“John Roe” is a San Diego police officer who was fired when it was discovered that, in violation of department policies on moonlighting, he was selling videos of himself stripping from a police uniform and masturbating. (The pseudonymous Mr. Roe turns out to be considerably more modest when it comes to self-identification in his litigation, as opposed to his homemade videos.) Roe was discovered when he sold an official police uniform on eBay, and an investigation turned up the videos as well. In an expansion of existing Supreme Court precedent on the First Amendment, the Ninth Circuit in a 2-1 decision held that Roe could proceed with a lawsuit against the City over his firing. (Roe v. San Diego; Reuters, Jan. 29). (Update: Supreme Court summarily reverses in 9-0 decision, Dec. 7).

Filed under: Ninth Circuit, San Diego, workplace