[Peace-discuss] Resist Trump Machine at Shithole UIUC Law School on January 24, 3-4pm!

Sat Jan 20 17:41:27 UTC 2018

As you can see, the Trump/Sessions Department of Injustice have  declared war on unions. This Trump/Sessions Henchman and his Office are doing their anti-union/labor  dirty work at the US Supreme Court for them. 
Fab
Former Executive Committee, American Federation of Teachers Local 2287 and Delegate to AFL-CIO Board of Champaign County, Illinois (1988-91) (elected by membership to 3 terms).
Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (phone)
217-244-1478 (fax)
(personal comments only)

The Trump administration declares war on public sector unions.By Mark Joseph Stern 171207_JUR_sessions 
Attorney General Jeff Sessions participates in a session at the Global Forum on Asset Recovery on Monday in Washington.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

O
n Wednesday night, the Trump administration declared war on public sector unions.

Mark Joseph Stern 
Mark Joseph Stern

Mark Joseph Stern is a writer for Slate. He covers the law and LGBTQ issues.

In a brief filed with the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice reversed its position on the constitutionality of mandatory fees for public employees. The DOJ now believes that public sector unions may not charge these “fair share” fees, which support collective bargaining, to non-union members. It urged the court to strike down fair share fees as “compelled subsidization of speech” in violation of the First Amendment.

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Conservative politicians have long dreamed of imposing these “right-to-work” rules on the entire American public sector, and the Supreme Court’s conservative justices have prepared for this moment. In 2018, they’ll almost certainly answer the Trump administration’s prayers and permanently hobble U.S. unions.

The opportunity for the DOJ and the Supreme Court to target unions comes in the form of Janus v. AFSCME, which the justices agreed to hear in September. Bankrolled by the anti-union National Right to Work Foundation, Janus is a direct effort to overturn a 40-year-old landmark decision called Abood v. Detroit Board of Education. In Abood, the Supreme Court held that public sector unions, which represent government employees like teachers and firefighters, can collect agency fees from non-union workers. The court reasoned that these fees are often necessary to prevent “free riding”—non-union employees benefiting from bargaining funded by dues-paying union members. However, it held that unions could only use fair share fees to fund collective bargaining and could not, under the First Amendment, spend them on “political and ideological purposes.”

Abood held fast for several decades in the face of a well-funded movement to reverse the decision and enfeeble public sector unions. But in recent years, the Supreme Court’s right-leaning justices have indicated their eagerness to revisit and overturn the ruling. In 2012, Justice Samuel Alito wrote an opinion for the court criticizing Abood as an “anomaly” that “represents a remarkable boon for unions.” Then, in a 2014 majority opinion limiting Abood’s application, Alito lambasted the precedent as a “questionable” and “unsupported” aberration that “seriously erred” in its First Amendment analysis. The justice was obviously laying the groundwork to overturn Abood in the next union case.

That case arrived quickly. In 2015, the court agreed to hear Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a challenge to Abood. At oral arguments in 2016, the conservative justices appeared ready to reverse the precedent. But Justice Antonin Scalia died just a month later, and the court split 4–4, allowing Abood to live another day. When an anonymous donor gave more than $17 million to keep Scalia’s seat in conservative hands, he or she likely had unions in mind. The Friedrichs stalemate proved that anti-union activists were tantalizingly close to reversing Abood. With just one more vote, the Supreme Court’s conservatives could abolish fair share fees in every state. And there is little doubt that Gorsuch, who takes an expansive view of “compelled speech,” will provide that fifth vote in Janus as his dark money benefactors intended.

In 2018, they’ll almost certainly answer the Trump administration’s prayers and permanently hobble U.S. unions.

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The Justice Department’s decision to abandon Abood as it lies on its deathbed was pretty much inevitable. For years, the conservative legal establishment that now populates Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ DOJ has hoped to topple the pro-union precedent. With Janus, this movement has been handed a kill shot. But as the DOJ’s brief illustrates, these well-laid plans do not make the case against Abood any more persuasive. The First Amendment argument against fair share fees is essentially a partisan attack on unions dressed up in constitutional garb. Echoing Alito, the DOJ asserts that there is no actual distinction between collective bargaining and political activities, because bargaining is political. It claims that union-employer negotiations over pay and working conditions “inherently implicates concerns of politics and public policy.” Thus, anti-union workers have a First Amendment right not to fund them.

And what of the free-rider problem—the phenomenon of non-union employees enjoying the benefits secured through bargaining funded by their union colleagues? In Abood, the court recognized that government, acting as an employer, has an important interest in preventing free riders through fair share fees. But according to the DOJ, these “dissenting employees” are not actually free riders at all. They are “compelled riders” forced to subsidize speech about “issues on which they may strongly disagree” in contravention of the First Amendment.

This argument rests on two premises that are not only conceptually flawed, but also biased against unions themselves. First, the DOJ assumes that the First Amendment flatly prohibits the government from compelling Americans to subsidize speech with which they disagree. But this happens all the time: Tax revenue, for instance, is frequently used to promote messages that a taxpayer does not endorse, yet nobody seriously believes that taxes are unconstitutional. If the government imposed a special assessment on teachers and used the funds to promote education policies that some teachers disliked, they would have no First Amendment right to stop paying the tax—even though the state is forcing them to subsidize expression that they oppose. Why is the constitutional calculation different when the government directs a union to collect fees and negotiate policies? The unspoken assumption seems to be that unions are always partisan and untrustworthy.

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Second, the DOJ’s description of collective bargaining reflects a profoundly cynical view about the purpose of unions and the rights of workers. The DOJ insists that negotiations over basic terms of employment—health benefits, overtime pay, pensions—are “inherently political.” Really? Most teachers would probably not consider bargaining over the length of their lunch break to be “speech on politics.” But that is how the DOJ views every concession granted to public workers. Under this framework, anti-union employees do not reap the rewards secured by their dues-paying colleagues; rather, they are forced to accept benefits (like better pay) that they reject on political grounds. As the DOJ now conceives of them, public sector unions are essentially gravy trains that bilk money from the government, and free riders are noble “dissenting employees” who want less generous working conditions.

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Hi Joe 6-pack and others like you! This is a liberal coastal elite here to say, "we told you so". Do you still think you made the right decision?  More... 

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This vision of unions, of course, is fairly common, especially among Republicans. That is why 25 states, most of them right-leaning, have passed “right to work” laws that eliminate fair share fees. But 22 states and the District of Columbia have retained these fees, and public employees in those jurisdictions tend to have higher wages due to their increased bargaining power. There is no plausible constitutional argument, and certainly no credible originalist argument, against the constitutionality of fair share fees. And yet, in Janus, the Supreme Court will probably invalidate them, instantly undermining thousands of union contracts for millions of workers across the country.

The Trump administration will deserve much credit for this union-busting coup. It was Trump, after all, who installed the justice who will soon enable this nakedly political ruling. And it is Trump’s DOJ that is helping the court pretend that there is a valid nonpartisan argument against fair share fees. American unions have withstood a relentless assault since their inception, and the anti-union onslaught of the last few decades contributed to the decline of the working class. Trump promised to fight for these “forgotten” workers. But he and his man on the bench now stand poised to deliver them a devastating blow.

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Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (phone)
217-244-1478 (fax)
(personal comments only)

-----Original Message-----
From: Boyle, Francis A 
Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2018 11:08 AM
To: C G Estabrook <cgestabrook at gmail.com>; David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>; C. G. ESTABROOK <carl at newsfromneptune.com>; Miller, Joseph Thomas <jtmiller at illinois.edu>; sherwoodross10 at gmail.com; peace-discuss at anti-war.net; a-fields at uiuc.edu; Joe Lauria <joelauria at gmail.com>; Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net; peace-discuss-request at lists.chambana.net; Szoke, Ron <r-szoke at illinois.edu>; Arlene Hickory <a23h23 at yahoo.com>; Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com>; abass10 at gmail.com; mickalideh at gmail.com; Lina Thorne <lina at worldcantwait.net>; chicago at worldcantwait.net; Jay <futureup2us at gmail.com>; David Johnson <davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net>; Mildred O'brien <moboct1 at aim.com>
Cc: 'Campus Faculty Association' <campusfacultyassoc at gmail.com>; 'cfmembers at cfaillinois.org' <cfmembers at cfaillinois.org>
Subject: Resist Trump Machine at Shithole UIUC Law School on January 24, 3-4pm!

Today's Wall Street Journal has an article on the AFSCFME case currently pending before the US Supreme Court. The article points out that with Trump's Man Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, there is a good chance AFSCME will lose. That would be a terrible blow to Public Sector Unions, Unions in General  and Organized and Organizing  Labor around the country. 
Fab
Former Executive Committee, American Federation of Teachers Local 2287 and Delegate to AFL-CIO Board of Champaign County, Illinois (1988-91) (elected by membership to 3 terms).
Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (phone)
217-244-1478 (fax)
(personal comments only)

-----Original Message-----
From: Boyle, Francis A 
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2018 2:48 PM
To: C G Estabrook <cgestabrook at gmail.com>; David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>; C. G. ESTABROOK <carl at newsfromneptune.com>; Miller, Joseph Thomas <jtmiller at illinois.edu>; sherwoodross10 at gmail.com; peace-discuss at anti-war.net; a-fields at uiuc.edu; Joe Lauria <joelauria at gmail.com>; Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net; peace-discuss-request at lists.chambana.net; Szoke, Ron <r-szoke at illinois.edu>; Arlene Hickory <a23h23 at yahoo.com>; Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com>; abass10 at gmail.com; mickalideh at gmail.com; Lina Thorne <lina at worldcantwait.net>; chicago at worldcantwait.net; Jay <futureup2us at gmail.com>; David Johnson <davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net>; Mildred O'brien <moboct1 at aim.com>
Subject: RE: Resist Trump Machine at Shithole UIUC Law School on January 24, 3-4pm!

The US Supreme Court just announced that it is going to hear Trump's Muslim Travel Ban this Spring with a decision by the end of June.. Sally Yates refused to enforce it in court and Trump fired her.This Trump/Sessions Henchman and his Office will be arguing in favor of upholding  it in the United State Supreme Court. Why did not this Shithole Law School and its  Dean Iceman Amar bring in Sally Yates to "engage" the Champaign-Urbana Community instead of this Trump/Sessions/DepartmentOfInjustice Hatchetman?

Fab

Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (phone)
217-244-1478 (fax)
(personal comments only)

-----Original Message-----
From: Boyle, Francis A 
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2018 4:53 PM
To: C G Estabrook <cgestabrook at gmail.com>
Cc: David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>; C. G. ESTABROOK <carl at newsfromneptune.com>; Miller, Joseph Thomas <jtmiller at illinois.edu>; sherwoodross10 at gmail.com; peace-discuss at anti-war.net; a-fields at uiuc.edu; Joe Lauria <joelauria at gmail.com>; Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net; peace-discuss-request at lists.chambana.net; Szoke, Ron <r-szoke at illinois.edu>; Arlene Hickory <a23h23 at yahoo.com>; Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com>; abass10 at gmail.com; mickalideh at gmail.com; Lina Thorne <lina at worldcantwait.net>; chicago at worldcantwait.net; Jay <futureup2us at gmail.com>; David Johnson <davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net>; Mildred O'brien <moboct1 at aim.com>
Subject: RE: Resist Trump Machine at Shithole UIUC Law School on January 24, 3-4pm!

The Trump/Sessions Department of Injustice have argued and will continue to argue that the 2001 AUMF gives them the legal and US Constitutional authority to wage war all over the world forever. Perpetual War instead of Kant's Perpetual Peace, which I teach in my course on Jurisprudence. So we have to make our Stand against Perpetual War in front of this Shithole Law School on January 24 from 3-4pm.
Fab
Ed Norton Professor of Law
From the Bowels of the Shithole UIUC Law School

Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (phone)
217-244-1478 (fax)
(personal comments only)

-----Original Message-----
From: C G Estabrook [mailto:cgestabrook at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2018 4:44 PM
To: Boyle, Francis A <fboyle at illinois.edu>
Cc: David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>; C. G. ESTABROOK <carl at newsfromneptune.com>; Miller, Joseph Thomas <jtmiller at illinois.edu>; sherwoodross10 at gmail.com; peace-discuss at anti-war.net; a-fields at uiuc.edu; Joe Lauria <joelauria at gmail.com>; Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net; peace-discuss-request at lists.chambana.net; Szoke, Ron <r-szoke at illinois.edu>; Arlene Hickory <a23h23 at yahoo.com>; Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com>; abass10 at gmail.com; mickalideh at gmail.com; Lina Thorne <lina at worldcantwait.net>; chicago at worldcantwait.net; Jay <futureup2us at gmail.com>; David Johnson <davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net>; Mildred O'brien <moboct1 at aim.com>
Subject: Re: Resist Trump Machine at Shithole UIUC Law School on January 24, 3-4pm!

ALMA MATER - L.H.O.O.COL

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.H.O.O.Q.>

> On Jan 15, 2018, at 9:56 AM, Boyle, Francis A <fboyle at illinois.edu> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> Francis A. Boyle
> Law Building
> 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
> Champaign IL 61820 USA
> 217-333-7954 (phone)
> 217-244-1478 (fax)
> (personal comments only)
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Boyle, Francis A 
> Sent: Monday, January 15, 2018 9:50 AM
> To: Estabrook, Carl G <galliher at illinois.edu>; Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com>; David Johnson <davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net>
> Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> Subject: Resist Trump Machine at Shithole UIUC Law School on January 24, 3-4pm!
> 
> Sorry I cannot be there tomorrow for the program. It is my first day of classes and I am teaching a maximum course load this semester, including International Human Rights Law. But I would greatly appreciate it if someone could announce our Rally against this Trump/Sessions Legal Henchman here at this  Shithole College of Law on January 24 from 3-4pm. You will notice that in our  press release I deliberately included that the Trump/Sessions Department of Injustice are currently arguing "For War." Right now there is a lawsuit pending in Federal Court by a US Soldier not wanting to deploy to the Middle East because these wars were never authorized by Congress and are thus unconstitutional. It will be making its way to the Supreme Court. This Trump/Sessions Henchman and his Department and  Office are arguing and   will be arguing in favor of perpetual  warfare around the world. Thanks.
> Fab.
> From the Bowels of the Shithole Law School.
> To: sectns.aals at lists.aals.org
> Subject: [SECTNS.aals] - RESIST TRUMP MACHINE AT ILLINOIS LAW SCHOOL!
> 
> 
> 
> For circulation to your groups, people and anyone you wish to attend the below:
> 
> 
>                                                       RALLY AT THE UI LAW SCHOOL TO RESIST 
> 
>                  The Dean’s Public Engagement Lecture by Malcolm Stewart, Deputy Solicitor General for the Trump/Sessions Department of Injustice!
> 
> 
>                                           Wednesday, January 24, 3-4pm  Law School Plaza
>                                     504 E Gregory Drive, Champaign, IL 61820 (Across from Krannert Art Museum)
> 
> Law Dean Amar is bringing in this Top Trump/Sessions  Legal Henchman to propagandize Their Party Line. For the past year, he and his Department  have  been arguing the Trump/Sessions Cases in the US Supreme Court and Lower Federal Courts and will continue to do so for Trump/Sessions: The Muslim Travel Ban; Against  Dreamers; Against Sanctuary Cities; Against Migrants; Against Blacks; Against LGBTs; Against Labor;For War; etc. Every reprehensible policy and practice that Trump adopts will make its way to the US Supreme Court and Stewart and his Office  will argue in favor of  Trump/Sessions and against the American People.  Right now, Trump has a solid right-wing majority on the Supreme Court with his Man Gorsuch.
> 
> Please join us in demonstrating our concern over the continuing downward spiral of human rights both here and abroad by our government of elites, with the abandonment of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Our continued militarization, and war on people around the world in order to occupy and steal their resources. With further oppression and exploitation of the working class, and People of Color in this nation. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Francis A. Boyle
> Law Building
> 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
> Champaign IL 61820 USA
> 217-333-7954 (phone)
> 217-244-1478 (fax)
> (personal comments only)
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss
> Sent: Monday, January 15, 2018 9:03 AM
> To: Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com>
> Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Lee Camp interviews Diane Perlman, on how to get rid of nuclear weapons
> 
> Karen & David-- 
> 
> You both (and of course other members & friends of AWARE) are welcome to come talk about Iran & US fp on AWARE ON THE AIR at noon tomorrow.
> 
> I’ll be discussing the remarkable mess of the Mueller investigation & war provocations vs. Russia.
> 
> The program will finish up with part of the TRNN interview with Finkelstein, on his new book on Gaza.
> 
> As always, I want to keep the program’s focus on US war-making (which Russiagate is finally about).
> 
> —CGE
> 
>> On Jan 15, 2018, at 7:57 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>> 
>> David
>> 
>> Agreed, which is one of the reasons I have deluged the Peace Discuss List with articles promoting varying perspectives of the protests in Iran.
>> 
>> We are like spectators at a sporting event, we have our favorite teams but we have no influence on the outcome of the game other than to ensure fairness and no interference on the part of “money interests.” “Money interests" or those we have placed in power through either lack of interest or inability to change our system based on profit. Which is why “opposing any and all U.S. intervention no matter what “ as you say, should always be our main focus.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jan 15, 2018, at 02:55, David Johnson <davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Good article about the Iranian protests.
>>> 
>>> Based on what the U.S. State Dept. / CIA et al have done over the decades in overthrowing governments it didn’t like by means of economic sabotage and astro turf ( fake ) protest groups that were funded and trained and staffed with CIA operatives and hired criminals, culminating in the so called “ color revolutions “ of recent years, we need to be suspicious when things like that which is occurring in Iran happen.
>>> However, on the other hand we shouldn’t be dismissive of all protest actions in a particular country that the U.S. government hates as phony and instigated.
>>> The Iranian protests are legitimate and I support the Iranian Working class in their struggles against economic austerity as well as their desires to have a more democratic government.
>>> That does NOT mean that I support ANY interference in the internal affairs of any country by the U.S. government and it’s bought and paid for proxies.
>>> Sometimes it is difficult to determine what is legitimate or not but when it is the case that protests are “ home grown “ and legitimate, I think that anti-war / anti-imperialist activists can “ walk and chew gum at the same time “, by supporting the goals of Working people in a country while at the same time opposing any and all U.S. intervention no matter what.
>>> 
>>> David J.
>>> 
>>> From: Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Karen Aram via Peace-discuss
>>> Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2018 8:44 PM
>>> To: Peace-discuss List
>>> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Lee Camp interviews Diane Perlman, on how to get rid of nuclear weapons
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Jan 12, 2018, at 09:57, Lee Camp <lcamp at RTamerica.TV> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hey Karen-
>>>> 
>>>>   I have a new episode of Redacted: VIP with Diane Perlman, a member of the group ICAN, which just won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to get rid of nuclear weapons. Click here to watch. 
>>>>   I also have a new article by a member of the Redacted team about what you aren't being told about the protests in Iran. And there's A LOT you aren't being told. Click here to read. 
>>>>   And I have live shows coming up in Salt Lake City, Portland, Pittsburgh, Houston, Austin & more. Vote for your city and get details here. 
>>>> 
>>>> Keep Fighting,
>>>> Lee
>>>> 
>>>> 
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