June 28, 2016
On June 28th, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition from nine California public school teachers to rehear their First Amendment challenge to mandatory union fees. The plaintiffs petitioned the Court to rehear their case after a 4-4 decision was issued in the wake of Justice Scalia’s death. When the
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June 24, 2016
In what many Supreme Court experts consider a surprise opinion, the Supreme Court voted to uphold the system of racial preferences used for admission at the University of Texas, Austin. In a confusing holding that significantly departs from his original holding in Fisher I, Justice Kennedy authored an opinion that
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June 03, 2016
CIR is assisting the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) in its fight against the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands and his effort to issue a subpoena on CEI demanding that it produce a decade’s worth of communications, statements, and documents related to CEI’s work on climate change from 1997-2007. After several rounds of
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May 27, 2016
Events in Chicago once again highlight the need for the Supreme Court to resolve the questions at issue in Friedrichs v. CTA. While the Supreme Court considers CIR’s Petition for Rehearing, experience is proving that Friedrichs represents ongoing problems for teachers across the country. These issues refuse to go away
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May 10, 2016
CIR has filed an amicus brief in support of Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino and his ongoing effort to fend off an overreaching federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD is attempting to silence Astorino’s opposition to its agenda of dismantling local zoning ordinances in Westchester County, a northern suburb of New York
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April 08, 2016
CIR filed a petition for rehearing today asking the Supreme Court to re-hear Friedrichs v. CTA when a new, ninth Justice is confirmed. This would allow the question of whether compulsory union fees violate the First Amendment to be heard and decided by the full Court of nine Justices.
Last month,
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April 01, 2016
The Chicago teacher strike illustrates the need for the Supreme Court to grant a rehearing in Friedrichs v. CTA. Many Chicago teachers are worried about just how the strike will affect their students, but their union has made it clear dissenters will not be tolerated. This highlights the central issue of
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March 29, 2016
Today the Supreme Court issued a tied decision in Friedrichs v. California Teacher’s Association. The 4-4 decision leaves the laws in place in 25 states and the District of Columbia that allows unions to compel non-members to pay “agency fees” to support the union’s collective bargaining work.
Since the death of
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March 21, 2016
The Supreme Court tossed a Massachusetts court ruling that upheld a state ban on owning or possessing a stun gun. Today’s ruling directs the Supreme Court of Massachusetts to reconsider Jaime Caetano’s conviction for possessing a stun gun in violation of a Massachusetts laws in light of the Supreme Court’s
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March 15, 2016
In a significant victory for CIR client “Zujua” — an anonymous Wikepedia editor who was sued for defamation for making edits to a Wikipedia entry — the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed trial judge Maurice Ross’s earlier ruling denying Zujua attorney’s fees.
Judge Ross had ruled that
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