Thursday, January 11, 2007

Supreme Court Hears Foundation Case

Spent yesterday at the Supreme Court, for oral argument in Davenport v. Washington Education Association, a case being handled by one of my Foundation colleagues.

I won't comment on the merits here, in keeping with my policy. However, I did want to note that the Clerk of the Court, Maj. Gen. William Suter (USA, ret.) has to be one of the nicest people you can meet in Washington. Entirely helpful and friendly, and very approachable, he is simply a great guy. We arrived quite early to be sure of getting a seat, ending up as the first in the lawyers' line, and had an opportunity to greet him. He came over, chatted jovially, and did his best to make sure that we felt welcome. Others to whom I have mentioned this have confirmed this impression.

As to the coverage of the case, you can make your own judgments.

Emory '89L classmate Howard Bashman runs down some of the coverage here, here, and here.

WorkplaceProfBlog offers a prediction --- confirming most of my impressions --- here.

And in perhaps the best title and end line, Dahlia Litwick discusses the case on Slate.com. Her title, "Just Say No Twice," is priceless, but her last line, which questions the union position that nonmembers should be required to object to paying for politics after they've already refused to become union members, may be the single best commentary on the union's argument in the case:
[I]t's certainly not illogical to assume that if that cute freshman from your Russian-lit class already told you she didn't want to go on a date with you, it's a pretty safe bet she doesn't want to have sex with you, either.

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