Unions Claim Victory in 4-4 Supreme Court Tie: Cleveland Area Reaction

The article, “Unions Claim Victory in 4-4 Supreme Court Tie: Cleveland Area Reaction,” featured on Clevland.com, discussed why the 4-4 tie in Tuesday's U.S. Supreme Court vote was a major victory for unions.

Sarah Moore weighed in on the case.

She said Tuesday's opinion has implications for Ohio, since it is among the states where public sector unions can require "fair share" fees.

"The public sector unions in 20 states literally escaped by the skin of their teeth," she said. "It was very clear from Justice Scalia's questioning during the January 2016 oral argument that he was aligned with overturning the 1977 decision in Abood and reversing the circuit court in California.

"Scalia really hit it on the head when he said, 'The problem is that everything collectively bargained within the government is within the political sphere almost by definition'," she said, referencing some of Scalia's comments from the oral argument.

Sarah predicted that Tuesday's 4-4 tie would not be the last challenge to Abood.

"But for Scalia's untimely death, I think that we would have been looking at a different decision," she said. "It will be very interesting to see who ends up in Scalia's seat. "Ultimately, the case will be framed again."

To read the full article, please visit Cleveland.com.