| Janus v. AFSCME | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued February 26, 2018 Decided June 27, 2018 | |
| Full case name | Mark Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, et al. |
| Docket no. | 16-1466 |
| Citations | 585 U.S. ___ (more) 138 S. Ct. 2448; 201 L. Ed. 2d 924 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Judgment for defendants, No. 1:15-cv-01235 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 13, 2016); affirmed, 851 F.3d 746 (7th Cir. 2017); cert. granted, 138 S. Ct. 54 (2017). |
| Holding | |
| No public-sector employees who have refused membership in trade unions may be compelled to pay union dues to said unions because of the benefits that they may receive from their collective bargaining. When applied to public-sector workers, "fair share" agreements violate the First Amendment protections of both free association and free speech. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Alito, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, Gorsuch |
| Dissent | Sotomayor |
| Dissent | Kagan, joined by Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor |
| Laws applied | |
| US Const. amend. I | |
This case overturned a previous ruling or rulings | |
| Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977) | |
Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, No. 16-1466, 585 U.S. ___ (2018), abbreviated Janus v. AFSCME, is a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court on US labor law, concerning the power of labor unions to collect fees from non-union members. Under the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947, which applies to the private sector, union security agreements can be allowed by state law. The Supreme Court ruled that such union fees in the public sector violate the First Amendment right to free speech, overruling the 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education that had previously allowed such fees.