A recent case has made clear that a government agency’s ceasing doing business with a company based on the viewpoints of the company’s owners can lead to First Amendment liability for the agency. Earlier this year, in Riley’s American Heritage Farms v. Elsasser, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the
Public Employers and Hate Speech
Violent and tragic events in Charlottesville, and the intense national debate that followed, have put the issue of hate speech at the forefront of the public’s attention. A number of publications have addressed the issue of when a private employer can discharge an employee who, on the employee’s own time, participates in organized hate speech.
Public Employee Right To Petition Claims Must Satisfy A “Public Concern” Requirement – Just As Employee Free Speech Claims Must
This guest post was authored by David Urban
The United States Supreme Court just added another important chapter to its continuing interpretation of the First Amendment rights of public employees. In Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri, decided Monday, June 20, 2011, the Court held that public employees cannot assert retaliation claims based on the
Free Speech Rights Of Public Employees
In March 2011, the United States Supreme Court issued a controversial decision in Snyder v. Phelps, which upheld the First Amendment right of the Westboro Baptist Church congregation to picket military funerals to communicate their belief that God hates the United States for its tolerance of homosexuality, particularly in America’s military.
The analysis used