The landmark US Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME represented a real victory for the Illinois Policy Institute and its litigation partner, the Liberty Justice Center. The Institute garnered more than 500 media hits related to Janus v. AFSCME during the week of the ruling, with appearances in the Chicago Tribune and on Fox Business Network and CBS, ABC, and Fox stations across the country.

The network news hits were the result of groundbreaking policy research from the Institute’s labor expert and staff attorney Mailee Smith, who proved that government unions are inherently political. Her research found that in the last 10 years, 25 percent of AFSCME headquarters’ spending went to political activities and lobbying, while just 21 percent was spent on representational activities.

Even the union-owned Chicago Sun-Times conceded that “The Janus win could increase the political and policy influence of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute and its affiliated Liberty Justice Center, which provided Janus with the legal firepower needed to kick the case up to the Supreme Court. This is their biggest policy win to date.”