Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association

Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided February 24, 2009
Full case name	Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association
Citations	555 U.S. 353 ( more )
Holding
A state ban on political payroll deductions for contributions by public employees to their union's political action committee does not infringe the unions' First Amendment rights.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices John P. Stevens  · Antonin Scalia Anthony Kennedy  · David Souter Clarence Thomas  · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer  · Samuel Alito
Case opinions
Majority	Roberts
Concurrence	Ginsburg (in part)
Concur/dissent	Breyer
Dissent	Stevens
Dissent	Souter

Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association, 555 U.S. 353(2009), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that a state ban on political payroll deductions for contributions by public employees to their union's political action committee does not infringe the unions' First Amendment rights. ^{[1] [2]}

Background

Idaho's Right to Work Act permits public employees to authorize payroll deductions for general union dues, but it prohibits such deductions for union political activities. A group of Idaho public employee unions including the Pocatello Education Association sued, alleging that the ban on payroll deductions for political activities violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The federal District Court upheld the ban at the state level, but it struck it down as it applies to local governments. In affirming, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stated that, while Idaho has the ultimate control over local governmental units, it did not actually operate or control their payroll deduction systems. The court applied strict scrutiny to hold that the statute was unconstitutional as applied at the local level. ^[1]

Opinion of the court

The Supreme Court issued an opinion on February 24, 2009. ^[1]

References

1. Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association, 555 U.S. 353 (2009).
2. Schoen, E. J. & Falchek, J. S. (2009). Ysursa and Davenport: Putting a Dent in Union Access to Member Contributions for Political Activities. Southern Law Journal, XIX (Fall 2009, No. 1), 77-98.

External links

• Text of Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association, 555 U.S. 353(2009) is available from: Justia

This article incorporates written opinion of a United States federal court. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the text is in the public domain .