Completing Government Speech\u27s Unfinished Business: Clipping Garcetti\u27s Wings and Addressing Scholarship and Teaching

This article examines two major developments stemming from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos, in which the Court ruled: Statements made by public employees pursuant to their official duties are not protected by the First Amendment. Furthermore, the Court disclaimed whether or not its ruling applied to scholarship of teaching. First, this decision has triggered an avalanche of circuit court decisions dismissing 42 U.S.C. § 1983 employment retaliation claims, because the courts usually determined the expression was derived from the government employee\u27s actual duties. Second, the disclaimer has created inconsistency and doubt in assessing § 1983 public worker employment retaliation claims pursued by faculty members at public colleges and universities