Republican conventiion in Philadelphia might end up making the Chicago Dem Convention look like a tea party:
interactive.wsj.com
December 30, 1999
Philadelphia's Strange Justice
TV news crews filmed Philadelphia Teamsters viciously beating anti-Clinton protesters during a Presidential visit last year. After much delay, two Teamsters were ultimately convicted of the assault, which witnesses claimed was incited by local Teamster boss John Morris.
Last month, the new national Teamsters office, headed by James P. Hoffa, ousted Mr. Morris, and in a raid on his offices discovered a cache of shotguns, stun guns, helmets and pepper spray that dissident members said Mr. Morris was assembling to disrupt the coming Republican National Convention. The weapons were paid for with $700,000 in union funds.
Despite all this, a federal judge has just reinstated Mr. Morris, ruling that the national Teamsters failed to show that an "emergency" existed justifying his removal.
Philadelphia, the site of next summer's GOP convention, operates according to what even Ed Rendell, its departing mayor, concedes is sometimes "strange justice." Mr. Rendell, a former prosecutor, says that local elected judges are often beholden to the unions that push their candidacies. He told us prosecutors can find it difficult to win convictions in those union-violence trials in which the judge alone rules on guilt or innocence.
Federal District Judge John R. Padova wasn't elected, and no one suggests that he has been unduly influenced. But his bizarre ruling could embolden the more brazen elements of Philadelphia labor to think they have little to fear from aggressive tactics during the GOP convention. Judge Padova, appointed by President Bush, was recommended for the bench by GOP Senator Arlen Specter, who has enjoyed local Teamster support and been careful not to cross them.
One reason for all this temerity is that Mr. Morris's fearsome 44-year reign as head of the local Teamsters has made him a big kahuna in local politics. Time magazine noted he has "openly used violence and threats against employers and fellow unionists alike." In 1995, a federal court found his union in civil contempt of an injunction barring it from using violence on picket lines.
Jim Smith, a former No. 2 official at Mr. Morris's local, says of his ex-boss: "I'm scared for me, I'm scared for my family. He is capable of anything." He and other members testified before Judge Padova that Mr. Morris had created a climate of fear and intimidation.
The national Teamsters office says it took over the Morris local after 11 members complained that he had had them fired from their jobs after they challenged his leadership.
Judge Padova was careful not to decide on the validity of any of the charges against Mr. Morris. He ruled that the dissident members had filed "an unsubstantiated report" and that he hadn't seen "any evidence" that anyone "would suffer irreparable harm if a preliminary injunction" reinstating Mr. Morris was issued.
Don Adams, on the other hand, believes Mr. Morris is a continuing threat. Mr. Adams is a teacher who was one of the victims of last year's Teamster beating. District Attorney Lynne Abraham's office charged him with assault, and it took a jury to issue Mr. Adams a swift acquittal. This month, he asked the local U.S. Attorney to circumvent Ms. Abraham's office and prosecute Mr. Morris for instigating violence against him and his sister, a former probation officer. He notes that police officer Charles Taylor has testified that Mr. Morris himself engaged in the "pushing and shoving" of police officers, but has never been charged.
A three-member federal panel that has oversight control over the entire Teamsters union will hold a hearing on Wednesday to determine if a takeover of Mr. Morris's local is justified. We hope they receive a full presentation of the evidence. If they don't, next summer's GOP convention could see Philadelphia officials just as surprised as Seattle's leaders were at what determined demonstrators in the streets are capable of.
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