A San Diego police officer who tried to use the Web to sell videos of himself removing his uniform and masturbating can be fired for violating police department regulations, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled December 6, overturning a federal appellate ruling restoring the officer's suit against his department.
"We have little difficulty in concluding that the city was not barred from terminating Roe," said a short and unsigned opinion filed by the full court, which handed down the ruling without hearing arguments, said to be an unusual step for the Supreme Court. "Roe took deliberate steps to link his videos and other wares to his police work, all in a way injurious to his employer."
The unnamed officer – he was "John Roe" in court documents, and tried to sell his wares in the adults-only region of eBay – had argued he was wrongfully terminated because the First Amendment covered his off-duty activities, especially since the uniform he stripped off in the videos was not an actual San Diego Police uniform.
But Roe had also offered police paraphernalia for sale as well as the videos, reportedly including an actual official San Diego Police uniform. When a supervisor discovered his sales, a department investigation ensued and led to determination that Roe was guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer.
The Supreme Court held that Roe's off duty adult video doings and online selling were not covered by freedom of speech protections because they did "nothing to inform the public about any aspect of [San Diego Police] functioning or operation. The speech in question was detrimental to the mission and functions of the employer."
