Week in Review: Supreme Victory

December 8, 2018

The Goldwater Institute won a major victory for the First Amendment this week as the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a lower court ruling that allowed states to force lawyers to subsidize state bar associations.

The justices ordered the lower court to reconsider its holding in Fleck v. Wetch in light of the Janus case, which held that government must get consent from workers before it compels them to subsidize trade associations such as labor unions. Read more about the victory here.

Leveling the Campaign-Contribution Field

Can the government pass laws that effectively silence groups on one side of a political debate but not the other? 

You might think not. After all, under the Constitution, the government is supposed to treat everyone equally — especially when it comes to our participation in politics. 

Unfortunately, under the guise of “campaign-finance reform,” some states have enacted laws that muzzle some groups but not others.

Read more from Goldwater Senior Attorney Jacob Huebert inNational Review Online.

Stopping the Clock on Taxpayer-Funded Union Time inMichigan Schools

It’s a practice most people in Michigan have probably never heard of, but they’re paying for it all the same at the expense of their public schools. The policy is known as “release time,” and the state legislature is taking action to stop it.

Learn more from Goldwater Director of National Litigation Jonathan Riches.