Does the first amendment allow Public employees to express themselves however they want?

Freedom of speech from the first amendment states that everyone has the right to express themselves in our country. However, the speech of those in the public workplace has some limitations. According to a History article, The U.S. Supreme Court had made limitations to freedom of speech such as obscene material, plagiarism, defamation, and true threats. Due to the fact that these “limitations” are not defined very clearly, there are “gray areas” that may cause issues for public employees within our society when it comes to freedom of speech. 

It has been shown that workplace rights of employees have been decreasing in the past few decades. The speech of those in the workplace are protected by the first amendment, but only to a certain extent. In the article “Constitutional Cases Involving Teachers,” John Sanchez states, ”In 1983, the Supreme Court clarified public employees’ free speech rights. In Connick v. Myers the Court ruled that when a public employee speaks out on a matter of private or personal interest and not as a citizen on matters of public concern, the speech is not protected by the First Amendment.” This being said, if a teacher is doing things that disrupt the school environment, it is not supported by the First Amendment. For example, sharing political or religious views with students would be considered “unconstitutional”. Also, in a Los Angeles Times article, “High Court Upholds Firing of San Diego Police Officer,” David Savage states, “The 1st Amendment’s free speech protection does not shield public employees whose personal expressions and off-duty actions offend their employees, the Supreme Court said Monday in upholding the firing of a San Diego police officer who sold sexually explicit videos of himself over the Internet.” 

Both of these constitutional cases demonstrate that it can be unlawful for public employees to express themselves in a way that can disturb the environment in which they work in or offend other employees or students. In no way does that mean that teachers or other public employees can not express themselves, but it means that they need to be careful and conscious when doing so. Things such as religion, politics, or other social concepts should not interfere with the workplace environment or there could be consequences. 

Citations:

“Freedom Of Speech.” HISTORY. N. p., 2019. Web. 30 Sept. 2019.

Savage, David G. “High Court Upholds Firing of San Diego Police Officer.” Los Angeles Times, Dec 2004. 

Sanchez, John. “Constitutional Cases Involving Teachers.” Phi Delta Kappan, 06 2009.