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Ceballos' Casualties

The biggest fear civil rights and open-government advocates is coming true.  In Garcetti v. Ceballos, the United States Supreme Court held that a government employee's speech made in a official capacity was not protected under the First Amendment.  The Supreme Court did not consider what would happen.  An opinion issued by a 2-1 panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is illustrative of a nationwide trend: Police officers who speak out against official corruption are losing their jobs; and the courts will do nothing to stop it.In Hubbert v. City of Pittsburg (here) a police officer spoke to the FBI about official corruption within the Pittsburg Police Department.  Soon thereafter, he - but no one else - was punished for following de facto police procedures for filling out police reports...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on July 21, 2009 (boomark / email).