A Phoenix police sergeant facing discipline for troubling social media posts filed a lawsuit against his own department over his right to free speech, igniting debates on what law enforcement can — and can't — say online.
“To protect and to serve” has become the ubiquitous motto of law enforcement departments across America. But now a group of attorneys are questioning the boundaries of that creed — through a database exposing thousands of discriminatory and violent social media posts from police officers.
Hernandez believes his department’s social media policy is “unconstitutional”Hernandez’s story dates back to June, when 11 posts from his personal social media accounts were flagged by the Plain View Project. An over-30-year veteran of the department, Hernandez’s posts touched on — or openly promoted — discrimination, including a link from a conservative blog that referred to immigrants as “illegal” and a meme that claimed the most common name for a convicted gang rapist in England is “Muhammad.
Serbalik adds, “There's no allegation that Sgt. Hernandez has been biased or inappropriate in any of his on-duty activities. Sgt. Hernandez just reposted matters that he saw online that were in the news. They were basically topics of conversation at that point, and he wanted to talk about those issues with his friends and family.”
Paulson disagrees about the “privacy” of social media accounts, and says that while Hernandez could likely voice these opinions in the privacy of his home, there’s “no reasonable expectation of privacy” online — meaning that social media posts can easily be found and shared. The department’s policy even cautions personnel to “be mindful their speech becomes part of the worldwide electronic domain” when using social media.
Phoenix may become a battleground for police and censorshipThe Plain View Project, which has spotlighted officers in eight cities thus far, hit the Phoenix Police Department particularly hard. The database implicated 97 former and current members of the Phoenix Police Department— which is no surprise, given that Phoenix is the largest city in America without independent police oversight.
Can violent rhetoric lead to violence?Hernandez’s next court hearing, set to take place Nov. 19, could have major implications for the future — helping set a precedent for whether or not officers have free rein to post discriminatory things online.
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