Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees (16-1466)
argument 16-1466Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees
Supreme Court of the United States
1h 2m
5 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 6 days ago
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Should the Supreme Court overrule the Janus boot for failing heightened First Amendment scrutiny?
We'll hear argument first this morning in case sixteen fourteen sixty six, Janus versus the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Mr Messenger.
Mr Chief Justice, and may it please the court. A boot should be overruled because it failed to apply heightened First Amendment scrutiny. to a compulsory fee for speech to influence governmental policies. A boot's failure places it at odds with Harris, with Knox and a slew of other speech and association precedents. Now respondents attempt to justify a boot's results with rationales found nowhere in that decision, which undercuts any starry decisive value in retaining a boot.
Mm-hmm.
May I ask uh Mr. Messinger, if you are right. About Agen agency fees. Uh what about Three things. Uh one is student activities fees. Are they different? And if so, why? Another is a mandatory Bar Association. Payments. And the third is You have a public sector case. What about the private sector, agency fees? compelled by state law in the private sector.
Yes, Your Honor. With respect to the first two instances, the student association or student fees and the bar association fees, those cases are distinguishable for reasons stated in Harris. They are justified by different interests. The State Bar Associations are justified by the State's compelling government interest in regulating the practice of law before its courts. The student association fees are justified by the government's or what a university's compelling interest in setting up a view. point neutral forum for speech. And then with respect to the private sector cases, uh they hinge on a question of State action. So in this case, only public sector union fees are being challenged. In the private sector, you'd have a question of whether State action applied, and therefore the rule of Janus would apply to that case.
I am sorry. I thought that we had always recognized that the government as employer had a compelling interest in regulating its employment decisions. We permit the government to fire people. deprive them of all money, not just a fair share fee. But deprive them of any income. if they speak outside of the government's approved policy messages or messages generally. So if we can permit the government as employer To have a compelling interest to do something as dramatic as firing someone. Why can't that interest in having workplace peace, workplace routine in which issues are decided. Um in a uh in a collective way, why isn't that a compelling interest comparable to the others?
Well the government's interest in restricting speech don't apply to compelling support for speech. In fact, oftentimes they cut the opposite way. So the government's interest in restricting speech, for example, in the Hatch Act, restricting political activities, wasn't preventing the politicalization of the workforce and preventing government employees from being organized into a political machine. Of course, those same interests don't justify forcing individuals to support the uh speech of an advocacy. But
that's no different than forcing student. uh student participation in fees to provide a public forum to have a bar association regulated These are all forcing the subsidisation of private interest. for a government purpose. And the government purpose here is labour relations. And labor peace. Why isn't uh you still haven't told me why that's not a compelling state interest.
Well irrespective of whether it's
compelling federal government interest.
Yes, Your Honor. The Court doesn't need to reach whether or not labor peace into that uh such interests are compelling because agency fees are not a least restrictive means to satisfy any labor peace interest the government may have in listening to one union. So the Labour Peace Interest, as this Court has explained in a boot, is a government's interest in listening only to one union, so it doesn't have to listen to multiple.
Well, there is another way of doing student fees. You can have uh students who don't pay not participate in any student activity. Because the price of
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Should the Supreme Court overrule the Janus boot for failing heightened First Amendment scrutiny?
0:00–6:25
2
How do student association fees, bar association fees, and private‑sector agency fees differ under the First Amendment?
6:25–12:56
3
Why isn’t labor‑peace a compelling governmental interest that justifies mandatory agency fees?
12:56–19:53
4
When does government‑employer discipline become a First Amendment issue versus an employment matter?
19:53–28:46
5
What would be the reliance‑interest consequences for thousands of municipal contracts if the boot is overturned?
28:46–36:08
6
How does the Leonard statutory‑duties test affect the line between chargeable and non‑chargeable union expenses?
36:08–42:13
7
Is a collective‑bargaining wage increase a matter of public concern or private employee interest?
42:13–51:11
8
What are the potential long‑term effects on union strength and labor peace if compulsory agency fees are eliminated?
51:11–1:02:15