9, 2:21 PM EDT
Ohio judge tells staff to quit union seeking union law repeal, cites
need for impartiality
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ZANESVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- A county judge in eastern Ohio has ordered
members of his staff to quit a police union that supports repealing the
state's new law limiting the union rights of public workers.
The head of the local police union in Zanesville says Judge Mark
Fleegle's order is unfair and has questioned whether it is constitutional.
The judge's directive last month to leave the local Fraternal Order of
Police covers nine court staffers, including probation officers, FOP
Zane Lodge No. 5 president Tom Porter has said.
Fleegle, of Muskingum County Common Pleas Court, said that the
collective bargaining law was not the sole issue behind his order, but
that he is concerned that a matter related to the law could come before
his court, the Times Recorder of Zanesville reported.
Fleegle said that if the issue ends up in his courtroom, he wants his
employees to be "completely impartial," the newspaper reported.
Porter, president of the FOP's Zane Lodge No. 5, has said the order came
a week after the lodge voted to support a referendum to repeal Senate
Bill 5 limiting public employees' collective-bargaining rights.
The judge did not immediately return calls Thursday from The Associated
Press.
"We're still hoping to work with the judge, but we believe this order of
his is unconstitutional," Porter told The Columbus Dispatch. "We've
heard from attorneys and officials with other courts who don't think he
can do this."
The president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio told the Columbus
newspaper that the state group is ready to stand behind its Zanesville
members, but that they will have to decide how they want to handle the
issue.
The explanation that the judge is concerned about employees'
impartiality is "laughable," state FOP president Jay McDonald said.
"If the judge requires his employees to not be involved in anything that
might end up in his courtroom, he may as well require them to live in a
bubble," McDonald said.
The local union's telephone number was not immediately available
Thursday, and Porter did not immediately respond to messages left at the
police department and on his e-mail.
Christine Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union
of Ohio, said the FOP should contact the ACLU and that she believes the
judge's conduct violated employees' First Amendment rights, the Dispatch
reported.
Link told the AP on Thursday she could not comment on whether the ACLU
would become involved in the case but fully supports any decision the
union makes. The ACLU cannot comment on potential litigation, she said.
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