The Supreme Court is now slated to revisit the issue of mandatory union fees for non-union members. Also, Gov. Jerry Brown today signed into law one of the toughest school vaccine restrictions in the country. Then, the Los Angeles district attorney announced Monday that a team of veteran prosecutors will begin reviewing wrongful conviction claims from state prisoners who present new evidence of their innocence.
Supreme Court takes up major case challenging California union fees
The Supreme Court is now slated to revisit the issue of mandatory union fees for non-union members, a case that could portend larger changes to union structures and Democratic politics.
After a historic set of rulings over the past week, the nation’s highest court is preparing to take on more cases for its next session. Officially called Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, this suit will examine the court’s 1977 ruling in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education that established the right of unions to collect fees from non-union members who benefit from the collective bargaining process in order to pay for said process.
Proponents of the union fees cite the high cost of collective bargaining and the problem of free riders as reasons why unions need this right. Critics cite 1st Amendment freedoms protecting individuals from compelled speech.
If the court strikes down the mandatory fees for non-union members, the repercussions would abound across various industries and the political establishment. That is because the speech funded by union dues and non-union fees not only goes towards collective bargaining but into political lobbying on the local, state, and national levels. Teachers unions are among the strongest unions left in the United States, and they frequently support Democratic candidates and liberal policies throughout the political system.
Are union fees for employees who choose not to join the union fair? What will be the consequences if these fees are struck down?
Guests:
Rebecca Friedrichs, a public school teacher in Orange County who has brought on this lawsuit, and objects to supporting the California Teachers Assn.
Terry Pell, an attorney and president of The Center for Individual Rights, one of the law firms representing Ms. Friedrichs
Eric Heins, President of the California Teachers Association
Vaccination opponents pledge referendum, court challenge to mandatory vaccination law
Gov. Jerry Brown today signed into law one of the toughest school vaccine restrictions in the country.
The law takes away the state’s personal belief exemption and will require almost all kids attending public and private schools to be vaccinated, leaving parents opposed to vaccinations with little clear recourse. Read the full story here.
Guests:
Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), pediatrician and co-sponsor of SB 277, the bill that Gov. Brown signed into law today
Christina Hildebrand, president and founder of A Voice for Choice, a group opposed to the bill.
A deeper dive into the Greece debt crisis
Greece’s financial turmoil continues. Greek banks are closed and it is anticipated that Greece will not pay the $1.73 billion due today to the International Monetary Fund, making it the biggest debt default by a country ever.
At this time, Greece owes $352.7 billion to other European countries. If Greece continues to go deeper into financial crisis, it could be the first country to leave the eurozone. While Greek banks are expected to stay shut until July 7th, what does Greece’s crisis mean for the world economy?
Guest:
Marcus Bensasson, Bloomberg’s economy reporter based in Athens
How the Internet has changed the genre of 'weird' news
Reality is often stranger than fiction, and that premise has driven the popularity of a genre known, for a lack of a better term, as weird news.
The category includes funny headlines, and news items ranging from the charmingly unexpected to the shockingly stupid to the plainly bizarre. In the piece, “Culture: Who, What, Where, When, Weird,” writer Dan Engber traces the history of the “weird news” phenomenon and looks at how the Internet has changed what the public considers odd and funny when it comes to the news.
Guest:
Dan Engber, science and culture writer for various publications. His piece, “Who, What, Where, When, Weird” is in the July/August edition of Pacific Standard magazine