Supreme Court Limits First Amendment Rights For Public Employees

While yesterday's Wal-Mart decision is getting all the press, the U.S. Supreme Court issued another decision yesterday that will have broad impact on public employees.  In Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri, the Supreme Court limited public employees' First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances.

The facts are straightforward.  Charles Guarnieri filed a grievance when he was terminated from his position as Chief of Police in Duryea, Pennsylvania.  He was ordered reinstated, and the borough council later issued directives instructing him how to perform his duties. He filed a second grievance, and an arbitrator ordered that some of the directives be modified or withdrawn.  Guarnieri then filed suit, claiming than the directives were issued in retaliation for the filing of his first grievance, and violated his First Amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.  Guarnieri won at trial, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that a public employee who has petitioned the government through a formal mechanism such as the filing of a lawsuit or grievance is protected under the Petition Clause from retaliation for that activity, even if the petition concerns a matter of solely private concern.

The Supreme Court reversed, holding that a government employee is not protected by the petition clause unless the petition relates to a matter of public concern.  In doing so, the Court applied the same limitations it previously had applied to the First Amendment's Speech Clause to the Petition Clause.  The Court dismissed the fact that most governmental petitions are of a private nature, because, in their view, "Petitions, no less than speech, can interfere with the efficient and effective operation of government."

While this case does make the law consistent when it comes to public employees attempting to exercise their rights under the First Amendment, it is consistently wrong.  This case continues the line of jurisprudence that effectively gags public employees.  These cases allow government officials to retaliate against public employees under circumstances that clearly would be illegal when applied to private citizens.  In my view, the First Amendment is the foundation of our rights as a free people, and should be interpreted broadly, and apply equally to all.