Judge Preska Ends 37 Years of Teamsters Oversight After 1989 Racketeering Case
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 4
Judge Preska Ends 37 Years of Teamsters Oversight After 1989 Racketeering Case
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 4
Summary
Thursday’s order by Judge Loretta Preska released the Teamsters from federal supervision, closing a court-enforced cleanup that began with a 1989 racketeering settlement.
Prosecutors and the union jointly argued the original reason for oversight had ended, saying organized-crime influence inside the union had been rooted out.
Sean O’Brien, re-elected in June, pushed to end the remaining external controls after the Teamsters and Justice Department asked the court that week to sunset them.
Rank-and-file members urged Preska to keep an independent disciplinary body, citing concerns about O’Brien’s power, but she said those objections did not relate to the corruption allegations behind the consent order.
The ruling ends a decades-long federal role that had already been scaled back under a 2015 revision giving the union increasing control over its internal affairs.