Plaintiff Drops Out in NRA's Suit Against Chicago

On Tuesday, attorneys for the plaintiffs in the NRA's lawsuit against the new Chicago gun law, Benson et al v. Chicago et al, filed a motion to dismiss Raymond Sledge as one of the plaintiffs in the case. From the motion:

RULE 21 MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS PARTY PLAINTIFF

NOW COMES Plaintiff Raymond Sledge, by and through his attorneys, and respectfully moves the Court pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 21 to dismiss him as a party plaintiff to this civil action, with the case to continue as to all other Plaintiffs. By email dated October 15, 2010, Plaintiffs’ counsel sought from Defendants’ consent to this motion, but Defendants’ counsel has not responded to that request

Mr. Sledge was a plaintiff in both the original complaint and the amended complaint. According to paragraph 35 of the amended complaint:

Plaintiff Raymond Sledge is a 53-year-old, African-American male, and a resident of Chicago. He has been employed for the last sixteen years as a teaching assistant at a public elementary school in Chicago.

I don't know why Mr. Sledge requested to be dismissed as a plaintiff in the case. He was, however, the target of a mocking editorial in the New York Times back in July. The Chicago Gun Rights Examiner made note of that editorial here.

Given the workings of Mayor Daley and his machine one wonders if a none too subtle message was sent through an intermediary that if Mr. Sledge wanted to keep his job in the Chicago Public Schools he better drop out of the lawsuit. The unvarnished truth probably will never come out but one has to wonder.