First Amendment

The tactic of a cop playing music while a member of the public is recording them to prevent the dissemination of the material online does not pass the “smell test”

Case law provides public employers with precedent to dismiss employees whose personal associations are deemed antagonistic to the employer’s mission and integrity

Do not allow individuals to goad you into behaving unprofessionally

When does a public employee’s First Amendment rights give way to an employer’s right to suspend or terminate the employee?

The officer's union representatives defended him, saying the officer was simply expressing his First Amendment right

Understanding the legal precedent behind free speech rights and how they apply on and off duty

You are never off duty as a police officer when it comes to how you represent yourself, your agency and your responsibilities

A video of a cop criticizing COVID-19 decrees has amassed nearly 1 million views and reignited the discussion about what officers should and should not say in uniform

Can a uniformed officer remain silent and go about a duty that is repugnant to the Constitution?

Being told to f-off or anything similar may be evidence of poor breeding, but is also the burden of today’s public servants

Association with an extremist group or comments that could be interpreted as bigoted could be used to show bias in a case that involves people of the targeted group

Not understanding the legal arena for speech and how it’s been changed by the internet is resulting in career fatalities and making police work more dangerous

Individuals are filming police buildings and officers as part of a “First Amendment audit"; here’s how cops should respond

Fane Lozman contends he was wrongly prevented from speaking at a city council meeting through an arrest on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest