The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Nominate-best-2010

Totten prosecutor: no vendetta

Yesterday I relayed some comments from Maria Cramer, the Globe reporter who chaired the trial board that recently expelled Dan Totten as head of the Boston Newspaper Guild, the paper's largest union. Cramer took vigorous issue with the notion that Totten's expulsion was payback for the way he handled negotiations with the New York Times Co. earlier this year.

A few minutes ago, I spoke with Sean Murphy, the Globe reporter who prosecuted Totten in the just-concluded union trial. He, too, insists that the payback charge is bogus--along with the notion that, because some of the parties involved in the trial supported earlier efforts to recall Totten as union head, he couldn't get a fair hearing.

"This was a prosecution, not a persecution," Murphy says. "Mr. Totten was a not the victim of a political vendetta. He was a victim of his own bad judgment. 

"I was known to be a 'No' vote"--i.e., on the contract concessions requested by the Times Co. and opposed by Totten--"on both contract proposals," Murphy continues. "I spoke in union halls in favor of supporting the negotiating committee, which was chaired by Mr. Totten. I declined to engage in the advancement of any recall effort; I didn't think that was the best choice. I attended a meeting where a recall was discussed, but I'd only been told about that meeting 5 minutes beforehand--because everyone understood that I wasn't a recall supporter. Mr. Totten was at that meeting. He knows I was the one that spoke against a recall, or at least said we should think before we act, and expressed great skepticism.  

"The [trial] process that we went through," adds Murphy, "was done exactly by the book. It was done for the benefit of the membership, to determine exactly what happened. And it was a group of jurors selected at random who made the final decision on guilt and punishment.... For whatever it's worth, I have no personal animosity toward Mr. Totten I was asked to do a job as prosecutor, and I agreed and did it. It was a transparent and plainly fair process." 

  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article

4 Comments

  • Farnkoff said:

    I have to admit- the whole idea of someone being tried in a private kangaroo court is pretty creepy. Do a lot of unions have pseudo-legal processes like this, with ordinary members suddenly becoming "judges" and "prosecutors" and so forth? Fascinating stuff.

    December 4, 2009 2:17 PM
  • Anon said:

    Don't know what you find "creepy" or "kangaroo" about a union or any other organization having a process to remove an official who does something wrong. How would you prefer that they do it?

    December 4, 2009 3:58 PM
  • Farnkoff said:

    You're right, anon. I should not have categorized it like that.

    I just never heard of anything like this before. My initial impression was that, if someone is accused of embezzlement or whatever, it should probably be handled by a regular criminal court, with all access to counsel, rules of evidence, the need to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and so forth. But this is probably as good a method as any for internal discipline in an organization.

    December 4, 2009 9:46 PM
  • captain america said:

    When there are questionable charaters on the governing boared questionable delegates in the union, do you really think Dan Totten got a fair trial?

    December 6, 2009 8:24 PM

Leave a Comment

Login | Not a member yet? Click here to Join

(required)  
(optional)
(required)  
Follow the Phoenix
  • newsletter
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • youtube
  • rss
All Blogs
Related Articles

1001_mayer_list
Boston Phoenix
Brave new Globe?
Published 1/29/2010 by ADAM REILLY
With a new publisher and a bevy of edit changes, is the Boston Globe  poised for a new chapter?

SHORT012910_Extra_list
Boston Phoenix
Review: Extraordinary Measures
Published 1/29/2010 by TOM MEEK
The business of who lives and who dies

more by Adam Reilly
Brave new Globe? | January 29, 2010
Covering a tragedy | January 22, 2010
The Ayla Brown effect | January 13, 2010
Palin + Fox: who wins? | January 11, 2010
Feds take ex-Globe union head to task | January 11, 2010

 See all articles by: Adam Reilly

ADVERTISEMENT
Latest Comments
A Plea To Ignore O'Keefe - The removal of federal ACORN funding demonstrated that ACORN is so politically insignificant that it...

By David S. Bernstein on 01-29-2010 in Talking Politics

A Plea To Ignore O'Keefe - If you think that giving advice on how to continue prostituting out what these members thought were a...

By Jennifer Wachowski on 01-29-2010 in Talking Politics

A Plea To Ignore O'Keefe - I'm not sure I follow your logic in what you're saying. Regardless of the fact that O'Keefe's...

By The Centrist on 01-29-2010 in Talking Politics

A Plea To Ignore O'Keefe - Please, please, James O'Keefe is one arrogant who believes he's above the law. His intended motive is...

By Janey08 on 01-29-2010 in Talking Politics

A Plea To Ignore O'Keefe - "A) organized into largely autonomous chapters, some of which are run more competently than others...

By Dave, Des Moines, IA on 01-29-2010 in Talking Politics

Latest Comments from Dont Quote Me
Most Viewed
VIDEO: Amanda Palmer, Boston Pops usher in 2010 with cover of Lady Gaga's "Pokerface"
VIDEO: Boston's first rock of 2010 with the Waltham, the Lyres, and Kristin Hersh
Ticket On-Sale Alert: Wilco, Air, Owl City, Puscifer, and more
Julian Casablancas on what's wrong with his solo record. Plus: the 76th bullshit Britney story of 2009
HOMEWORK: Assignment #4: Ryan Walsh of Hallelujah the Hills
MP3: Casey Dienel goes Gaga on White Hinterland's new Kairos
MP3 of the Week: Conservative Man, "The Heist"
Most Viewed from Dont Quote Me
Search Blogs
 
Dont Quote Me Archives
Monday, February 01, 2010  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
thePhoenix.com
Phoenix Media/Communications Group
Copyright © 2010 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group