A federal appeals court rejected a healthcare union’s request that the judges reconsider their decision upholding the right of nurses to not be required to fund the labor group’s political lobbying. The United Nurses and Allied Professionals (UNAP) union had asked the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to reconsider its September 2020 ruling upholding Rhode Island nurse Jeannette Geary’s right not to be charged assessments used to cover the costs of lobbying and other political activities. In its September decision, the judges, including former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, said “we see no convincing argument that legislative lobbying is not a ‘political’ activity’” for which Geary cannot be forced to fund. The September decision also upheld the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling in Geary’s favor, saying the board was correct that Supreme Court precedent dictated that nonmembers could never be required to fund union lobbying. …