Maybe we should set aside a separate holding area on Rikers Island for union leaders who upend the criminal-justice system for their own crass purposes.
Exhibit A is Norman Seabrook, the head of the Corrections Officers Benevolent Association. Seabrook is not too happy because two of his guards, Kevin Gilkes and Louis Pinto, are now on trial in The Bronx on charges related to the beating of a prisoner last year. Gilkes is accused of beating up the prisoner; Pinto of standing by and allowing it to happen; and both of trying to cover up the beat-down by falsifying records.
So what does their union boss do? On Monday he grounded 44 buses that move inmates from Rikers to courts around the city by ordering his members not to drive them. As a result, barely 10 percent of Rikers inmates made it to their court appearances. On Tuesday, fewer than a third of the buses scheduled for criminal court arrived.
Just to clear up what’s going on here: Two corrections officers are now on trial for a serious crime. In response, the leader of their union decides to disrupt the city’s courts. In so doing, he denies justice to individuals, including those who spent an extra night on Rikers because they didn’t make their appearance before a judge.
We are not sure which part of the law Seabrook violated. Maybe it’s the Taylor Law, which delineates the rights and responsibilities of unionized public employees. What is beyond doubt is that, in an effort to intimidate, Seabrook succeeded in holding hostage New York’s justice system — and no city can let such an outrage stand without inviting more of the same.