Vol. 37 No. 14 POLICE OFFICER’S PERSONAL FACEBOOK POSTS DENIGRATING RELIGION AND ADHERENTS WARRANTED FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTION BECAUSE THEY QUALIFIED AS SPEECH ON MATTERS OF PUBLIC CONCERN
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Hernandez v. City of Phoenix,[1] found that although it seemed like a police officer’s social media posts expressing hostility toward and denigrating a major religious faith and its adherents could impede the performance of his job duties and interfere with the police department’s ability to effectively carry out […]