LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan prosecutor who used his personal blog to attack the openly gay student body president at the University of Michigan has spurred debate about public employees' rights to say terrible things on their own time.
Andrew Shirvell, 30, started a blog in April in which he regularly lambasted 21-year-old Christopher Armstrong as a racist with a "radical homosexual agenda." Shirvell has said that when he's not at work, he has a right to say whatever he wants.
Cliff Sloan, a First Amendment expert with the New York-based Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom law firm, said public employers must be careful because the First Amendment says government can "make no law abridging the freedom of speech." Still, judges and state officials have some discretion when comes to dealing with workers, he said. International Day Against Homophobia
"While they have a right to free speech, they don't have a right to a public service job," said Sloan, the former publisher of Slate magazine and a partner in Skadden, Arps' Washington office. "Government can set some limits on the appropriate conduct and behavior of their employees."
Read more:
Mich. Official Off Job After Targeting Gay Student
by Rick Pluta, October 1, 2010,
NPR
In Michigan, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell has taken a sudden leave of absence. This comes after the University of Michigan officially barred him from the campus. He has been threatened with arrest for trespassing if he returns.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The openly gay student assembly president at the University of Michigan who claims he's been frequently harassed by an assistant state... The Huffington Post, October 7, 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment