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Ignoring for the moment that the union certainly wouldn't allow such firings this also seems like a 1st amendment issue. What does the court have to say about e

• trhway 12y ago
  The 1st doesn't protect from firing when you trash your employer in public. It protects your trashing, not employment :)
  • harryh 12y ago
    The first amendment doesn't apply to my employer as I work for a private company, so you are right there. But is that true for cops who work for the government? I'm honestly not sure.
    • lambda 12y ago
      When you are on the job for the government, you are acting as a government representative and not a private person. You can be fired for what you say while on the job. However, the police unions would never allow such a thing.
      • harryh 12y ago
        First of all, we aren't even talking about the police saying anything out loud. We're talking about them turning their backs on the mayor while at a funeral which, while not verbal speech, is clearly a form of expression that would fall under the 1st amendment. Second, I suspect that a majority of the officers in question were not on the job while attending that funeral.
    • spiritplumber 12y ago
      The first amendment does apply to your employer in that he can't muzzle you, or have you beaten up from speaking out. The worst your employer can do is fire you, which happens often, and that's fine.
      • harryh 12y ago
        In fact my employer can muzzle me. I've signed various documents over the years that prevent my from speaking about my employer (or past employers) in various ways. And the fact that my employer can't have me beaten up has nothing to do with the 1st amendment. That would be assault no matter what their motivation.
      • wlesieutre 12y ago
        The fact that your employer can't have you beaten up is because assault is illegal, not because of your first amendment rights. The first amendment protects you from being thrown in jail by the government for your speech.
• deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
  • anigbrowl 12y ago
    Could not agree more.
• ceejayoz 12y ago
  The military forbids its members from making political statements while in uniform. The police should probably have the same rule. If you want to campaign for/against someone, do it out of uniform.
  • harryh 12y ago
    I agree that this is probably a good rule. On the other hand, when the mayor shows up at a police funeral to give a speech while the press is there, that's clearly a political statement. It doesn't seem fair to use the police as props (implying their support) while you have a rule saying they can't make a statement in reply.
    • deleted 12y ago
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