SCOTUS announced this morning that Friedrichs v California Teacher’s Assn that they had upheld the decision of a lower court:
PER CURIAM.
The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.
That is the extent of an explanation we get for what was considered a major case when most decision are thirty or more pages. The plaintiffs were hoping to avoid paying the fees that support collective bargaining and workplace arbitration and etc. Additionally they were hoping to force the non-required fees[for lobbying and other things] to be opt in instead of opt out. If they had prevailed it would have led to a downward spiral of unions where they no longer have enough money to be an effective advocate for their workers and so less people would join leading to even less money to be effective and eventually no unions at all. That may be a little over the top, but regardless it wouldn’t have been good.
This is the first 4-4 case since Scalia’s death. It would almost surely have been decided differently if he were still on the court so this is the first very big shoe to drop and a reminder that even an 8 member court is going to be a more liberal court than the nine member with Scalia court. While it doesn’t establish a precedent as a 4-4 case, the plaintiffs were working to overturn a precedent so the existing precedent survives.