United States v. William T. Taylor, United States of America v. Billy J. Florence

William Taylor and Billy Florence appeal their jury convictions for participating in a strike against the federal government in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1918 (3). We affirm.

I. FACTS

Taylor and Florence were president and vice president, respectively, of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) Local 572. They were employed by the Federal Aviation Administration as air traffic controllers in Tucson, Arizona. On August 3,1981, the national president of PATCO announced a nationwide strike. Of the forty-one Tucson air traffic controllers who failed to report to work during the strike, only Taylor and Florence were prosecuted. On August 4, 1981, the government issued criminal complaints against them. On August 25, a grand jury returned indictments charging Taylor with striking on August 8 and Florence with striking on August 3. The cases were consolidated for trial.

Defendants moved to dismiss the indictments because of infirmities in the charging statute and on the grounds of selective prosecution. The district court denied the motions and defendants proceeded to trial. After the jury returned guilty verdicts, the judge suspended imposition of sentence and…