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Bradley Boardman, et al. v. Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 19-35113 · judgment October 22, 2020
Before the decision, about 1.6× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a Ninth Circuit decision below, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and down for a state or local-government respondent.
Question presented
Petitioners are individual in-home care providers in Washington state who are situated identically to the quasi-public employees in Harris v. Quinn, 573 U.S. 616 (2014), and a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that workers understand their constitutional right not to subsidize union speech. After Harris, petitioners communicated with other providers to spread that message and to encourage them to oust one of their incumbent unions. Those efforts were initially quite successful, with large numbers of providers exercising their opt-out rights. But those efforts depended on access to state lists of providers and their contact information. Because providers are widely dispersed and have high turnover rates, only the state, which facilitates their payment, has that information. Even the incumbent unions depend on the state for that critical speech-enabling information. Frustrated by petitioners’ success, the incumbent unions worked to convert the state’s monopoly over that information into a duopoly. They drafted and bankrolled a ballot initiative amending Washington’s public-records laws to deny virtually everyone but the incumbent unions access to that information. Voters approved that initiative, and, over a 40-page dissent, the Ninth Circuit upheld it. The question presented is: Whether a law that skews the debate over the value of public-sector unions and undermines publicsector employees’ opt-out rights by giving incumbent unions exclusive access to information necessary to communicate with public-sector employees is consistent with the First Amendment.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Paul D. Clement
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
For respondent
Scott A. Kronland
Altshuler Berzon, LLP
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 3 conferences
Amicus briefs
13 cert-stage
Proceedings
- Oct 12 2021Petition DENIED. Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, and Justice Gorsuch would grant the petition for a writ of certiorari.
- Oct 04 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/8/2021.
- Jul 21 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/27/2021.
- Jul 21 2021Reply of petitioners Bradley Boardman, a Washington Individual Provider, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Jul 01 2021Brief of respondents Jay R. Inslee, Governor of the State of Washington, et al. (except Campaign To Prevent Fraud and Protect Seniors) in opposition filed.
- Jul 01 2021Brief of respondent Campaign to Prevent Fraud and Protect Seniors in opposition filed.
- May 10 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 1, 2021, for all respondents.
- May 07 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 1, 2021 to July 1, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
- Apr 29 2021Response Requested. (Due June 1, 2021)
- Apr 27 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/13/2021.
- Apr 23 2021Waiver of right of respondents Jay R. Inslee, Governor of the State of Washington, et al. (except Campaign To Prevent Fraud and Protect Seniors) to respond filed.
- Apr 23 2021Waiver of right of respondent Campaign to Prevent Fraud and Protect Seniors to respond filed.
- Apr 23 2021Brief amicus curiae of Buckeye Institute filed.
- Apr 23 2021Brief amicus curiae of Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 23 2021Brief amicus curiae of The Fairness Center filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 23 2021Brief amicus curiae of The Bronx Household of Faith filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 23 2021Brief amicus curiae of National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 23 2021Brief amicus curiae of Protect the 1st filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 23 2021Brief amici curiae of Utah, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 23 2021Brief amicus curiae of Citizen Action Defense Fund filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 23 2021Brief amici curiae of Goldwater Institute; Illinois Policy Institute filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 23 2021Brief amicus curiae of Center of the American Experiment filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 22 2021Brief amici curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation and Pelican Institute for Public Policy filed.
- Apr 22 2021Brief amicus curiae of Landmark Legal Foundation filed.
- Apr 21 2021Brief amicus curiae of Allied Daily Newspapers filed.
- Apr 07 2021Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Bradley Boardman, a Washington Individual Provider, et al.
- Mar 19 2021Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 23, 2021)