Garcetti and Academic Freedom

Harvey Gilmore, Monroe College, has published Has Garcetti Destroyed Academic Freedom? in volume 6 of the University of Massachusettes Roundtable Symposium Law Journal (2011). Here is the abstract.

The case of Garcetti v. Ceballos, decided by the United States Supreme Court in 2006, established that a public employee‟s job related communications are not protected by the First Amendment. The Court also held that an employer has the right to impose disciplinary sanctions against that employee based on those job related communications.

Although the Court specifically did not address how its decision would affect public university professors in the future, Garcetti has already alarmed academicians who believe in the concept of academic freedom.

College professors, especially those who teach in research institutions, are now concerned that the Garcetti decision poses a serious threat to academic freedom. In academia, the perceived threat is that in the future, cases similar to Garcetti will lead to public university professors losing their First Amendment protection, and thus be subject to discipline for their on the job speech.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.