Janus and the Movement Dissent

Abstract

This paper examines Justice Kagan’s 2018 dissent in Janus v. AFSCME to illustrate how incisive, bold, and creative dissents can bolster ordinary citizens seeking constitutional change. Using the tools of intellectual history, the paper shows that the dissent created a dialogic relationship between the Supreme Court and labor activists and liberal academics. It then explores how progressive commentators, union leaders, politicians, and workers deployed the Janus dissent in political and discursive organizing that resisted the Court’s constitutional and economic visions. The paper concludes by reflecting on the promise of movement dissents in channeling constitutional cynicism and alienation into constitutional construction.