''Pappas v. Giuliani'', 290 F.3d 143 (2002), was a case in which the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate ju ...
held that the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the ...
was not violated where a police officer was fired for mailing out racially offensive political materials from his home.
Facts
Thomas Pappas was dismissed by the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
for anonymously mailing from his home racially offensive political materials to political and other groups that had solicited him for donations. Pappas was fired for mailing out the material. The Appeals court held that the Police Department's action had not infringed on the plaintiff's Pappas's rights under the
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
.
Majority opinion
Judge
Pierre N. Leval, with Judge
Colleen McMahon
Colleen McMahon (born July 18, 1951) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Education and career
Born in Columbus, Ohio, McMahon received a Bachelor of Arts degree f ...
concurring, found the firing of Pappas was permissible under the
Pickering test. The views Pappas expressed, the finding held, might undermine the effectiveness of the department. They further held that, despite his mailing anonymously, the mailing of the material was seeking to publicize his view. They quote
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist and legal scholar who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932.Holmes was Acting Chief Justice of the Un ...
in the case ''
McAuliffe v. Mayor of New Bedford'', "A policeman may have a constitutional right to
peak his mind but he has no constitutional right to be a policeman."
Sotomayor dissenting opinion
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
dissented from the majority's decision to award summary judgment to the police department. Although Sotomayor acknowledged that the speech was "patently offensive,
hateful, and insulting," she warned the majority about "gloss
ngover three decades of jurisprudence and the centrality of First Amendment freedoms in our lives just because it is confronted with speech it does not like."
Sotomayor argued that Supreme Court precedent required the court to consider not only the NYPD's mission and community relations but also that Pappas was neither a policymaker nor a cop on the beat. Moreover, Pappas's speech was anonymous, "occur
ing
Ing, ING or ing may refer to:
Art and media
* '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film
* i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group
* The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes''
* "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...
away from the office on
isown time." She expressed sympathy for the NYPD's "concerns about race relations in the community," which she described as "especially poignant," but at the same time emphasized that the NYPD had substantially contributed to the problem by disclosing the results of its investigation into the racist mailings to the public. In the end, she concluded, the NYPD's race relations concerns "are so removed from the effective functioning of the public employer that they cannot prevail over the free speech rights of the public employee."
See also
*
New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct
Throughout the history of the New York City Police Department, numerous instances of corruption and misconduct, and allegations of such, have occurred. Over 12,000 cases have resulted in lawsuit settlements totaling over $400 million during a ...
*
Employment discrimination law in the United States
Employment discrimination law in the United States derives from the common law, and is codified in numerous state, federal, and local laws. These laws prohibit discrimination based on certain characteristics or "protected categories." The United ...
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pappas V. Giuliani
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit cases
United States Free Speech Clause case law
2002 in United States case law
New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct
History of racism in New York (state)
United States lawsuits
United States public employment case law
City of New York litigation