Noah Feldman, Columnist

Now Conservatives Get to Say What Free Speech Means

Public-sector unions take a hit when the Supreme Court rules they can’t compel payment of fees.

June 27, 2018 at 3:43 PM UTC

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

A big loss.
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty Images

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In a blow to public-sector unions, the U.S. Supreme Court has used the First Amendment to reverse a 40-year-old precedent that allows the collection of fees from nonunion members who benefit from collective bargaining.

The decision, six years in the making, shows how a conservative court can take a core constitutional value like freedom of speech and wield it as a tool to advance business interests. The outcome fits into a pattern with the Citizens United case — a pattern likely to be expanded considerably if President Donald Trump can consolidate a conservative majority with more appointments to the court.