers and that all employees should therefore contribute to the union. Ending the practice would be a major blow to teachers unions, who would likely suffer major membership losses without them.
A spokesperson for the California Teachers Association could not be reached for comment.
Oral arguments in Friedrichs suggested that the court’s conservative majority would side with the center. But after Scalia died, the remaining eight justices split evenly in the case, leaving intact a lower court ruling that upheld the state’s practice but leaving open the possibility that court could address the matter again in the future. Scalia’s seat on the court remains unfilled so his eventual replacement would be the deciding vote should the court take up this case.
President Trump has nominated federal judge Neil Gorsuch to replace Scalia.
