The "official duties" puzzle: Lower courts' struggle with first amendment protection for public employees after Garcetti v. Ceballos

University of Pittsburgh Law Review

Volumn 69, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 367-388

  Elzer, Christine ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH   (United States)

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EID: 48949094682     PISSN: 00419915     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5195/LAWREVIEW.2007.116     Document Type: Review

References (167)

1. See Pickering v. Bd. of Educ., 391 U.S. 563, 568 (1968).
2. Id.
3. Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006).
4. See id. at 418.
5. Id. at 421.
6. Ryan v. Shawnee Mission Unified Sch. Dist. No. 512, 437 F. Supp. 2d 1233, 1247 (D. Kan. 2006).
7. Casey v. W. Las Vegas Indep. Sch. Dist., 473 F.3d 1323, 1325 (10th Cir. 2007).
8. Walters v. County of Maricopa, No. CV 04-1920-PHX-NVW, 2006 WL 2456173 at *14 (D. Ariz. Aug. 26, 2006).
9. See, e.g., Commc'ns Workers of Am. v. Ector County Hosp. Dist., 467 F.3d 427 (5th Cir. 2006); Zerman v. City of Strongsville, No. 1:04CV2493, 2006 WL 2812173 (N.D. Ohio Sept. 28, 2006).
10. 391 U.S. 563 (1968).
11. Id. at 568.
12. Id. at 564-65.
13. Id. at 571.
14. Citing the landmark First Amendment case, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), the Court emphasized that the "public interest in free and unhindered debate on matters of public importance" was too great to authorize liability for defamation of a public official absent knowledge of the statements' falsity or reckless disregard for their truth. See Pickering, 391 U.S. at 573.
15. Id. at 571-72.
16. Id. at 572.
17. Id. at 573.
18. Id. at 574.
19. Id. at 572-73.
20. 439 U.S. 410 (1979).
21. Id. at 413.
22. Id. at 412.
23. Id. at 413.
24. Id. at 415.
25. Id. at 415 n.4.
26. 461 U.S. 138 (1983).
27. Id. at 147.
28. Id. at 141.
29. Id. at 147-48.
30. Id. at 148.
31. Id. at 149.
32. Id. at 154.
33. See, e.g., United States v. Nat'l Treasury Employees Union, 513 U.S. 454, 466 (1995); Rankin v. McPherson, 483 U.S. 378, 384 (1987); Alpha Energy Savers, Inc. v. Hansen, 381 F.3d 917, 923 (9th Cir. 2004); Love-Lane v. Martin, 355 F.3d 766, 776 (4th Cir. 2004).
34. 547 U.S. 410 (2006).
35. Id. at 413.
36. Id.
37. Id. at 414.
38. Id.
39. Id.
40. Id.
41. Id. at 414-15.
42. Id.
43. Id. at 415.
44. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2006) provides, in relevant part, [E]very person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured . . . .
45. Garcetti, 547 U.S. at 415.
46. Id.
47. Ceballos v. Garcetti, 361 F.3d 1168, 1170, 1174 (9th Cir. 2004), rev'd, 547 U.S. 410 (2006).
48. Id. at 1173, 1179-80.
49. Garcetti, 547 U.S. at 421.
50. Id. at 421-22.
51. Id. at 421.
52. Id.
53. Id. at 424.
54. Id.
55. Id. at 420.
56. Id.
57. Id. at 420-21.
58. Id. at 421.
59. Id. at 422.
60. Id. at 425.
61. Id. at 424.
62. As of January 2008, over 450 cases have cited Garcetti. Search of Westlaw, KeyCite service (Jan. 18, 2008) (search for cases citing Garcetti).
63. Freitag v. Ayers, 468 F.3d 528 (9th Cir. 2006).
64. See id. at 532.
65. Id. at 543.
66. Id. at 532-34.
67. Id. at 534-35.
68. Id. at 535.
69. Id. at 536.
70. Id. at 542-43.
71. Id.
72. Id.
73. Id. at 545 (citing Pickering v. Bd. of Educ., 391 U.S. 563, 568 (1968)).
74. Id. (quoting Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 422 (2006)).
75. Id. at 546.
76. Id.
77. Id.
78. Id.
79. See Freitag v. Cal. Dep't of Corr., No. C00-2278 TEH, 2007 WL 1670307 (N.D. Cal. June 6, 2007).
80. Id. at *4.
81. Id.
82. Id.
83. Id.
84. Id. at *6.
85. Id.
86. Freitag v. Ayers, 468 F.3d 528, 546 (9th Cir. 2006).
87. Givhan v. W. Line Consol. Sch. Dist., 439 U.S. 410, 414 (1979).
88. Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006).
89. Id. at 420.
90. See id. at 424-25.
91. Freitag, 468 F.3d at 535.
92. Id. at 538-41.
93. Id. at 545-46.
94. Freitag v. Cal. Dep't of Corr., No. C00-2278 TEH, 2007 WL 1670307, at *4 (N.D. Cal. June 6, 2007).
95. Id. at *6.
96. Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 447 (2006) (Breyer, J., dissenting) (citing Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 437 (1995); Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963)).
97. 06-2210-JWL, 2006 WL 2802209 (D. Kan. Sept. 29, 2006).
98. Id. at *3.
99. Id. at *1.
100. Id.
101. Id. at *2.
102. Id. at *3.
103. Id. at *2.
104. No. CIV. S-05-0740 FCD EFB, 2006 WL 3741878, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 19, 2006).
105. Id. at *1.
106. Id. at *3.
107. Id. at *3-4.
108. Id.
109. Id. at *2-3.
110. Id. at *1.
111. Id. at *5-6.
112. Id. at *6.
113. Id.
114. Id.
115. Id. at *7. The court also concluded that Shewbridge's speech addressed a matter of public concern, id., and that there was a triable issue of fact as to whether the speech was a substantial or motivating factor in the defendants' decision to terminate him. Id. at *8.
116. See Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 420 (2006); Givhan v. W. Line Consol. Sch. Dist., 439 U.S. 410, 414 (1979).
117. Shewbridge, 2006 WL 3741878, at *6.
118. Garcetti, 126 S. Ct. at 1960.
119. Battle v. Bd. of Regents, 468 F.3d 755 (11th Cir. 2006).
120. Id. at 757-58.
121. Id. at 758.
122. Id.
123. Id. at 759.
124. Id.
125. Id.
126. Id. at 761.
127. Id.
128. Id.
129. Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 415 (2006).
130. Casey v. W. Las Vegas Indep. Sch. Dist., 473 F.3d 1323 (10th Cir. 2007).
131. Id. at 1325.
132. Id.
133. Id. at 1326.
134. Id.
135. Id.
136. Id.
137. Id.
138. Id.
139. Id.
140. Id.
141. Id.
142. Id. at 1327.
143. Id.
144. Id.
145. Id. at 1328.
146. Id. at 1329.
147. Id. (citing Sur-Reply Brief of Appellant at 7 n.4; Casey v. W. Las Vegas Indep. Sch. Dist., 473 F.3d 1323, 1325 (10th Cir. Jan. 24, 2007) (No. 06-2054)).
148. Id. (citing Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 420-24 (2006); Mills v. City of Evansville, 452 F.3d 646, 647-48 (7th Cir. 2006)).
149. Id.
150. Id. at 1329-30.
151. Id.
152. Id. at 1330.
153. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
154. Id.
155. Id. at 1332-33.
156. Id. at 1332.
157. Id. at 1332-33.
158. See Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 147-48 (1983); Givhan v. W. Line Consol. Sch. Dist., 439 U.S. 410, 415 n.4 (1979).
159. Casey, 473 F.3d at 1332.
160. Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 427 (2006) (Stevens, J., dissenting).
161. Connick, 461 U.S. at 148.
162. See Pickering v. Bd. of Educ., 391 U.S. 563, 568 (1968).
163. Garcetti, 547 U.S. at 420-21, 424-25.
164. Id. at 424.
165. See supra Part III(B)(3).
166. Garcetti, 547 U.S. at 440-41 (Souter, J., dissenting).
167. Id. at 424 (majority opinion).