Peter Phipps
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Prior to his confirmation, Peter Phipps served in a variety of roles at the Department of Justice. During his time there, he fought against reproductive rights and LGBTQ equality. He also represented the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the landmark case Thompson v. United States HUD, in which the court held HUD violated the Fair Housing Act through its practice of what the Legal Defense Fund described as “unfairly concentrating African-American public housing residents in the most impoverished, segregated areas of Baltimore City.” Since his appointment to the Third Circuit, Phipps has continued to uphold Trump Administration principles. He dissented from a panel decision that held that public-sector unions do not have to pay back fees collected from nonmembers before the Supreme Court overturned a 40-year precedent in Janus v. AFSCME. The majority, consistent with every other court that has ruled on the issue, held that the union relied in “good faith” on the longstanding Supreme Court precedent.
After being confirmed to the Third Circuit, Phipps in Diamond v. Pennsylvania State Education Association dissented from a panel decision that held that public-sector unions do not have to pay back fees collected from nonmembers before the Supreme Court overturned a 40 year precedent in Janus v. AFSCME. The majority, consistent with every other court that had ruled on the issue, held that the union relied in “good faith” on the longstanding Supreme Court precedent. He also dissented from a ruling that Pittsburgh police officers should not be granted qualified immunity for body-slamming and tasing a pair of teenaged brothers who they (wrongly) suspected of possessing synthetic marijuana.
The Alliance for Justice strongly opposes the consideration of Peter Phipps for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
