LRIS First Amendment

Membership in Motorcycle Club can be Constitutionally ProtectedPast

December 30, 2013

A fairly little known aspect of the First Amendment is known as “freedom of association.” This freedom protects an individual’s right to associate with others in pursuit of a wide variety of pol...

Freedom of Association Does Not Cover FriendsPast

November 14, 2011

David Lord was a corrections officer for Erie County, Pennsylvania. In 2005, Lord met Teo Underhill and the two moved into an apartment together. On January 1, 2006, while the two were sharing an apar...

‘Speaking as an Employee’ Versus ‘Speaking as a Citizen’Past

June 1, 2011

A case involving the Somerset County, Maryland Sheriff’s Office is a good illustration of the operative dichotomy in free speech law since the Supreme Court’s decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547...

Participation in Police Union Election Can Be Protected by First AmendmentPast

May 1, 2010

Anthony Ferraioli, Aldrin Lamboy, and Dawn Fray are police officers with the City of Hackensack, New Jersey. In June 2008, an election for the position of delegate to the New Jersey Police Benevolent ...

A Roundup of Free Speech CasesPast

March 1, 2009

Reverberations from the Supreme Court’s decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006) continue to be felt in the area of the free speech rights of public employees. A series of recent cases ...