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in the Land; no other appeals or reviews are available to a litigant. Finally, it sets appropriate limits on democratic government by ensuring that popular majorities cannot pass laws that harm and/or take undue advantage of un- popular minorities. In essence, the Supreme Court seeks to make certain that the ever-changing views of a majority do not undermine the fundamental values and principals of the U.S. Unfortunately, often times, the composition of the Supreme Court can tilt those views ever so slightly.
Which brings us to today. With Justice Scalia’s seat cur- rently vacant, the balance of Justices is split down the mid- dle. Four Justices were appointed by a Republican presi- dent; four by a Democrat. Generally, though not always, the Democrat-appointed Justices are considered to be lib- eral, while the Republican-appointed Justices are consid- ered to be conservative. However, the Justices should only be interpreting the law, not making the law – as many on both sides of the aisle claim they have done.
The Supreme Court recently issued a high-profile public sector union decision. In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, teacher Rebecca Friedrichs from California challenged the practices of public unions. Specifically, the Supreme Court was asked to determine whether requiring Friedrichs to pay mandatory dues for union activities vio- lated the First Amendment.
Friedrichs argued that she should not have to pay any union dues, since any forced payment would violate her First Amendment right to free speech. Instead, she would expect the Union to represent her (and other freeloaders)
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re-election, however; it created a firestorm within the media and throughout the public. Before the release of the video, news outlets were reporting about the graphic nature of the video and the Mayor’s attempts to conceal it from the public. The case took on a life of its own and the city was ready to explode by the time the video was released.
Another politician was involved in a heated re-election. She, like everyone else, knew the city was a pressure cook- er waiting for the release of the video. And like her political counterpoint, the Mayor, she did what she thought was best for her political future. She overcharged a case.
Of course we all know now that tactic backfired on the State’s Attorney and ironically killed her in the election. The self-serving decisions of two politicians contributed to nationwide protests and worldwide attention. What is more, a husband and a father is facing a minimum of 45 years in the IDOC partially because of politicians’ attempts at self-preservation. Collateral damage in the game of pol- itics – how could the Task Force ignore these issues?
I doubt the Task Force is aware of the recent scientific study that contradicts most of its investigation’s findings. Not only did the study conclude that police officers were not racist, a recent scientific study from Washington State University-Spokane found that officers were 25 times less
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at no cost. Many believed that this case, if decided unjust- ly, eventually would lead to attacks on all unions’ abilities to require dues payments, including those in Illinois.
Currently, it is settled that public employees who are not members of a union cannot be required to pay fees that a union would use for political activity. However, under a controlling 1977 Supreme Court case known as Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, these “non-members,” none- theless, can be required to pay a “fair share” or “agency” fee to cover the union’s cost of negotiating a contract cov- ering all the public employees. The question the Justices recently addressed was whether requiring an objecting employee to pay even this more limited fee violates the First Amendment. In other words, Friedrichs asked the Supreme Court to overturn Abood v. Detroit Board of Ed- ucation.
Fortunately, on March 29, as many legal scholars pre- dicted, the Court issued a 4-4 decision, split along party lines. In the case of a split – or tie vote – the lower court’s ruling stands. In this case, it meant that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal decision remains the controlling law in that area, an area that includes California, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana and Or- egon. The ruling marks a temporary victory for unions, since the Ninth Circuit previously ruled against Friedrichs, and in favor of the Union. Accordingly, how and when the empty Supreme Court seat gets filled can have a signifi- cant impact on union members’ rights if current laws and practices face similar challenges in the future. d
likely to erroneously shoot unarmed black suspects than they were unarmed whites. What is more, the study found that officers hesitated significantly longer before shooting armed suspects who were black, compared to armed sus- pects who were white or Hispanic.
Doctor Lois James, a research assistant professor of criminology with the University’s Department of Crimi- nal Justice, who headed the study opined, “This research found that participants displayed significant bias favoring black suspects,” in their shooting decisions.
The conclusions cited in this study were based upon ex- tensive research and exhaustive studies: the polar oppo- site of the work done by the Task Force. Officers stung by the accusations might conclude that the Task Force was used by the Mayor and was nothing more than a rubber stamp. Of course these officers would never make such ac- cusations without a thorough investigation and substan- tial proof. They have too much class. d
Dan Herbert is a former Chicago Police Officer, Cook Coun-
ty Prosecutor and in-house attorney for the Fraternal Order of Police, Chicago Lodge #7. He is the founding member of The Law Offices of Daniel Q. Herbert and Associates.