| Description |
In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Garcetti v. Ceballos that “when public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline.1 This decision has already begun to affect public educators’ expression rights. To provide a context for understanding the impact of the Garcetti decision, this article initially presents background information on the evolution of the law governing public employee expression. The next section analyzes in some detail the Garcetti decision and subsequent litigation. Based on this analysis, we argue that the recent Supreme Court ruling was not in the public’s best interest and refute arguments that federal and state whistleblower laws and civil rights laws provide adequate protections for public educators who expose questionable school practices. (Description from Source) |