Court Strikes Down Ban on Town Employees Displaying “Thin Blue Line” Flag While on Town Property
A Springfield Township (Pennsylvania) resolution provides:
[T]he Board of Commissioners of Springfield Township does, as a matter of respect and sensitivity to all the citizens of the Township, hereby prohibit the publicly visible display or use of any image which depicts the Thin Blue Line American Flag symbol by any Township employee, agent, or consultant and in an effort to be clear and as reasonably limited as possible, specifically prohibits the following:
- The publicly visible depiction of the symbol on the clothing or skin of any Township employee, agent or consultant while on duty, during the workday of the individual or while representing the Township in any way (specifically including the off duty time of any such individual if still wearing the Township uniform).
- The publicly visible depiction of the Thin Blue Line American [F]lag symbol on any personal property of a [T]ownship employee, agent, or consultant, which is brought into the [T]ownship building (except prior to or subsequent to reporting for duty or any official assignment for the Township), and which, in the reasonable opinion of the Township Manager, is placed in a location likely to be seen by a member of the public while visiting the [T]ownship building.
- The display, by installation or affixation of a publicly visible depiction of the symbol, on [T]ownship owned property (including [T]ownship vehicles), by any person.
This violates the First Amendment, Judge Karen Marston (E.D. Pa.) concluded today in Pennsylvania State Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police v. Township of Springfield:
[T]he Resolution is a viewpoint regulation—it prohibits employees, agents, and consultants from displaying only the Thin Blue Line American Flag, not from displaying flags or political speech generally. Instead, the Township argues that the Resolution is a permissible restriction on employee speech even though it targets a specific viewpoint. Given the Supreme Court’s consistent assertion that viewpoint discrimination is inherently suspect, the Court questions whether the government can ever permissibly regulate employee speech based on viewpoint. {One exception to this rule is when the government is speaking on its own behalf. But the Township has not argued that [the Resolution] regulates government speech.} …
“When a citizen enters government service, the citizen by necessity must accept certain limitations on his or her freedom.” Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has “made clear that public employees do not surrender all their First Amendment rights by reason of their employment.” A public employer has limited authority to regulate employee speech when “employees are speaking as citizens about matters of public concern.” In such instances, the government may restrict speech only to the extent necessary for it to “operate efficientl
Article from Reason.com
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