Fanning the Flames: The Freedom Project Blog

9.27.2006

First Amendment Case Accepted by the Supreme Court

By Shawn Healy
The Supreme Court added a case with First Amendment implications to their docket for the coming 2006-2007 term set to begin on Monday. At issue is whether or not a state, Washington in this case, may require labor unions to receive the express consent of a non-union employee in order to use their dues for political purposes. The Court has affirmed the right of unions to collect dues from non-members because the collective bargaining practices benefit the employee nonetheless. A 1977 case mandated an op-out provision for dues allocated to political activities, but this presently occurs after the fact and not beforehand.

The First Amendment issues in question here are two-sided. The plaintiffs, five Washington teachers and the state itself, equate union dues allocated to political activities with speech. The union could potentially spend money on a cause or candidate that an individual teacher did not support. The defendant, the Washington Education Association, argues that the state law requiring the opt-in provision interferes with union's freedom to associate, disrupting the balance between non-members' rights and those of the union.

These two stories provide more elaborate details about the case:
1. Justices to Decide on Use of Union Dues for Politics, Washington Post.

2. First Amendment Case on Court Docket, First Amendment Center.

SHAWN HEALY

Managing Director

McCormick Freedom Project

Shawn is responsible for overseeing and managing the operations associated with the McCormick Freedom Project. Additionally, he serves as the in house content expert and voice of museum through public speaking and original scholarship. Before joining the Freedom Project, he taught American Government, Economics, American History, and Chicago History at Community High School in West Chicago, IL and Sheboygan North High School in Wisconsin.

Shawn is a doctoral candidate within the Political Science Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he received his MA in Political Science. He is a 2001 James Madison Fellow from the State of Wisconsin and holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, History, and Secondary Education from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

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About Fanning the Flames and the McCormick Freedom Project


Fanning the Flames is a blog of the McCormick Freedom Project, which was started in 2006 by museum managing director Shawn Healy. The blog highlights the news of the day, in hopes of engaging readers in dialogue about freedom issues. Any views or opinions expressed on this blog represent those of the writers alone and do not represent an official opinion of the McCormick Freedom Project.



Founded in 2005, the McCormick Freedom Project is part of the McCormick Foundation. The Freedom Project’s mission is to enable informed and engaged participation in our democracy by demonstrating the relevance of the First Amendment and the role it plays in the ongoing struggle to define and defend freedom. The museum offers programs and resources for teachers, students, and the general public.


First Amendment journalism initiative


The Freedom Project recently launched a new reporting initiative with professional journalists Tim McNulty and Jamie Loo. The goal is to expand and promote the benefits of lifelong civic engagement among citizens of all ages, through original reporting, commentary and news aggregation on First Amendment and freedom issues. Please visit the McCormick Freedom Project's news Web site, The Post-Exchange at



Dave Anderson
Vice President of Civic Programs
McCormick Foundation

Tim McNulty
Senior Journalist
McCormick Freedom Project


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