Sup Ct Declines To Review Police Officer’s Speech Rights
The United States Supreme Court has declined to
review a case in which the Sixth Circuit, citing the Supreme Court's 2006
decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos, held that a police officer's speech in
opposition to reductions in a city's canine-training program were made pursuant
to his duties as a canine handler and patrolman, and that his termination thus
did not constitute retaliation in violation of his speech rights. The officer
claimed that he was considered the administrator of the canine program, and the
officer's own lawyer characterized the dispute as a training disagreement. The
proposed cutbacks complied with state law. The officer was best characterized as
a disgruntled employee upset that his professional suggestions were no longer
being followed, the Court of Appeals concluded.
Haynes v. City of Circleville, Ohio