Michael Craine v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 36, Local 119, et al.

The right to “dissolve the political bands which have connected” the people and government is older than the country itself and is enshrined in the First Amendment’s guarantees of free association and free speech. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ¶ 1 (U.S. 1776). Yet, here, the Ninth Circuit failed to apply these vital protections when Los Angeles County prohibited its employee Michael Craine from severing ties with a union—a private political organization—using a discretionary policy it collectively bargained with the union which forced him to maintain membership in, and funding of, that union after he attempted to resign union membership and stop the County’s deduction of dues from his wages. This Court has never held that the First Amendment protects a public employee’s rights to resign union membership and stop a government employer’s union dues deductions, or that a government employer and union are liable if they violate those rights. Petitioner Craine requests that the Court do so here for the first time. The questions presented are:

1. Whether the First Amendment’s guarantee of free association protects a public employee’s right to resign membership in a union.

2. Whether the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech protects a public employee’s right to stop a government’s deduction of union dues from his wages.

3. Whether a local municipality is liable for damages if it deprives a public employee of constitutional rights pursuant to a discretionary policy it (i)