What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals.
Intervenors who participated as parties at the courts of appeals should be counted as either appellants or respondents when it can be determined whose position they supported. For example, if there were two plaintiffs who lost in district court, appealed, and were joined by four intervenors who also asked the court of appeals to reverse the district court, the number of appellants should be coded as six.
In some cases there is some confusion over who should be listed as the appellant and who as the respondent. This confusion is primarily the result of the presence of multiple docket numbers consolidated into a single appeal that is disposed of by a single opinion. Most frequently, this occurs when there are cross appeals and/or when one litigant sued (or was sued by) multiple litigants that were originally filed in district court as separate actions. The coding rule followed in such cases should be to go strictly by the designation provided in the title of the case. The first person listed in the title as the appellant should be coded as the appellant even if they subsequently appeared in a second docket number as the respondent and regardless of who was characterized as the appellant in the opinion.
To clarify the coding conventions, consider the following hypothetical case in which the US Justice Department sues a labor union to strike down a racially discriminatory seniority system and the corporation (siding with the position of its union) simultaneously sues the government to get an injunction to block enforcement of the relevant civil rights law. From a district court decision that consolidated the two suits and declared the seniority system illegal but refused to impose financial penalties on the union, the corporation appeals and the government and union file cross appeals from the decision in the suit brought by the government. Assume the case was listed in the Federal Reporter as follows:
United States of America,
Plaintiff, Appellant
v
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendant, Appellee.
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendants, Cross-appellants
v
United States of America.
Widgets, Inc. & Susan Kuersten Sheehan, President & Chairman
of the Board
Plaintiff, Appellants,
v
United States of America,
Defendant, Appellee.
This case should be coded as follows:Appellant = United States, Respondents = International Brotherhood of Widget Workers Widgets, Inc., Total number of appellants = 1, Number of appellants that fall into the category "the federal government, its agencies, and officials" = 1, Total number of respondents = 3, Number of respondents that fall into the category "private business and its executives" = 2, Number of respondents that fall into the category "groups and associations" = 1.
Your task is to identify the state of the first listed state or local government agency that is an appellant.

Opinion:
Bruce MONKS and Michael Smigulec, Plaintiffs, Frederick Balkwill; Margo Balkwill; and the Estate of Leo Russ, by Serena Russ, Personal Representative, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Carl MARLINGA, in his capacity as Prosecuting Attorney for Macomb County; and the Macomb County Board of Commissioners, Defendants-Appellees.
No. 90-1323.
United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.
Argued Dec. 3, 1990.
Decided Jan. 8, 1991.
Rehearing Denied Feb. 6, 1991.
Glen N. Lenhoff, David A. Wecker (argued), Flint, Mich., for plaintiffs-appellants.
Jeffrey G. Heuer, Melanie T. LaFave (argued), Jennifer Anderson, Jaffe, Snider, Raitt & Heuer, Detroit, Mich., George E. Brumbaugh, Jr., County of Macomb, Asst. Corp. Counsel, Mt. Clemens, Mich., for defendants-appellees.
Before MARTIN and NELSON, Circuit Judges, and BROWN, Senior Circuit Judge.
PER CURIAM.
Appellants Frederick Balkwill, Margo Balkwill, and the Estate of Leo Russ appeal four rulings of the district court: (1) the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of the appellants’ claim that Carl Marlinga discharged the Balkwills and Russ “in substantial part” because they were “active in union activities,” (2) the grant of summary judgment against appellants on their claim that Marlinga discharged them “in substantial part” because of their political affiliations, (3) the determination that Marlinga is entitled to qualified immunity respecting the political affiliation claims, and (4) the dismissal of the Balkwills’ slander claim as untimely. 732 F.Supp. 749. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the district court.
The Balkwills and Russ served as assistant prosecutors under Macomb County’s former prosecutor, George Parris. Marlin-ga defeated Parris in a hotly contested Democratic primary race in 1984. After winning the general election, Marlinga was sworn in as the new Macomb County prosecutor. Under Michigan law, the employment as assistant prosecutors automatically terminated upon Marlinga’s assuming office. Mich.Comp.Laws Ann. § 49.33. Marlinga did not reappoint the Balkwills and Russ, and the district court correctly determined this to be a “constructive discharge.” Christian v. Belcher, 888 F.2d 410, 416 (6th Cir.1989) (citing Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507, 512 n. 6, 100 S.Ct. 1287, 1291 n. 6, 63 L.Ed.2d 574 (1980)).
The Balkwills and Russ filed a complaint alleging age discrimination on September 30, 1986, in Wayne County Circuit Court. The action was transferred to Macomb County Circuit Court on January 1, 1987. Frederick Balkwill subsequently was elected Macomb County Circuit Court Judge, however, and thus the entire Macomb County Circuit Court recused itself. The action was transferred back to Wayne County and the complaint was amended adding a claim of tortious interference with the Balkwills’ and Russ’ employment contract, slander against the Balkwills, and two claims by the Balkwills and Russ under section 1983. ' The two claims under section 1983 include their union activities claim and their political affiliation claim.
The cause was removed to federal district court on May 26, 1989, and appellees moved respectively for dismissal and summary judgment under Rules 12(b)(6) and 56, Fed.R.Civ.P., on August 11, 1989. The district judge issued an order dismissing the section 1983 union activities claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). The district judge granted summary judgment for the appel-lees on the section 1983 political affiliation claim and the state law slander claim. The district judge remanded the remaining claims to state court, and the appellants filed a timely appeal to this court.
The appellants appeal the district judge’s ruling that the union activities claim must be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6). They assert that their first amendment free speech and associational rights are separate and distinct and, therefore, the district court erred in applying the Supreme Court’s free speech analysis in Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 103 S.Ct. 1684, 75 L.Ed.2d 708 (1983), to their first amendment free association claim. The Connick Court held that in the discipline of public employees, only speech that involves a matter of “public concern” is protected by the first amendment. Id. at 146, 103 S.Ct. at 1689-90 (footnote omitted). This court held in Boals v. Gray, 775 F.2d 686, 692 (6th Cir.1985), that no logical reason exists for distinguishing between speech and association in applying Connick to first amendment claims, including union activities claims. Thus, appellants’ attempt to distinguish their freedom of association claim is without merit.
In dismissing the appellants’ allegations of discharge for union activities claim, however, the district judge based his holding on the proposition that appellants failed to aver in their complaint that their union activities touched on a matter of public concern. Because the appellants failed to allege that the union activities touched on a matter of public concern, the district judge reasoned that under Connick, supra, they failed to state a claim for which relief can be granted. We disagree.
We find the appellants’ union activities claim sufficient to state a claim under the minimal requirements of notice pleading, Rule 8(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. We note, however, that appellees provided the affidavit of Marlinga, clearly stating that he was not aware of any union activities on the part of the Balkwills and Russ. We note further that the appellants failed to submit any affidavits whatsoever. Consequently, on this record the termination of the Balkwills and Russ could not have been the result of union activities. Thus, while dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) was inappropriate, we hold that summary judgment was appropriate for appellees under Rule 56 on the union affiliation claim. Cleland v. Bronson Health Care Group, Inc., 917 F.2d 266, 268 (6th Cir.1990).
The appellants also appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment on their political affiliation claim. They argue that political affiliation is not pertinent to the effective performance of a Michigan assistant county prosecutor. The appellants contend that the job of assistant prosecutor is a limited, technical and neutral position.
The Supreme Court has established that politically motivated discharge of government employees violates the first amendment unless the job is a policy-making position. Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois, — U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 2729, 111 L.Ed.2d 52 (1990); Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507, 517, 100 S.Ct. 1287, 1294, 63 L.Ed.2d 574 (1980); Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 366, 96 .S.Ct. 2673, 2686, 49 L.Ed.2d 547 (1976). In addressing whether a job is a policy-making position, this court held that the “relevant focus of analysis is the inherent duties of the position in question, not the work actually performed by the person who happens to occupy the office.” Williams v. River Rouge, 909 F.2d 151, 154 (6th Cir.1990) (citing Meeks v. Grimes, 779 F.2d 417, 419 n. 1 (7th Cir.1985)). Thus, we believe it appropriate to consider only the required duties of a Michigan county assistant prosecutor, not the job as it was performed by the Balkwills and Russ.
The district judge correctly recognized that under a Michigan statute, an assistant prosecutor must “perform any and all duties pertaining to the office of prosecuting attorney_” Mich.Comp. Laws Ann. § 49.42. Moreover, in holding that the job of public defender is not a policy-making position, the Supreme Court noted that a public defender’s responsibilities stand “in contrast to the broader public responsibilities of an official such as a prosecutor.” 445 U.S. at 519, n. 13, 100 S.Ct. at 1295, n. 13. We recognize also that other circuits have held political affiliation an appropriate consideration in the discharge of an assistant prosecutor. Clark v. Brown, 861 F.2d 66, 68 (4th Cir.1988); Livas v. Petka, 711 F.2d 798, 800-01 (7th Cir.1983); Mummau v. Ranch, 687 F.2d 9, 10 (3d Cir.1982). Because Michigan law statutorily imposes the inherent policy-making responsibilities of the prosecutor on the assistant prosecutor, we hold that the job of assistant prosecutor is a policy-making position. Accordingly, we uphold the district judge’s grant of summary judgment on the political affiliation claim. Because we so hold, examination of the qualified immunity issue is unnecessary.
The Balkwills also challenge the district court’s dismissal of their state law slander claim. In Carnegie-Mellon v. Cohill, 484 U.S. 343, 108 S.Ct. 614, 98 L.Ed.2d 720 (1988), the Supreme Court ruled that a federal court need not dismiss state claims when all federal claims have been eliminated. Although the federal court may decline to exercise jurisdiction, the rule is not mandatory but, instead, may be applied flexibly in all cases. Id. at 350,108 S.Ct. at 618-19. The federal court must balance concerns of judicial economy, convenience, fairness and comity. Id.
The state issue before the federal district court involved a simple application of a basic state rule, specifically the statute of limitations on slander claims. Allowing remand of this claim to state court would have only delayed the inevitable. Michigan’s statute of limitations for slander is one year. Mich.Comp.Laws Ann. § 600.5805(7). The Balkwills raised the slander claim in the second amended complaint, more than one year following the alleged conduct. The claim did not arise out of the same conduct on which the Balk-wills based their original complaint. Accordingly, the district court properly dismissed the slander claim as untimely. Fed. R.Civ.P. 15(c).
The judgment of the district court is therefore AFFIRMED.

Question: What is the state of the first listed state or local government agency that is an appellant?

Choices:
not
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachussets
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New
New
New
New
North
North
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode
South
South
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Virgin
Puerto
District
Guam
not
Panama

Answer: 22