close Video Mark Janus seeks end to mandatory union fees Janus v. AFSCME could handicap the power of Big Labor. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees lost more than 14,000 members in 2017 – a year after it spent nearly $19 million more on politics than on organizing and advocating on behalf of its members, according to a recent Bloomberg analysis. Coincidence? AFSCME is one of the largest contributors to political causes and candidates in the country, but maybe not for long. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a potentially landmark First Amendment case brought by Mark Janus, a public employee in Illinois who argues that his rights are violated by an Illinois law that forces him to pay for AFSCME’s collective bargaining. Janus argues that because AFSCME’s collective bargaining with the government affects public policy issues like taxes, spending, pension liabilities and more, such bargaining … [Read more...] about Supreme Court case could give public employees more freedom
Landmark supreme court cases
The Supreme Court broke 2 of its strictest rules for the travel ban arguments
The Supreme Court made two major exceptions to its rules on Wednesday to accommodate oral arguments for President Donald Trump's travel ban.The justices allowed audio of oral arguments to be released on the same day, and granted the plaintiff's lawyer extra time.The moves indicate how significant the case is, and how much public interest the arguments have garnered.The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday for President Donald Trump's travel ban — one of his most highly scrutinized executive orders to date.The significance of Wednesday's arguments weren't lost on the justices, and they broke two of their famously rigid rules to accommodate the complexity of the case and the immense public interest it has attracted.In a rarity for the tradition-oriented high court, the audio recording of the arguments was released shortly after they concluded. It's a move that has previously been reserved only for the most important landmark cases.Unlike some lower … [Read more...] about The Supreme Court broke 2 of its strictest rules for the travel ban arguments
Rosenstein Argues Case For Trump Administration Before Supreme Court
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein takes on some added responsibility on Monday, on top of overseeing the special counsel investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, by representing the Trump administration before the Supreme Court, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Although it is the solicitor general’s office that oversees the government’s Supreme Court docket, top officials from the Justice Department do occasionally argue cases before the high court. For Rosenstein, this will be his first appearance before the Supreme Court. He said that despite his managerial responsibilities over thousands of Justice Department employees, he considers himself a practicing lawyer first, and last year asked Solicitor General Noel Francisco to give him a criminal case to argue. The case stems from a 2012 drug bust in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The defendant, Adaucto Chavez-Meza, was sentenced in 2013 to 11 years, three months imprisonment, the … [Read more...] about Rosenstein Argues Case For Trump Administration Before Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Might Be Coming To A Movie Theater Near You
POLITICS 04/17/2018 01:30 pm ET Ginsburg recently filmed a short cameo for an upcoming movie, one of two big screen projects about her that are premiering this year. By Marina Fang 230 WASHINGTON ― Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg may appear on the big screen in a cameo for an upcoming biopic on her early career. Stephen Root, an actor in “On the Basis of Sex,” told The Hollywood Reporter that the high court justice recently filmed a brief appearance on a set of courthouse steps. The filming occurred in November, according to The Associated Press. The movie, directed by Mimi Leder and written by Ginsburg’s nephew Daniel Stiepleman, stars Felicity Jones as a young Ginsburg, working on what would become a landmark gender discrimination case. It also chronicles Ginsburg’s relationship with her late husband Martin Ginsburg, played by Armie Hammer. A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court declined to comment. Representatives for … [Read more...] about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Might Be Coming To A Movie Theater Near You
Indiana Supreme Court urged not to change its ruling in Lake Michigan beach ownership case
INDIANAPOLIS — Two of the litigants seeking to preserve public access to Lake Michigan beaches are urging the Indiana Supreme Court to leave intact its landmark Feb. 14 ruling that the lakeshore belongs to all Hoosiers.Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes argue in a 25-page filing that there's no need for the state's high court to reconsider its decision to reject a Long Beach couple's claim that their lakefront property extends to the water's edge, wherever that is at any given time.The litigants believe the justices got it exactly right when they concluded, following an exhaustive historical review of water-adjacent property rights, that the state always has, and continues to, own the land under Lake Michigan up to the ordinary high water mark — essentially where the beach becomes land."The shore has been owned by Indiana in trust for its citizens since statehood, and state ownership is an important piece of that protection," they write. "This court recognized … [Read more...] about Indiana Supreme Court urged not to change its ruling in Lake Michigan beach ownership case