Are Police Officer’s Comments About Obama On Private My Space Pages Protected Speech?
So…..two Durham police officers are under internal investigation for comments made about Obama on their personal My Space pages:
DURHAM – Derogatory remarks toward President-elect Barack Obama made on a social networking Web site are now the subject of an internal police investigation.
A police department employee claims the statements were made on the MySpace pages of two Durham officers.
If you read the article you’ll see that they haven’t disclosed the nature of the comments – other than to say that they were derogatory, that is – and it begs the question: if the comments were made on their off time and on their private My Space pages, are they protected as free speech under the First Amendment?
Short answer: If they were saying that, hey this guy sucks and he’s a communist and he’ll be a terrible president and he has big ears, too, then the answer is yeah, that’s probably well within their right of free expression.
BUT – if a racial slur was used, then those officers could well have violated the rules of conduct that all departments have:
The department’s code of conduct, under the heading “private life,” states that an officer’s “character and conduct while off duty must always be exemplary, thus maintaining a position of respect in the community in which he or she lives and serves. The officer’s personal behavior must be beyond reproach.”
Lopez said even though the remarks were made on a personal Web page, the comments could be a violation of the policy.
“As a police officer, it doesn’t matter where you do it, if you provide disservice to the organization, it violates the [department's] code of conduct,” he said. “It is a high standard that officers are held accountable to.”
The use of a racial slur, even off duty, would probably be considered “unbecoming conduct” in just about any department.
If it’s determined that a racial slur was used, then those officers will probably face disciplinary action. If, however, what they said just ruffled the feathers of someone because of the political nature of the comments, then the department and city are on very thin ice Constitutionally speaking if they proceed with disciplinary action aginst them.
Personally, I hope those officers weren’t silly enough to say anything racially offensive about Obama because, like it or not, police officers are held to a higher standard of conduct on their off duty time. Racial slurs, for police officers anyway, aren’t protected speech.
Double standard? Yep, but it’s one you agree to live with when you sign on.
Good luck to those guys. I hope this turns out to be just another politically correct witch hunt.
