Liberty Justice Center
Recent News About Liberty Justice Center
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Supreme Court declines to let Illinois caregivers seek order forcing union to refund fees
WASHINGTON , D.C. -- The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down an effort by a group of non-union home caregivers to persuade the high court to order unions to refund millions of dollars in fees that they collected from the caregivers under an Illinois state law declared unconstitutional. -
Class action: Union must refund millions in unconstitutional fees taken from non-union IL state workers
A group of non-union Illinois state employees say their union illegally forced them to continue paying fees to the union, even when the union knew the fees were likely to be declared unconstitutional. Now, those workers have asked a federal judge to order the union to refund the money. -
Judge: Labor unions don't owe non-union state workers refunds, despite unconstitutional fees
Labor unions representing public employees shouldn’t need to refund fees they unconstitutionally collected from non-union employees, because they were acting in “good faith,” relying on state laws and prior legal precedent, a federal judge has ruled. -
Chicago drops ban on advertising in Uber, Lyft cars; Video ad app maker drops constitutional legal challenge
A decision by Chicago City Hall to amend a city ordinance to now allow interactive video advertising in vehicles operated by drivers for ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft has brought to a conclusion one company’s legal quest to win a court order declaring such a ban unconstitutional. -
Federal judge rejects lawsuit attempting to 'level playing field' of Illinois elections funding
A federal judge sided with Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Illinois State Board of Elections in a lawsuit that sought to lift a state law that prohibits independent expenditure committees from contributing funds directly to political candidates, to "level the playing field" in an elections system the plaintiffs asserted is tilted. -
Attorney: Court's denial of Lincolnshire right-to-work ordinance could forebode SCOTUS fight
A recent decision by a federal appeals court in Chicago likely forebodes a legal fight before the U.S. Supreme Court over the fate of so-called local right-to-work zones in Illinois and throughout the country. -
Uber, Lyft video ads maker, City Hall face off in court over Chicago's ridesharing ad ban
The city of Chicago and a company which wants to provide interactive video advertising for Uber and Lyft vehicles operating in the city have squared off in federal court over Chicago’s ban on such ads, with the company maintaining the ban runs roughshod over the U.S. and Illinois constitutions, and the city asserting the ban is a legitimate restriction of commercial speech. -
Appeals judges: Lincolnshire, other towns can't create right-to-work zones, despite home rule powers
Saying to find otherwise would create “catastrophic” consequences for labor law in Illinois and across the country, a federal appeals panel has backed a federal judge’s decision to toss an attempt by a northwest suburban village to use its home rule powers to create a local right-to-work zone within its borders. -
Appeals panel: IL law OK letting committees controlled by legislative leaders give unlimited campaign cash
Brushing aside assertions the law allows party leaders to consolidate power statewide, a federal appeals panel has upheld an Illinois campaign finance law which restricts what individual donors can give to political campaigns, while allowing unlimited contributions from legislative caucus committees controlled by partisan leaders within the state's House and Senate. -
Lincolnshire: Taxes different from union dues; asks judge to toss union suit over 'anti-union' lobbying funds
Saying governments are different from labor unions and other private organizations, a north suburban village and an organization that lobbies on behalf of Illinois city and village governments has asked a federal judge to dismiss a union-backed lawsuit asserting the rights of union members are violated by local governments which use tax money to fund lobbyists to seek reforms opposed by unions. -
Lawsuit: 'Level playing field' in Illinois election campaign spending for independent advocacy groups
Dan Proft and a conservative Illinois political advocacy group are asking a federal judge to strike down certain campaign contribution limits. -
ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE: John Tillman: Statement on he Janus V. AFSCME Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Janus v. AFSCME, confirming that forced union fees are unconstitutional. -
US Supreme Court: Forced collection of 'fair share' union fees unconstitutional, violates workers' free speech rights
Compelling non-union government workers to pay so-called “fair share fees” to unions they do not wish to join violates the First Amendment speech rights of non-union workers and is unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, finding in favor of an Illinois state worker who had sued to end the fees, also known as agency fees, in Illinois and across the country. -
Judge OKs Chicago 'cloud tax' on Netflix, other streaming services; plaintiffs vow appeal over far-reaching implications
Saying he believes Illinois law gives the city of Chicago the power to slap a 9 percent tax on people who pay to use Netflix, Spotify, Xbox Live and other streaming services, a Cook County judge has said plaintiffs need to pull the plug on a challenge to Chicago’s so-called “cloud tax.” Plaintiffs, however, said they intend to appeal, because the decision has more far-reaching implications for the ability of revenue-hungry Illinois governments to impose similar taxes throughout the state. -
Judge: Burbank owes Hispanic church, lawyers $410K for using zoning law to block new sanctuary
A federal judge has ordered the city of Burbank to pay a church and its lawyers $410,000 for settling a complaint alleging it blocked the congregation from opening a new building in a certain zoning district. -
Court weighs if IL home rule powers allowing stricter employer rules also can extend to local right-to-work
A federal appeals panel is mulling over the thorny issue of whether Illinois "home rule" municipalities, already empowered to impose a host of labor and employment-related regulations on businesses, should also be allowed to buck the state government and create local right-to-work zones within their boundaries. -
Can Lincolnshire become right-to-work? Question may center on home rule, appeals court told
Whether the Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire can designate itself as a “right-to-work” community may come down to the question of whether, under Illinois’ home rule provisions, home rule communities, like Lincolnshire, can qualify as “the state” under federal labor laws. -
Union member sues Lincolnshire, says village can't support group that lobbied for Rauner reform agenda
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepared to hear arguments on the question of whether state rules requiring non-union workers pay fees to unions violate the Constitution, a union member in suburban Lincolnshire has sued his village government, demanding the court declare the rights of union members have been similarly violated by local governments which use taxpayer money to fund lobbyists to seek reforms opposed by unions. -
GOP state lawmakers join Supreme Court brief asking to reject challenge to compulsory union fees
A group of nine Republicans currently serving in the Illinois General Assembly, including two rookie state lawmakers, have signed their names to a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to uphold the state’s ability to allow unions to extract fees from government employees who don’t wish to join a union, arguing the country’s founding federalist principles should allow the 50 states to decide such policy questions for themselves. -
Ex-Rauner communications chief sues governor, demands emails about abortion law, other topics
The woman who briefly served as one of the heads of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's communications team is suing his office, demanding the release of emails relating to controversial abortion legislation and other politically-charged topics.