Justice Isn’t Blind. It’s Partisan

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/24/justice-isnt-blind-its-partisan/

AFL-CIO Legal Counsel William Lurye describes a new AFL-CIO report that finds Republican-controlled courts regularly rule against workers’ rights.

The AFL-CIO has prepared a new report that examines the impact of Republican-controlled federal Courts of Appeals on unions and workers from 2001 through this year. Of the 109 cases workers and their unions won before the anti-worker National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Courts of Appeals refused to enforce the NLRB’s decision in 88 of them. A copy of the report, The Impact of Republican-Appointed Judges: The Courts of Appeals’ Mistreatment of Union and Worker Success Before the NLRB, is available here.

Some points in the report are particularly noteworthy:


· Thirty-three national unions and their affiliates had victories overturned by the federal appeals court. The cases and unions affected are identified in Appendix A to the report.

· Nearly 25 percent of these overturned cases involved union election victories. Another 25 percent involved discharged workers and refusals to reinstate strikers. These types of decisions make it far more difficult for workers to form unions.

· Only two federal appeals courts include a majority of Democratic appointees: the 2nd Circuit, which covers New York and Connecticut, and the 9th Circuit, which covers California, Oregon and Washington State. These courts refused to enforce only five of the 109 decisions identified. The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, however, which is heavily weighted with Republican appointees, denied enforcement 47 times. According to the NLRB’s Annual Report, the District of Columbia Circuit enforced only 60 percent of its decisions for its fiscal year ending September 2006.

Additionally, the AFL-CIO reviewed the records of seven judges nominated by Bush whom the federation actively opposed but were confirmed by the Senate. Unlike any other job, a federal judge is appointed for life.

The findings show that these judges have exhibited an anti-worker bias since they became judges. Their anti-worker decisions have included denying death benefits to the widows of coal miners, ruling against workers seeking health care benefits and making it more difficult for workers to prove that their employer has taken an unlawful action against them.

The report shows the next president will have a tremendous impact on the makeup of the appeals courts, and through those appointments, unions and workers. A Democrat could very quickly swing to a progressive view in the traditionally conservative 4th Circuit (which covers Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina); the 6th Circuit (covering Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee); the 1st Circuit (covering Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine); and the 11th Circuit (covering Florida, Georgia and Alabama). These courts currently are evenly split between Democratic and Republican appointees or close to an even split. Appendix D to the report shows the current composition of the courts.

The AFL-CIO is currently working to defeat the confirmation of ant-worker judges, and grassroots support in these efforts is always important. Letters, e-mail messages or phone messages sent to your home state senator can be helpful in showing that workers care about the courts, and who sits in judgment of the rights of workers.

[ColbertWatcher]

1. And this is why...

...we cannot have a GOP in the WH.

Not with Souter and Kennedy and Ginsberg on the verge of retiring.

Can every Democratic voter recognize this?

Thank you for this article.