Federal judge upholds city ban on political donations by cops

A FEDERAL JUDGE on Thursday upheld the city's ban on political giving by police officers and ruled that they could not contribute part of their paychecks to a political-action committee.

Siding with Mayor Nutter's administration, District Court Judge Juan Sanchez said in his decision that the Home Rule Charter provision banning cops from political activity is still constitutional, because of the Police Department's history of corruption and the potential for abuse if cops became more politically organized.

City Solicitor Shelley Smith said the decision was an important one for the city's integrity.

Before the ban, Smith said, "political power was exercised in a way that reflected political alignment of the police officers. . . . Over the 50 or 60 years that the charter has been in place, that kind of political power has not been evident."

The Philly police union, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, filed the initial complaint, arguing that the ban violated the officers' First and 14th Amendment rights.

Lodge 5 President John McNesby said Thursday that he plans to appeal the decision. "We're disappointed, but we're going to move forward," McNesby said. "We want to be treated like every other human being. If you have a right to contribute money, then you have a right to do it."

If the FOP wins on appeal, it could potentially form an enormously influential and well-funded political-action committee, given the thousands of officers who would be contributing.

The ban originally included firefighters as well, but that was overturned in a 2003 case.