CHICAGO (Jan. 8, 2015) – On Monday, Jan. 11, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. In this case, the court will decide if government workers can be required to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. The Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus brief in support of plaintiff Rebecca Friedrichs, a public school teacher from California, and is urging the court to strike down the practice of mandatory union fees.

The Liberty Justice Center’s Jacob Huebert will be in Washington D.C. for the oral arguments in Friedrichs. Huebert is a senior constitutional lawyer at the Liberty Justice Center and a leading attorney in the nationwide fight for workers’ freedom to choose whether to support a union. He represents a group of Illinois state employees who object to paying union fees in a federal First Amendment lawsuit, Janus v. AFSCME, that raises the same issue as the Friedrichs case: whether the state can force public-sector employees to support a union to keep their jobs. In another federal First Amendment lawsuit, Hill v. SEIU, Huebert represents a group of home-based caregivers and child-care providers who object to their state government appointing a union as their “exclusive representative” to speak to the government on their behalf. Huebert also has been retained by the Village of Lincolnshire, Illinois, to defend the one of the nation’s first right-to-work laws enacted at the municipal level.

Joining Huebert in Washington D.C. for the oral arguments will be Mark Janus, the lead plaintiff in Janus v. AFSCME. Mark Janus is a child support specialist employed by Illinois state government. He lives in Springfield, Ill. and has worked for state government for years. Janus is supportive of the plaintiff in Monday’s case, Rebecca Friedrichs, as he also is a government employee who does not want to be forced to pay union fees.

“This case is about whether governments should be allowed to infringe on their employees’ rights to free speech and free association by making them support a union against their will,” said Jacob Huebert, senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center. “It shouldn’t be a difficult question. The Supreme Court has long held, correctly, that the right to free speech includes a person’s right not to be forced to pay for speech they disagree with, and the right to freedom of association includes a person’s right not to be a part of a group they want no part of.”

Jacob Huebert and Mark Janus are available for phone, Skype and in-person interviews.

For bookings or interviews: Diana Rickert or Nathaniel Hamilton (312) 607-4977