Catherwood LibraryILR School

The Supreme Court has split 4-4 in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, the highly anticipated public employee union case that weighed mandatory union agency fees against free speech violations for nonmembers. The case, closely watched as a barometer for public union support in an election year, was a challenge to the 1977 case, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, which found in favor of unions being able to collect fees from nonmembers with regard to negotiations but not for political activities. With the Court deadlocked, the decision affirms the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit which had elected to abide by the 1977 ruling. It is unlikely that this ruling will rest, pending the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice to replace Antony Scalia who had been seen as the swing vote in a court currently balanced between liberal and conservative justices.