Next to the Declaration of Independence, no document has influenced the world more than the Constitution of the United States of America; a document drafted by the Second Continental Congress, in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787.
Broadly speaking, the Continental Congress felt that, as written, the Constitution could easily lead to tyranny and on March 4, 1789, in the City of New York, the 1st Congress of the United States passed 12 Articles as proposed amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The proposed amendments required ratification by three-fourths of the States. Article I and Article II dealing with Congressional representation and compensation of Congress failed to be ratified by the needed three-fourths; however, the remaining ten Articles were ratified and became the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United States; subsequently known as the Bill of Rights. It is the First Amendment to the Constitution that is the subject of my article.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances”
The First Amendment guarantees that we, as citizens, have right to speak freely; however, nowhere in its text does it indemnify us for free speech. Although an individual’s right to free speech has generally been upheld by the courts, in matters the courts perceive the individual acting as a citizen commenting on issues of public interest (Pickering v. Board of Education); it is by no means Carte Blanche, and you can be held accountable for things that are said. Some of the more revealing cases involve the termination of employment by an employer for cause in both private and public sector positions.
One case that comes to mind is BONN v. CITY OF OMAHA U.S. Court of Appeals, Eight Circuit. This is a case in where Tristan Bonn, acting as the Public Safety Auditor for the City of Omaha, was terminated for filing a report critical of the Omaha Police Department. Bonn claimed Civil Rights violation and freedom of speech. Both the lower and appellate courts upheld the termination. Other interesting case law Smith v. Frouin, 28 F.3d 646 (Illinois 1994) involving a Chicago police detective’s complaint about a smoke free zone.
What these cases reaffirm is that although The Bill of Rights guarantees the individual a right to free speech it does not indemnify or hold harmless the individual for the consequences of that speech. Furthermore, they illustrate that courts have maintained a balance. The moral of the story has always been “know what you’re talking about and choose your words carefully;” remembering that I can’t keep you from saying something but I can hold you accountable for what you say.
-Sal Palma
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