U.S. Supreme Court begins 2022-2023 term with seven petitions to review public-sector union cases
The Supreme Court’s next term will begin on Monday, Oct. 3. As of Sept. 29, appellants had filed seven petitions for writs of certiorari—requests for the Supreme Court to review a lower court’s ruling—in public-sector union cases we’re tracking. The Supreme Court began considering petitions for this term on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
Petitions filed for the 2022-2023 term
The court held its first conference for the term, where it reviews petitions filed over the summer, on Sept. 28. Only one of the seven petitions we’re watching, Adams v. Teamsters Union Local 429, was on the list of petitions for the justices to consider during this conference.
The Supreme Court receives 7,000 to 8,000 petitions every year. In order for a petition to be granted, at least four of the nine justices must vote to hear the case. Between 2007 and 2021, the court issued opinions in an average of 75 cases per year.
The following seven petitions from public-sector union cases are currently pending before the Supreme Court. This outline includes a link to the Supreme Court docket for each case, as well as available documents and case information.
Adams v. Teamsters Local Union 429
- Appealed from the Third Circuit.
- Original complaint: Feb. 27, 2019
- Appellate ruling: Jan. 20, 2022
- Docketed April 22, 2022.
- Distributed for conference on Sept. 28, 2022.
- Question presented in the petition: “For whom does this Court’s affirmative consent waiver requirement set forth in Janus apply: nonmembers currently or previously employed in agency shop arrangements, like Mark Janus—as several lower courts have held—or employees, like Petitioners, who sign an agreement to pay a union, such as union membership card or dues deduction authorization?”
- Questions presented in the respondents’ briefs:
- Teamsters Union Local 429: “Whether public employees who voluntarily joined a union, signed written agreements to pay membership dues via payroll deduction for a one-year period, and received membership rights and benefits in return, suffered a violation of their First Amendment rights when their employer made the deductions that they affirmatively and unambiguously authorized?”
- Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D), et al.: “When public employees voluntarily joined a union and affirmatively authorized union dues to be deducted from their paychecks, did their public employer violate the First Amendment by making those deductions?”
- Lebanon County, Pennsylvania: “Whether the Petitioners lack standing to challenge Union and County Respondents for monetary relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for receiving and spending agency fees to pay for collective bargaining representation prior to Janus … as the Third Circuit made no error of law, there is unity amongst the Circuit Courts of Appeal as to this issue, and Petitioners’ raise new issues within the writ, as to whether Janus applies to union members who signed union membership cards with dues authorization deductions?”
File v. Brost
- Appealed from the Seventh Circuit.
- Original complaint: July 25, 2019
- Appellate ruling: April 29, 2022
- Docketed Aug. 1, 2022.
- Not yet distributed.
- Question presented in the petition: “Whether membership in a mandatory state bar is subject to heightened scrutiny under the First Amendment.”
- Respondents have until Sept. 30 to file briefs in opposition.
- Amici curiae: Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Alliance Defending Freedom, Goldwater Institute, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Pelican Institute for Public Policy, First Liberty Institute.
Cooley v. California Statewide Law Enforcement Association
- Appealed from the Ninth Circuit.
- Original complaint: Nov. 13, 2018
- Appellate ruling: April 28, 2022
- Docketed Sept. 9, 2022.
- Not yet distributed.
- Question presented in the petition: “Does the Constitution allow a public-sector union to enter into a contract with a state employer that restricts a public employee’s constitutional right to resign his union membership?”
- Respondents have until Oct. 11 to file briefs in opposition.
O’Callaghan v. Drake
- Appealed from the Ninth Circuit.
- Original complaint: March 27, 2019
- Appellate ruling: April 28, 2022
- Docketed Sept. 9, 2022.
- Not yet distributed.
- Question presented in the petition: “Whether a union can trap a government worker into paying dues for longer than a year under Janus[.]”
- Respondents have until Oct. 11 to file briefs in opposition.
Polk v. Yee & Quirarte v. United Domestic Workers AFSCME Local 3930 (consolidated in the circuit court)
- Appealed from the Ninth Circuit.
- Original complaints: Nov. 1, 2018 (Polk v. Yee); July 11, 2019 (Quirarte v. United Domestic Workers AFSCME Local 3930)
- Appellate ruling: June 8, 2022
- Docketed Sept. 8, 2022.
- Not yet distributed.
- Questions presented in the petition:
- “Do states and unions need clear and compelling evidence that nonmembers of a union waived their First Amendment right to refrain from subsidizing union speech in order to constitutionally seize payments for union speech from those individuals?”
- “When a union acts jointly with a state to seize union payments from nonmembers’ wages, is that union a state actor participating in a state action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983?”
- Respondents have until Oct. 11 to file briefs in opposition.
Savas v. California State Law Enforcement Agency
- Appealed from the Ninth Circuit.
- Original complaint: Jan. 6, 2020
- Appellate ruling: April 28, 2022
- Docketed Sept. 8, 2022.
- Not yet distributed.
- Questions presented in the petition:
- “Does it violate the First Amendment for a state and union to compel objecting employees to remain union members and to subsidize the union and its speech?”
- “To constitutionally compel objecting employees to remain union members and to subsidize the union and its speech, do states and unions need clear and compelling evidence the objecting employees waived their First Amendment rights?”
- Respondents have until Oct. 11 to file briefs in opposition.
Wilford v. National Education Association
- Appealed from the Ninth Circuit.
- Original complaint: July 2, 2018
- Appellate ruling: Jan. 26, 2022
- Docketed Sept. 19, 2022.
- Distributed for conference on Oct. 7, 2022.
- Questions presented in the petition:
- “Whether the Ninth Circuit erred by basing a defense to § 1983 on ‘equality and fairness’ rather than determining whether the common law in 1871 provided a good-faith defense to a private party for the most analogous tort.”
- “Whether the remedy Petitioners seek is equitable restitution such that a good-faith defense to money damages, if it exists, does not apply.”
- “Whether a good-faith defense, if it exists, applies only to individuals, not legal entities like the Respondent unions.”
- “Whether the Ninth Circuit erred by failing to give Janus truly retroactive effect.”
- Respondents waived the right to respond.
Historic trends
In the analysis below, cases appealed in joint petitions are counted individually.
Since the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, Ballotpedia has tracked close to 200 public-sector union lawsuits in federal and state courts, 60 of which have been appealed to the Supreme Court since the 2018-2019 term. So far, the court has not heard any of these subsequent appeals, although in 2018 it sent one case back to the Eighth Circuit to be reconsidered in light of Janus. (The court denied a second appeal in the same case in 2020.)
During its 2021-2022 term, the court denied petitions in 33 public-sector union cases. During the 2020-2021 term, the court denied petitions in 13 cases. During its 2019-2020 term, it denied four petitions. During its 2018-2019 term, it denied two petitions and sent one back to the circuit court.
About the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court consists of nine justices who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. President George H.W. Bush (R) appointed Justice Clarence Thomas to the court. President George W. Bush (R) appointed Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. President Barack Obama (D) appointed Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. President Donald Trump (R) appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. President Joe Biden (D) appointed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who joined the court in June 2022.
The Supreme Court’s yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.
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What we’re reading
- The Seattle Times, “Seattle School Board approves 3-year contract with educators union,” Sept. 28, 2022
- Freedom Foundation, “Lawsuit Challenging SEIU ‘Issues Fund’ Surcharge Heads to 9th Circuit,” Sept. 28, 2022
- Government Executive, “Unions Are Making a Last-Ditch Effort to Expand Bargaining Rights for VA Medical Professionals,” Sept. 27, 2022
- AFGE, “AFGE Calls on Congress to Expand Bargaining Rights for Thousands of VA Providers,” Sept. 27, 2022
- The Hill, “Levin’s staff becomes first Capitol Hill office to unionize,” Sept. 26, 2022
- WTTW, “A Workers’ Rights Amendment Will Be on the Illinois Ballot. Here’s What It Does,” Sept. 26, 2022
- Chicago Tribune, “Collective bargaining amendment brings national labor fight to Illinois ballot,” Sept. 25, 2022
- AFSCME, “Workers union sues Walters Art Museum for violating the Maryland Public Information Act,” Sept. 22, 2022
The big picture
Number of relevant bills by state
We are currently tracking 149 pieces of legislation dealing with public-sector employee union policy. On the map below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here for a complete list of all the bills we’re tracking.
Number of relevant bills by current legislative status
Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s)
Recent legislative actions
No public-sector union bills saw activity this week.
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