Cop demoted in mistaken belief he supported mayoral challenger wins Supreme Court review
A police officer who says he was demoted because his supervisor mistakenly believed he supported the mayor’s political opponent will get a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Thursday to hear the case of Jeffrey Heffernan, an officer in Paterson, New Jersey, report the National Law Journal (sub. req.) and the Los Angeles Times. Heffernan was demoted after he was spotted picking up a campaign sign for the mayor’s challenger for his bedridden mother.
Nonpolitical employees can’t be demoted for supporting a candidate in an election, according to the cert petition (PDF). But the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Heffernan could be demoted because he wasn’t actually supporting the candidate and wasn’t exercising his rights of free speech.
The decision created a 3-1 split on the First Amendment question, according to the cert petition.
“The 3rd Circuit’s view has chilling implications,” the cert petition says. “Because of the decision below, public employees in the 3rd Circuit now have reason to fear taking any action that might cause them to be perceived—even incorrectly—as favoring a candidate or a political party. Any stray comment that gives the boss the wrong impression can be grounds for discharge. And the 3rd Circuit’s view makes no practical sense. It rewards the careless supervisor, who is free to make knee-jerk personnel decisions based on political considerations that would be off-limits to a supervisor who is careful to ascertain the facts before acting.”
