Noah Feldman: Conservatives get to say what free speech means

In a blow to public-sector unions, the U.S. Supreme Court has used the First Amendment to reverse a 40-year-old precedent that allows the collection of fees from nonunion members who benefit from collective bargaining.The decision, six years in the making, shows how a conservative court can take a core constitutional value like freedom of speech and wield it as a tool to advance business interests. The outcome fits into a pattern with the Citizens United case — a pattern likely to be expan