No Decision Yet In Quinn Bill Case – Sign Up To Get Notified ASAP When Decision Issues
Today, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court did NOT issue a decision in Adams v. Boston, the case considering whether municipalities may cut Quinn Bill benefits to officers. Obviously, no news is not news, but I write because I am asked about a decision at least 5 times a day. If you are a union steward, or a member of the BPPA House of Representatives, I’ll bet you wish you only got asked 5 times a day.
But there are ways that you can know about the decision AS SOON AS IT IS ISSUED. Easiest would be to subscribe to Sandulli Grace’s e-mail notification process. Rest assured that I’m checking for a decision each day, and will post a notice of the decision as soon as I get it. Just go to http://sandulligraceonline.com and add your e-mail address in the box at the upper left of the page. By signing up, you will get notice of the decision, and will get periodic notices of other issues of import and interest to the union community.
The Supreme Judicial Court also issues a daily e-mail notification of all cases issued. You can also sign up for that at the Court’s website, http://www.massreports.com/ .
Finally, please note that there is no deadline for the Court’s consideration of the case. According to the Court’s website, “most opinions are released within 130 days of oral argument,” but some decisions can take longer. I had the opportunity to hear one of the justices speak last year on the inner workings of the SJC. I have to admit that I was humbled at the amount of work that each and every one of the seven justices puts into the many cases the court hears each year. The Court’s Justices (and their able staffs) are not sitting idly around. Rather, they are digesting thousands of pages of briefs, listening to hours and hours of arguments, and writing hundreds of pages of decisions each month. So, while we’d all like to have the decision, please know that the SJC isn’t sitting on the case, it is being carefully considered along with all of the other cases before our state’s highest court.