Judge Leonard G. Brown III of the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas said in an order issued on May 23 that Pennsylvania’s Fair Share Fee Law is unconstitutional under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME. Brown’s order does not overturn the Pennsylvania law.
About the case
The plaintiffs, public school teachers Jane Ladley and Christopher Meier, filed a lawsuit in the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas on Sept. 18, 2014, against the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA). The Fairness Center, which represents the plaintiffs, said, “Ladley and Meier initially objected to paying the PSEA on religious grounds. Before the Janus ruling, PSEA officials could force teachers to pay union fees, but state law allowed religious objectors to send money to a charity of their choosing in lieu of paying fees to a union. But for years, PSEA officials rejected Ladley’s and Meier’s chosen charities and demanded that the money go to charities approved by the union.”
