Collective bargaining case brings out ex-chief justice

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- If the Missouri Constitution didn't require state judges to retire at age 70, it's possible former Supreme Court Judge Charles B. Blackmar would still be on the high court bench.

"I might very well be, yes," said Blackmar, who currently lives in semi-retirement in Jefferson City. "I probably would have stayed at least a few years longer."

Blackmar, now 80, returns to the Supreme Court as a special judge on Nov. 6 for a potentially landmark case that could result in the court reversing its 55-year-old constitutional interpretation that denies collective bargaining rights to public sector employees.

The case is brought by two former Jefferson City School District employees and their union representative who claim the district violated their right to bargain collectively. In a string of decisions since 1947, the court has consistently ruled that the Missouri Constitution's guarantee of collective bargaining rights applies only to private sector workers.

Opponents of collective bargaining for government employees say it would reduce the power of elected officials to make labor decisions and potentially increase costs to taxpayers.

Four judges on the court's regular seven-member roster have recused themselves from the case for various, undisclosed conflicts of interest. Sitting out are Democratic appointee Ronnie L. White and all three of the court's Republican appointees -- Duane Benton, William Ray Price Jr. and Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., the chief justice.

The ranking judge left on the court, Democratic appointee Michael A. Wolff, picked the four special judges who will fill the vacancies for this case.

Three, including Blackmar, were named to the bench by Republican governors. The others are Judge John E. Parrish of the Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District in Springfield and St. Louis City Circuit Court Judge Michael B. Calvin, who, incidentally was a law student of Blackmar's at St. Louis University. The fourth spot goes to St. Louis County Associate Circuit Court Judge Gloria Clark Reno, a Democratic appointee.

Blackmar was named to the Supreme Court by Republican Gov. Kit Bond in 1982 and served until he reached the mandatory retirement age in 1992. Blackmar was chief justice from July 1989 through June 1991.

After leaving the high court, Blackmar took senior judge status and occasionally has been called onto preside over trials at the circuit court level, as well as filling vacancies on individual cases before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. However, Blackmar said it has been several years since he has joined the high court for a case.

"I try to help the judicial system out as needed," Blackmar said. "The chief justice has given me several assignments."

For a time after departing from the bench, Blackmar helped resolved labor disputes as an arbitrator for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. That background could come in handy as the Supreme Court decides the upcoming case.

That case is Thruston, et al, v. Jefferson City School District.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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