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Teresa Bierman, et al. v. Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, No. 17-1244 · judgment August 14, 2018

Certiorari denied · May 13, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

The State of Minnesota compels individuals who are not public employees, namely individual Medicaid providers, to accept an exclusive representative for speaking with the State over certain public policies. The questions presented are:

  1. Can the government designate an exclusive representative to speak for individuals for any rational basis, or is this mandatory expressive association permissible only if it satisfies heightened First Amendment scrutiny?

  2. If exclusive representation is subject to First Amendment scrutiny, is it constitutional for the government to compel individuals who are not government employees to accept an organization as their exclusive representative for dealing with the government? (i)

Counsel of record

For petitioner
William L. Messenger

For respondent
Elizabeth Catherine Kramer
Office of the Minnesota Attorney General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
8 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. May 13 2019
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Apr 17 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/9/2019.
  3. Apr 17 2019
    Reply of petitioners Teresa Bierman, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  4. Apr 03 2019
    Brief of respondent SEIU Healthcare Minnesota in opposition filed.
  5. Apr 03 2019
    Brief of respondents Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, et al. in opposition filed.
  6. Feb 15 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 3, 2019, for all respondents.
  7. Feb 12 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 4, 2019 to April 3, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  8. Feb 01 2019
    Response Requested. (Due March 4, 2019)
  9. Jan 23 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/15/2019.
  10. Jan 16 2019
    Waiver of right of respondent SEIU Healthcare Minnesota to respond filed.
  11. Jan 16 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of The Buckeye Institute filed.
  12. Jan 16 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of The Fairness Center filed.
  13. Jan 16 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Freedom Foundation filed.
  14. Jan 16 2019
    Brief amici curiae of NFIB Small Business Legal Center, et al. filed.
  15. Jan 16 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation filed.
  16. Jan 16 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Center of the American Experiment filed.
  17. Jan 16 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Goldwater Institute filed.
  18. Jan 16 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of The Cato Institute filed.
  19. Jan 15 2019
    Waiver of right of respondent Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, et al. to respond filed.
  20. Dec 20 2018
    Blanket Consent filed by Petitioners, Teresa Bierman, counsel for respondent SEIU and counsel for State respondents Governor Mark Dayton, Emily Johnson Piper and Todd Doncavage have authorize petitioner's counsel to inform the Court that Respondents also grant blanket consent.
  21. Dec 13 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 16, 2019)