Judge Taft-Carter orders sides into mediation in pension suit
December 18th, 2012 at 11:15 am by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes
By Tim White and Ted Nesi
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – R.I. Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter ordered mediation talks on Tuesday to seek a resolution to the union lawsuit challenging Rhode Island’s landmark state pension overhaul.
Tags: pensions, raimondo-chafee
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
RI’s breach of pension contracts was outright theft . . . that cannot be negotiated.
COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS CONFIRMS COLORADO PERA PUBLIC PENSION COLA BENEFITS AS CONTRACTUAL.
The Colorado Court of Appeals has reversed and remanded an initial District Court ruling that denied the contractual status of public pension COLAs in Colorado. The Court of Appeals confirmed that Colorado PERA pension COLA benefits are a contractual obligation of the pension plan Colorado PERA and its affiliated public employers. A huge victory for public sector retirees in Colorado! The Colorado Legislature may not breach its contracts and push taxpayer obligations onto the backs of a small group of elderly pensioners.
The lawsuit is continuing. Support pension rights in the U.S. by contributing at saveperacola.com. Friend Save Pera Cola on Facebook!
In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court (in U.S. Trust Co, 431 U.S.) clarified that state attempts to impair their own contracts, ESPECIALLY FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS, were subject to greater scrutiny and very little deference because the STATE’S SELF-INTEREST IS AT STAKE. As the court bluntly stated:
“A governmental entity can always find a use for extra money, especially when taxes do not have to be raised. If a state could reduce its financial obligations whenever it wanted to spend the money for what it regarded as an important public purpose, the Contract Clause would provide no protection at all . . . Thus, a state cannot refuse to meet its legitimate financial obligations simply because it would prefer to spend the money to promote the public good rather than the private welfare of its creditors.”
How can the state’s representative to the mediation bind the legislature to any settlement?
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