NAPO DISMAYED BY U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION UNFAVORABLE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
JOHN H. ALDEN ET AL. V. STATE OF MAINE

WASHINGTON, DC - The National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) is very disappointed by the 5-4 vote of the U.S. Supreme Court in John H. Alden et al. vs. State of Maine. This ruling is against 64 Maine parole and probation officers, who had been denied overtime wages for working extra hours under §7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and who had sued the State to recover wages for this past work. Section 7 of the FLSA obligates the States to compensate covered employees at premium rates for hours worked in excess of the statutory threshold. Or, alternatively, allows the States to provide compensatory time under certain circumstances, with more restrictive provisions applicable to law enforcement employees.

The State of Maine invoked the doctrine of sovereign immunity to keep the merits of these officers’ claims from being heard, because it did not want to pay what these officers are owed, and the Supreme Court has acquiesced in denying these officers any court, be it state or federal--in which they could bring a lawsuit.

"Incredibly, a state government is violating federal law protecting public workers, and now the U.S. Supreme Court has just taken away a remedy in federal law to sue state governments in state court, nullifying a law of the land which protects public and private employees," said Robert T. Scully, NAPO’s executive director. "State employees throughout the United States, including law enforcement officers, will be denied any remedy to vindicate their rights under FLSA or any other Federal statute enacted under Congress’ Article 1 powers, laws which usually protect workers or members of the public. Thus, as has already happened in Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin, other states will be able to deny state employees their federal job safety and fair labor standard rights, to keep from having to pay these officers what is owed them under federal law. Regrettably, the Supreme Court has sent a signal for many more states to follow," continued Scully. "Now the Supreme Court is willing to sacrifice the officers’ rights on the altar of a glorified and exulted version of ‘States Rights.’ The ability of the states to nullify Federal laws by refusing to enforce them, an issue prior to the Civil War and during desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s, is once again at the forefront," continued Scully.

On January 6, 1999, NAPO submitted an extensive amicus curiae ("friend-of-the-court") brief in this case. NAPO’s members, including the Connecticut State Troopers, the Minnesota State Troopers, and the New York State Troopers, among other state employees, have a significant interest in the important issues of law before the Supreme Court and the impact of the Court’s decision on law enforcement officers.

Our amicus brief argued that state law enforcement officers have a constitutional congressionally enacted right to bring a lawsuit against the State of Maine in state court--the only available forum for them--, and that Maine’s refusal to hear those cases must be invalidated as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court’s decision has clearly established that state governments may now disregard the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, by asserting sovereign immunity to disregard and ignore the requirements of the FLSA concerning overtime pay and minimum wages, as applied to public employees. This unfavorable decision by the Supreme Court has the effect of indirectly reversing Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority, as applied to State employees. Therefore, in effect, the Supreme Court has affirmed the Maine court’s nullification of Congress’ constitutional authority under Article I to enact enforcement legislation that provides public employees with a remedy for violations of law. Because Garcia ruled that state sovereignty is not adversely infringed upon by the application of the FLSA provisions, the State of Maine invocation of sovereign immunity and its denial to its own State employees of a forum for a federal cause of action under the FLSA were not supported in law, until now. The Supreme Court’s decision is far-reaching, and NAPO is extremely disappointed by this outcome.

FOR A COPY OF THE BRIEF, CALL JODY COUSER AT THE NAPO OFFICE (202) 842-3560.

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