Washington • Overturning mistaken decisions is an occasional duty of the Supreme Court, whose noblest achievement was the protracted, piecemeal repudiation, with Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and subsequent decisions, of its 1896 ruling that segregated “separate but equal” public facilities were constitutional. This Monday, the court will hear oral arguments that probably will presage another overdue correction.
The issue is: Are Mark Janus’ First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and association (which entails the freedom not to associate) violated when government requires him, an employee, to pay “fair share” or “agency” fees to a private entity, a labor union, to which government has given exclusive power to represent him, although he chooses not to be a member?