43
Rights to free speech upheld
YOUNGSTOWN
A state appeals court has deemed unconstitutional an Ohio law that it says infringed on First Amendment rights.
A state law that requires a public-employee labor union to give the employer at least 10 days advance written notice of its intent to picket imposes an unconstitutional infringement on free speech rights, the Youngstown-based 7th District Court of Appeals has ruled.
The ruling arose from peaceful informational picketing by the Mahoning County Education Association of Developmental Disabilities outside a Nov. 5, 2007, public meeting of the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities in Austintown, while the union was in negotiations for a new contract with the board.
The union represents teachers, teaching assistants, therapists, nurses, workshop specialists and secretaries employed by the board. The pickets carried signs saying “Settle now,” and “MEADD deserves a fair contract.”
The union appealed to the 7th District Court after the State Employment Relations Board and Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court upheld an unfair labor practice complaint by the DD board concerning the picketing.
A three-judge appellate court panel ruled unanimously on Thursday that the 10-day notice requirement “is not necessary to serve a compelling government interest and is not narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.”
The appeals panel also said: “Ten days is a long time to force a public employee and her union to wait to voice an opinion through an informational picket of a board meeting, especially since board meetings are few and far-between. And, it does not take 10 days to arrange security or prepare a response to publicity.”
The decision was written by Judge Joseph J. Vukovich, with Judges Gene Donofrio and Cheryl L. Waite concurring.