Four of the 15 pickets arrested during the Stark County District Library strike pleaded no contest September 19 to disorderly conduct rather than contest the original charge of criminal trespassing.
The employees were arrested August 16 when they blocked the entrance to the main library. After the strike ended August 27, the library requested that the charges be dropped, but City Prosecutor Frank Forchione and four Canton municipal court judges agreed that the act of civil disobedience could not be dismissed, the Canton Repository reported September 19.
“We wanted to be sympathetic and fair to the workers” while maintaining the integrity of the justice system, Forchione told the Canton municipal judge when he recommended the reduced charge. Forchione also requested that the defendants not be fined and that the conviction be expunged from their record after one year.
The remaining 11 pickets will also plead no contest, the union attorney said.
Posted September 25, 2000.