90.5 WESA: “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could decide who gets more of a say in how the Allegheny County Jail is run: the voters, or the people who work in it.

Observers say the outcome could have lasting ramifications for the bargaining rights of public employees — and for the power of voter referendums.

The high court’s seven justices agreed last week to take up an appeal filed by the Allegheny County Jail corrections officers’ union, the latest round in a legal fight stemming from a 2021 ballot initiative. Voters overwhelmingly approved the referendum, which sharply limited the use of solitary confinement and banned restraint chairs, leg shackles, and chemical agents like pepper spray. Guards argue the change has made their workplace more dangerous and are asking the court to overturn it, but advocates warn that would undermine the voters’ will and hamper the democratic process.

‘We should all sit up and take notice when the public has faced a civic question … and then we find it under challenge — not because of there being any irregularities in the vote or anything like that, but because somebody doesn’t like the result,’ said University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris.”

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