By: Cara L. Gallagher, weekend contributor

On its face, the freedom to express support for a political candidate seems exactly like the kind of speech the First Amendment was intended to protect. But such expressions are limited for individuals who work in the public sector. Police, fire department workers, and public school teachers – because tax dollars pay their salaries, city officials can suspend or terminate such employees for certain forms of political expression. That’s not to say they can muzzle all political speech. Public employees are voters with opinions who are just as entitled to engage in political discourse as private employees. In the town of Paterson, New Jersey, however, “overt involvement in a political election” is one example of a regulation that public employees can be penalized for violating. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard a case about whether or not a police officer’s actions of picking up a political sign for a local election count as overt involvement in a political election or is protected under the First Amendment. Continue reading “In the SCOTUS: Public employees, political speech, & errands for Mom” →