JQPublic1
Gold Member
- Aug 10, 2012
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Here's the actual relevant case precedent in case anyone wonders
Garcetti v. Ceballos - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SCOTUS has CLEARLY ruled that as a government employee your first amendment rights aren't violated if you exercise them in your official duty and are disciplined, but government employees DO have the right to free speech without fear of discipline in their private lives.
THUS this woman's rights were violated. PERIOD.
Not so fast. I don't think the case you cited has the relevancy you think it does. The Garcetti v. Ceballos case doesn't entail the potential to violate the public trust
Most government employees could get away with posting a terrorist flag in their yards based on their first amendment rights. They could put an ISIS or Taliban flag there without losing their jobs. But a police officer is held to a higher standard nowadays. I don't know why a female officer chose to put a rebel flag in her yard while her male peers seemed to have shied away from it. The whole things reeks of a setup to test the system.
Is there another more pertinent precedent? Try this one:
In 1995 a New York police woman sued after being fired for posing in Playboy magazine. She too cited the first amendment and declared that she had done nothing wrong. She believed what she did on her own time was her business and her public image as a civilian had no bearing on her job as a cop as long as she did not break the law. The Court didn't agree