PPD had right to discipline officers over Facebook posts, federal judge rules

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A federal judge has ruled that the Philadelphia Police Department was within its right to fire and discipline 20 officers for racist and otherwise offensive Facebook posts. The case began in 2019 when the comments were posted on a website called the Plain View Project. More than a dozen of the officers were fired, others were disciplined and some resigning. The officers sued the city in federal court claiming the posts were protected under the first amendment. Yesterday, the judge ruled that the officers’ posts were not protected by the First Amendment and were likely to cause interference with police department operations. Some of the officers involved were reinstated through arbitration. It is not clear how many of them are still working for the Philadelphia Police Department and what this decision would mean. The City of Philadelphia and the officers' lawyers have not returned requests for comment. (Photo Credit: Holli Stephens/KYW Newsradio)