A case argued before the Supreme Court on Wednesday about how labor unions must handle the fees paid by nonmembers could turn out to be little more than a footnote to a long line of decisions about the respective rights of labor unions and dissident employees. Or the case might turn out to be a good deal more consequential, the first step toward a recalibration by the court of the constitutional balance between the two. Each of these contrasting outcomes appeared plausible during an argument that had a bit of something for everyone: First Amendment law, labor law, election law and an animated performance by the court?s newest justice, Samuel A. Alito Jr.
See "Rights of Unions and Nonmembers Vie at Court", Linda Greenhouse, The New York Times, January 10, 2007