View Comments A federal judge has temporarily blocked a new state law, set to take effect Thursday, that Indiana teachers unions say unfairly targets teachers and makes it harder for unions to collect dues. The local unions representing Anderson, Avon and Martinsville school districts and the teachers that lead them filed a lawsuit two weeks ago in Indiana's federal Southern District court challenging Senate Enrolled Act 251. The law would set out a new process for the collection of teachers union dues, requiring teachers to annually complete a three-step process to have union dues deducted from their paychecks. U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday based on teachers' claims that the law violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and that it impairs existing contractual agreements between school corporations, which have agreements to withdraw dues from teachers paychecks, and their teachers and unions. Barker rejected a third claim, that the law violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of association.