Columbus, OH – On Thursday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Goldstein v. Professional Staff Congress at City University of New York (PSC/CUNY), calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and end laws that force public-sector employees to accept union representation that they didn’t ask for and do not want.

“In Minnesota v. Knight, the court ruled that the government’s interest in orderliness in the collective bargaining process justified infringements on the First Amendment rights of public employees. ‘Labor peace’ they called it,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute. “While this interest might have been present in Knight, it is unclear how requiring Jewish professors to associate with a group whose statements they find antisemitic serves that interest.”

In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argues that “labor peace” should not prevent Jewish professors from disassociating themselves from the government union and its antisemitic speech. Buckeye further argues that laws that force public-sector employees to accept a union’s exclusive representation conflict with the First Amendment protections affirmed in Janus v. AFSCME and virtually every other decision the court has issued on compelled speech and association. 

Carson continued, “This case provides the court with the opportunity to clarify Knight or overrule it entirely.”

Lawyers from the Fairness Center and National Right to Work represent the five professors in Goldstein v. PSC/CUNY. 

# # #