Hussey v. City of Cambridge
- Summary:
This is an en banc review of a First Circuit Court of Appeals case involving a public employee's First Amendment speech rights. The court has withdrawn a previous panel opinion and is requesting supplemental briefs to examine the court's precedent regarding the weight given to "mocking, derogatory, and disparaging" speech in First Amendment employment cases.
- Key Legal Issues:
- Whether the court's precedent of giving less weight to "mocking, derogatory, and disparaging" speech is consistent with Supreme Court First Amendment jurisprudence
- How to balance a public employee's First Amendment speech rights against an employer's needs
- The role of speech "manner, time, and place" in the Pickering balancing test
- Whether the analysis differs for workplace versus non-workplace speech
- Ruling:
The court has not yet made a final ruling. Instead, it has:
- Granted an en banc review
- Withdrawn the previous panel opinion
- Requested supplemental briefs addressing specific constitutional questions
- Scheduled an en banc hearing for April 8, 2026